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WEEKLY NEWS

Shabbat Chol Hamoed

October 11, 2025 / 19 Tishrei 5786

THIS SHABBAT

Kabbalat Shabbat Service: Friday, 6:30pm in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel

Morning Services: Saturday, 9:45am in the Sanctuary or via Livestream

Minyan M'at Morning Service: Saturday, 10am in 5 North

TeleTefila Service: Saturday, 10am on Zoom

Mishpacha Service (Ages 0-4, with Parents): Saturday, 11am in 2 North

Family Service with Aliza (Ages 5-13, family or drop-off): Saturday, 11am in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel

THIS WEEK

Saturday, 9am: Rabbi Jules Harlow Parshat HaShavua Class in the Rooftop Sukkah - Source Sheet (updated Friday)

Saturday, 10:15 - 10:50am: Boker Tov Tots in the Rooftop Sukkah (RSVP)

Sunday, 10 - 11:30am: Intergenerational Mitzvah Knitting Group in the Rooftop Sukkah

Sunday, 6 - 7:30pm: Teen Sushi Making in the 5th Floor Patio Sukkah (RSVP)

Morning Minyan: Monday, Thursday, Friday at 7:30am, Sunday at 8:30am in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel or on Zoom

HOSHANAH RABBAH & EREV SHEMINI ATZERET: MONDAY, OCT. 13

Morning Minyan: 7:30am in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel or on Zoom

Evening Services: 6:30pm in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel

SHEMINI ATZERET & EREV SIMCHAT TORAH: TUESDAY, OCT. 14

Early Shacharit Option: 7am in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel

Sanctuary Service: 9:45am in the Sanctuary or via Livestream

Minyan M'at Morning Service: 10am in 5 North

TeleTefila Minyan Morning Services: 10am on Zoom

Family Simchat Torah Dinner and Program: 6pm in Hirsch Hall

Simchat Torah Evening Service and Celebration: 6:45pm Ma'ariv in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel, 7pm Hakafot in Hirsch Hall

SIMCHAT TORAH: WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15

Morning Service (Sanctuary and Minyan M'at): 9:45am on the Roof

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MAZEL TOV

Mazel Tov to Mikaela Bennun, her parents, Lindsay and Avi Bennun, and her brother, Ethan, on her Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat at mincha.

CONDOLENCES

Join us in wishing comfort to Nancy Reibstein and her daughter, Rebecca, at the passing of Nancy's sister, Ilene - Cheva Chana.

We also mourn our member David Kohn, and wish comfort to his wife, Judith Berman Kohn.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rabbi Jules Harlow Parsha Class This Week 


This Shabbat, the Rabbi Jules Harlow Parshat HaShavua Class will be held in the Sukkah. Due to technical limitations on the Roof, it will only be available in-person -- we apologize for any inconvenience.

Kiddush This Shabbat: Bring Your Own Lunch


Join us after services this Shabbat (October 11) to eat together in our beautiful Rooftop Sukkah! We’ll provide paper goods, but please bring your own dairy or parve lunch (prepared in accordance with our kashrut policy).

Morning Minyan This Week


Please note that despite the civil holiday this Monday, October 13 (Indigenous Peoples' Day), morning minyan will begin at 7:30am for Hoshana Rabba.


We will also offer an early Shemini Atzeret morning service at 7am on Tuesday, October 14, led by Jerry Raik in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel. Morning services in the Sanctuary will begin at 9:45am.

THIS WEEK

Visit our Sukkot webpage for more info

Come Eat in Our Sukkah!


All are welcome to come eat in our Sukkah – no registration required! Learn more and view the Sukkah Schedule

Boker Tov Tots in the Sukkah

Saturday, October 11 from 10:15 - 10:50am in the Rooftop Sukkah


Babies, tots, preschool kids and their families are invited to join us for breakfast in the Sukkah before the Mishpacha service on the second floor. We’ll provide the food. Kids can eat and play, and parents will have time to schmooze and get to know one another. Learn more and RSVP

Intergenerational Mitzvah Knitting Group in the Sukkah

Sunday, October 12 from 10 - 11:30am in the Rooftop Sukkah


Knitters needed! Experienced and new knitters of all ages welcome: bubbies, bring your grandkids; kids – bring your parents. Stay tuned for more info about our project.

Teen Sushi Making in the Sukkah

Sunday, October 12 from 6 - 7:30pm in the 5th Floor Patio Sukkah


Calling all teens! Come join us on Sukkot to make delicious Sushi in the Sukkah, play games and hang out with your friends. Learn more and RSVP

Simchat Torah at AC


Tuesday, October 14


Family Simchat Torah Dinner and Program: 6pm at Ansche Chesed

Families: join us for a FREE light dairy dinner followed by our annual Torah Unroll, dancing and Hakafot with the rest of the AC Community. Stick around for popsicles after the second Hakafa!


Simchat Torah Evening Service and Celebration: 6:45pm Ma’ariv in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel, 7pm Hakafot in Hirsch Hall

Come celebrate the Torah with singing, dancing, and hakafot (circling)!


Wednesday, October 15


Morning Service (Sanctuary and Minyan M’at): 9:45am on the Roof, with each minyan holding its own Torah reading

The singing and dancing continue as we finish reading the Torah and begin reading it all over again.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Thursday Evening Classes

First Session on Thursday, October 23

Learn to Read Torah: 7 - 7:40pm

Yesodot: Jewish Foundations: 7:45 - 8:30pm


Note: We have scheduled these two classes to run consecutively so that people who want to attend both can do so.


Learn more and RSVP, walk-ins welcome.


Learn to Read the Torah with Hazzan Natasha Hirschhorn,


Would you like to learn how chant the Torah, helping the community hear the holy text?


Please join Hazzan Hirschhorn to learn the cantillation system.


Yesodot: Jewish Foundations with Rabbis Jeremy Kalmanofsky and Yael Hammerman


Jewish life often seems to demand a lot of background knowledge. Where do you learn it all, especially as an adult?


Please join Rabbi Hammerman and Rabbi Kalmanofsky to learn anew or go back and review some core Jewish practices and concepts.

Reflections Through Painting and Collage: Workshop Series with Amy Tenenouser

First Session on Sunday, October 26 from 10:30am - 12pm in 5 North


In this painting and collage workshop series, led by artist Amy Tenenouser, participants will be introduced to a range of artists and art historical periods while exploring painting and collage through memory, reflection, and Jewish spiritual ideas and culture. Drawing inspiration from still life set-ups and themes that spark imagination and personal life stories, participants will begin to build the foundation for their own unique form of creative expression. Learn more and register

What Comes Next for Israel, American Jews, and the Middle East? With Michael Koplow

Tuesday, October 28 at 7:30pm


Presentation and dialogue with Dr. Michael Koplow, Chief Policy Officer of Israel Policy Forum and a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He writes and speaks widely on U.S. policy in the Middle East, Israeli politics and foreign policy, and the American Jewish relationship with Israel. RSVP here

New Ansche Chesed Book Group!

First gathering on Wednesday, November 12 at 5:30pm at AC


Join us for a new book group focused on Jewish authors, themes, and big ideas. Our first book will be Kantika by Elizabeth Graver.


All adults welcome, including non-members. Learn more and RSVP

RUACH NEDIVA: SERVICE TRIP TO ISRAEL

Register for Ruach Nediva: December 8-14, 2025


Please consider joining רוח נדיבה/Ruach Nediva, “The Volunteering Spirit,” a service learning trip to Israel with Ansche Chesed's rabbis and members. Our volunteer activities will be meaningful but not overly strenuous for people of every age. Thanks to the generous support of the UJA-Federation of New York, the trip is less expensive than other week-long trips, which we hope will enable wider participation.


Click here to learn more about the trip, including a recording of our virtual info session. Register now to join us!

SOCIAL ACTION

Pre-Shabbat Climate Action from Jewish Climate Action Network NYC


Subscribe for weekly emails with a quick action you can take to support climate legislation, and a short reflection for Shabbat. View this week's.

ONGOING PROGRAMMING

Rabbi Jules Harlow Parshat HaShavuah Class

Saturdays, 9am in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel or on Zoom

Source Sheet (updated Friday afternoons)

 

Dedicated to Rabbi Jules Harlow, a great teacher of Torah and Jewish liturgy. Come before class at 8:45am for hot coffee and schmoozing! 

Shirei Chesed Community Chorus

Weekly Rehearsals on Wednesday Evenings in 5 North


Shirei Chesed is looking forward to our November 20th performance of a new composition, "The Song of Jonah," along with a choir over 100 voices strong and a full orchestra at Temple Israel! Would you like to add your voice to this exciting collaboration? For more information or to schedule an audition, email Cantor Natasha Hirschhorn.

Parsha Talk

 

Join Rabbi Kalmanofsky and his buddies Rabbis Barry Chesler and Eliot Malomet for their weekly Parsha Talk. Watch the latest episode

Caregivers' Circle, with DOROT Social Worker

Biweekly Wednesdays from 12 - 1:15pm at AC or on Zoom


The Caregivers' Circle is facilitated by DOROT social worker Jane Blumenstein, LCSW, to provide a supportive community where caregivers can connect and find strength. Whether caring for a spouse, parent, or another loved one, this group is here to support you. Learn More and Register

PRAYER

Weekday Morning Minyan

Mondays - Fridays at 7:30am

Sundays and Civil Holidays at 8:30am

in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel or on Zoom


Join our WhatsApp group, which we'll post to when we need people.

Misheberakh List


We invite you to add the names of your dear ones. Please re-submit them each English calendar month if you'd like us to keep davvening for them.

COMMUNITY

The Hidden World of Jewish, Irish, and French Psychics on the Lower East Side

Wednesday, October 22 at 7pm at the 14Y Theater (344 E.14th St. at First Ave.)

 

Between 1850 and the early 1900s, the Lower East Side was home to more than a thousand fortune tellers. Who were these psychics and what were their customers seeking? Join Marie Carter (Mortimer and the Witches: A History for Nineteenth Century Fortune Tellers), Eddy Portnoy (Bad Rabbi: And Other Strange but True Stories from the Yiddish Press), and moderator, Dan Friedman for an illuminating conversation exploring the lives of Jewish, Irish, and French immigrant psychics and the intersection of religion, gender, and culture on the Lower East Side at the time. Learn More and Register


Moderated by AC member Dan Friedman. If planning to attend, please let him know as well.

SHUK

Housekeeper/Caretaker Seeking Employment, from Corinne Boren

 

I am recommending my friend Anila who is seeking employment as a housekeeper, caretaker or companion. Anila is very experienced and caring. She helped me take care of my mother for over four years and truly enhanced her quality of life until my mother passed in 2020. Should you wish further information please feel free to contact me at my email address co18bo@aol.com or by phone 212 864 8163.

Members may email us Shuk postings, sending a brief blurb including a member's contact info. Must be received by Tuesday at 3pm. Posts run for two weeks.

Despite our best efforts and extensive proofreading, we apologize for any errors or omissions.