קהילה קדושה יאנינה הוא בית כנסת הנמצא ברחוב ברום (Broome) 280 בין רחובות אלן (Allen) ואלדרידג' (Eldridge) בלואר איסט סייד במנהטן ניו יורק. הוא נבנה בשנים 1925-1927 ותוכנן על ידי סידני דאוב. הוא בית הכנסת היחיד בחצי הכדור המערבי שנוהגים בו בנוסח הרומניוטים השונה גם מנוסח אשכנז וגם מנוסח ספרד.
לקהילה קדושה יאנינה יש ייחוד בהיותו בית הכנסת הרומניוטי היחיד בחצי הכדור המערבי הקהילה נוסדה ב-1906 על ידי מהגרים יהודי יוונים מיואנינה, אבל בית הכנסת לא הוקם עד 1927. השנים מאז ועד מלחמת העולם השנייה היו שנים של שפע לקהילה הרומניוטית בלואר איסט סייד. כיהנו בבית הכנסת שלושה רבנים ובימים הנוראים היה בית הכנסת מלא מפה לפה. אחרי מלחמת העולם השנייה עבר חלק גדול מבני הקהילה לרבעים אחרים וחלקים אחרים של מנהטן כולל הרלם, ברונקס וברוקלין. קהילות אלה כבר אינן פעילות היום. למרות שהקהילה התמעטה באופן קבוע מאז ימי הזוהר שלה לפני המלחמה הרי עדיין מתקיימות תפילות בבית הכנסת בשבתות ובחגים. למרות שיש לבית הכנסת רשימת תפוצה של 3,000 אנשים הרי, לעתים קרובות, חסרים אנשים למניין בתפילות השבת. סיורים מודרכים מתקיימים בכל יום ראשון למבקרים. לקהילת יאנינה יש חלקה בבית העלמין בוולווד (Wellwood). שם יש גם מצבת זיכרון ליהודי יאנינה שנספו בשואה.
הבניין נוסף לרשימה הלאומית של מקומות היסטוריים ב-30 בנובמבר 1999 וצוין כנקודת ציון של העיר ניו יורק ב-11 במאי 2004 . הוא עבר שיקום נרחב ב-2006.
Congregation Kehila Kedosha Janina
A small synagogue in New York City's Lower East Side is reaching out to make people aware of its congregation's heritage through a museum that familiarizes people with its customs and history.
The synagogue is virtually unchanged since being built in 1927 by Romaniote Jews from Janina, Greece. In 2004, it was designated a landmark by the City of New York.
Both memorabilia and the museum's tour guides describe the story of the Romaniote Jews, from their entry into Greece in the first century to their current life in America.
Differences between Greek Romaniote Jews and the Greek Sephardic Jews who fled from Spain to escape the Inquisition are featured: The two groups speak different languages and have distinct customs.
The synagogue is open for Shabbat services at 9:00 a.m. and on holidays. Look for the schedule of "Holiday Services" on our sidebar menu.
The Museum is open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays, or please contact us if you wish to have a special appointment.
History
SEPHARDIC COMMUNITY OF GREATER BOSTON
The Sephardim, the first Jewish community to reach America in 1492 together with Christopher Columbus, have been living in Boston for over 350 years. They arrived around the same time as the city of Boston was incorporated in the year 1630. Spanish Portuguese Jews escaping the inquisition and persecution, settled throughout the English Colonies, regaining their freedom of religion, and building their homes and businesses. The first documented Jew in Boston was Solomon Franco, a Sephardic Jew from Holland, who arrived in 1649.
Among the famous patriots living in Boston, was Moses Michael Hays, a Portuguese Sephardi. He and his family left Newport for Boston ahead of the British attack in 1776, at a time that Boston was devastated by the physical and financial effects of the American Revolution. For the next three decades, Moses Hays and his family would play key roles in establishing the financial and cultural institutions that would define post-Revolutionary and 19th-century Boston.
He opened a shipping office in Boston and was among the first merchants there to underwrite shipbuilding, trade and insurance to newly opened Far Eastern markets. In 1784, Hays become a founder and the first depositor of the Massachusetts Bank still doing business today as part of the Bank of America. He was an honorary member of the Boston Marine Society, and a founder of the Mass Mutual Fire Insurance Company and the Mass Marine Insurance Company.
Moses Hays was also active in a variety of civic projects. He donated to subscriptions to beautifying the Boston Common, to building bridges and turnpikes, and to Harvard College.
His son, Judah Hays, and his nephews, Abraham and Judah Touro (after whom Touro Synagogue in Newport, RI, the oldest synagogue in America is named) continued in his tradition. They helped establish Mass General Hospital (Abraham Touro’s portrait is on the wall, in the main lobby), the Boston Athenaeum and the Bunker Hill Monument (The base of the Bunker Hill Monument bears an inscription honoring Judah Touro).
Besides socializing with Paul Revere and Harrison Gray Otis, these Sephardic families were sincere to their Jewish roots. Their businesses were closed on Shabbat, kosher meat was being delivered from Newport, regular prayer services were being held at their homes, and their household library contained dozens of Hebrew books.
However, with all prosperity, the early Boston Sephardic Jews were considered alien-residents. No Jewish houses of worship were allowed in Boston. Furthermore, the Hayes, Touro, Lopez and many other Boston Sephardic families had to bury their deceased in Newport, since there were no Jewish cemeteries allowed at that time. Hence, they were all tied to New York and Newport’s Spanish Portuguese congregations, where they donated regularly and were members. Not until the Massachusetts Constitutional Amendments of 1821, were the Jews granted full rights of citizenship, shortly before a group of Sephardic Algerian Jews arrived in Boston in 1830.
In 1840, the Sephardic Jews in Boston were joined by the Ashkenazim, who had just arrived from Germany, settling at first in the old South End, just South of Boston Common. German immigrants began immediately to establish the traditional institutions that characterized Jewish communities around the world, now that they were permitted in Boston. In 1842, the first Jewish congregation in Boston, calling itself Ohabei Shalom (Lovers of Peace) was formed. Their first synagogue dedicated in 1852 was strictly orthodox. It housed a Mikveh (ritual bath) and a Talmud Torah for children. Two years later, Ohabei Shalom established the first Jewish cemetery in the city. Finally, after two centuries, Boston Jews no longer had to be buried in Newport or New York City. Judah Touro included in his will a large donation to Ohabei Shalom before his death in 1854.
As Ohabei Shalom and it’s break-away, Adath Israel (today Temple Israel), eventually both became Reform Temples, the Sephardic Jews, keeping strictly to their traditional lifestyles, joined and identified with the more religious congregations, and prayed in their synagogues.
In the 1870’s through the turn of the century, there was a group of primarily North African Sephardim, who held Sephardic services in Zion’s Holy Prophets of Israel (The Alfred A. Marcus Orthodox Synagogue) in Boston’s South End. They were using a Torah Scroll dedicated by the famous Sephardic philanthropist, Sir Moses Montefiore. As the Jewish community started to migrate to the suburbs of Roxbury, Dorchester & Mattapan, so did the Sephardim. They continued praying in the synagogues on Blue Hill Ave.
Mattapan is where the history of our Sephardic Community in Brighton began. Many Sephardic Jews were fleeing Egypt, after the rise of President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1956, who subsequently expelled all the Jews and confiscated all their property. After the transition from Egypt, usually through France, where they waited a few years to receive their visas, they arrived in the USA. Approximately sixty families settled in Boston, by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
Hacham Elie Setton, born in Aleppo, Syria, was a Torah scholar and merchant in Alexandria, Egypt. He arrived in Boston in1963, and organized the first prayer services on Yom Kippur of that year. Together with his father-in-law, R’ Eliyahu Hamaoui, and his brother-in-law, the noted Hazzan of the Great Synagogue of Cairo, Shaoul (Charles) Hamaoui and his brother-in-law, Mr. Albert Habif (later elected treasurer of SCGB), they acquired space from Rabbi Moshe Gurkow, in his newly formed Shaloh House Hebrew Day School in Mattapan, and conducted the Yom Kippur services.
That year, in attendance, there were only three families with just nine men/boys that could be counted for the minyan. They invited an Ashkenazi friend to complete the minyan. The next year, as many more families arrived in Boston, they had dozens of people at the High Holiday services. Eventually, other Sephardim living in Boston from other countries of origin, (such as the Cohen families from Greece) found their home with this Syrian-Egyptian group. Hacham Setton became the spiritual leader of the entire Sephardic community, and together with the Hazzan, Shaoul Hamaoui, they lead the services, and began a new chapter in the lives of Boston’s Sephardic Jews.
In 1965, due to the deteriorating Jewish situation in Mattapan, the Sephardic community needed to move again. Many of them settled in Brookline, around Coolidge Corner. The High Holiday Sephardic services were conducted in the Social Hall of the Southern House, on Beacon Street.
The community kept on growing in Brookline, as still many more Egyptian families were arriving, and many other local Sephardim, by now, had heard of the Sephardic services, and hundreds came to join. Eventually, the High Holiday services were moved to the Chateau Garod Wedding Hall on Beacon St. Year after year, following the High Holiday services, the community yearned that one day they should merit to have a synagogue of their own.
In 1977, under the leadership of Dr. Charles Sasson, the Sephardic Community of Greater Boston filed the legal papers, becoming incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Mass.
In 1979, under the leadership of Dr. Charles Naggar & Dr. Martin Hanopole, together with Rabbi Ezra Labaton & Dr. Baruch Mazor, the High Holiday services were extended to Shabbat services too, meeting every week in the Beit Midrash of Young Israel of Brookline.
In 1983, under the leadership of Mr. Clement (Rahmin) Kodsi, the community accepted our beloved Rabbi Aaron Hamaoui, who eventually succeeded his uncle and father, as Rabbi and Hazzan of the community. Rabbi Hamaoui instituted the daily minyan and many Torah classes, which continue till this day. Over the years, the Rabbi has reached out and has made a major impact on hundreds of Jewish families and international college students studying in Boston.
On Yom Kippur 1988, under the leadership of Mr. Moshe Rahmani & Mr. Edmond Shamsi, a successful campaign was launched to finally build our own synagogue. Major contributions were received from the Shamsi and Zafarani families, and also from the Cochab, Elmaleh, Feuerstein, Gabbay, Kodsi, Naggar & Sitt families. Also, among those who donated generously were the Aghion, Ariel, Bauer, Foonberg, Habif, Hassan, Lester, Mayo, Mosseri, Sabetfard, Sanieoff & Schinazi families.
In 1989, the community inaugurated their first synagogue building, Kol Sasson Bnei Shaoul, at our present location, on Corey Road in Brighton. Hence, after three and a half centuries, the Sephardim finally had their first Sephardic synagogue building in the city of Boston.
For over a quarter of a century, this synagogue building has not only served the needs of the Sephardic community, it has also homed and been instrumental in founding many other important institutions of Jewish Boston, such as the Kollel of Greater Boston, Bais Yaakov Girls High School, Ohr Yisrael Yeshiva High School, and others.
In 2008, shortly after a major renovation and completion of the Abraham Picciotto Beit Midrash, several dynamic young professionals reached out to form the New Ashkenaz Minyan (NAM). This Minyan, which is integral to the Sephardic Congregation of Greater Boston, started in October 2008 and has ever since attracting many young adults, families and students. It is a very popular destination for newcomers to Boston.
Congregation Ohab Zedek, or OZ, as it is fondly known, is more than just a synagogue. Under the leadership of Rabbi Allen Schwartz, the Shul is known for its open doors and big heart. OZ has broad ties with the surrounding Jewish community and its Upper West Side neighborhood as a whole. A random visitor could easily encounter an up and coming scholar from Israel, or members of the local fire station. It is an informal, comfortable, inclusive community.
OZ is a modern Orthodox congregation, but any individual is welcome, regardless of background or means. It is a Shul of interlocking communities–young families who find a relaxed setting on Shabbos morning to introduce their toddlers to services; singles, who famously crowd the steps on Friday night; and seniors, many of whom have been members of OZ for decades. It is home to those tentatively exploring Judaism as well as the most learned, who are stimulated by a broad array of lecturers and classes.
Rabbi Allen Schwartz became the spiritual leader of Congregation Ohab Zedek in 1988. He is an alumnus of Yeshiva College and received his Master of Arts Degree in Bible, Rabbinics and Halacha from Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School, where he continues to work on his doctoral thesis on Rashi's methodology. Rabbi Schwartz was granted Smicha from the University's affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He currently holds the Raymond J. Greenwald Chair in Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, where he has taught since 1983.
Rabbi Schwartz and his wife Alisa moved to the Upper West Side in 1985, where he served as rabbi at Congregation Ohav Shalom before moving to the pulpit at Ohab Zedek. Rabbi Schwartz's major focus at OZ is to foster connections within and among the many different age groups and constituencies of Jews living on the Upper West Side. Seeking to make all kinds of religious opportunities available to Ohab Zedek members, he brings information to the community regarding such subjects as Chesed, Tzedakah, Torah learning, Shatnes testing, Tefillin and Mezuzah service, and assistance with Mitzvah and Shabbos observance. Rabbi Schwartz's goal for the community is to make every OZ attendee a member of the larger community family.
Rabbi Schwartz gives weekly classes on a variety of subjects at OZ and also taught fifth through eighth grades at Manhattan Day School. He has lectured extensively for the Board of Jewish Education of New York at elementary and high schools in the New York area. Rabbi Schwartz has published curricula on Biblical themes for Jewish day schools nationally and has written Bible curricula for Yeshiva day schools and high schools. He serves on the executive board of the Rabbinical Council of America and has also served as President of the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations of Manhattan's West Side. Rabbi Schwartz was the camp rabbi and educational director of Camp Morasha from 1996 to 2000 and then served as the educational director of Camp Mesora from 2002 to 2005 and continues to dedicate time during the summer months to serve its educational staff.
Rabbi Schwartz recently completed a scholarly edition of the Commentary of the Rokeach to the Book of Proverbs.
Rabbi and Alisa Schwartz have six children and eleven grandchildren.
LSS is a diverse and vibrant Modern Orthodox Congregation that provides religious, social, and educational services and outreach to the unique Jewish community of the Upper West Side. The synagogue strives to be a model in the integration of Halachic Judaism and contemporary life to the broader Jewish community.
In 1964, in the living room of an apartment in Lincoln Towers, a part-time rabbi from Yeshiva University named Steven Riskin took the budding Lincoln Square Conservative Synagogue by storm. His originality, charm and boundless energy captivated members and moved them to a more traditionally observant Judaism, in turn sparking a growing Jewish renaissance on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Before long, a new synagogue-in-theround made its debut at 200 Amsterdam Avenue, and the excitement at the renamed Lincoln Square Synagogue brought hundreds of young single professionals to the neighborhood, creating a vibrant scene for mixing and matching. Young families were also drawn to LSS, attracted by the dazzling teachings of Rabbi Riskin, assisted by Rabbi Herschel Cohen z”l and Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, and the gorgeous melodies of Cantor Sherwood Goffin. “The New Orthodox” they called it on the cover of New York Magazine. Who knew? But as members struggled to navigate between the laws of Jewish tradition and the secular values of the surrounding society, Lincoln Square Synagogue began to see its destiny.
Just down the street from the temples of high culture at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Square Synagogue quickly established itself as a temple of an innovative kind, showcasing the classical and the contemporary, history and modernity. With joy and pride, the challenges of present-day living were brought into harmony with the ancient traditions passed down through the generations. The sacred liturgical texts of tefillah were infused with a new vitality as haunting, time-honored melodies shared the stage with the music of Shlomo Carlebach and The Rabbi’s Sons. The thirst for wisdom was quenched with the scholarship of Rashi and Rambam blended with the insights of 20th-century thinkers like Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook and Rabbi Joseph Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik. Everything old was new again.
What emerged was a synagogue with its own, unique, invigorating rhythm: home to meaningful and enthusiastic worship, to be sure, but also a place to establish lifelong friendships, build businesses and organizations, find soul mates and nourish the next generation through education and religious instruction. Thousands of Jews of all ages and backgrounds had come together to create a true makom kadosh, providing support for each other in times of sorrow and sharing joy in times of simcha. LSS was now a unified community whose commitment to Judaism and love of humankind extended beyond self and family to the world at large. You could walk in off the street for the first time, as so many did, and feel you’d been here before.
As the years flew by, the stunning success of Lincoln Square Synagogue brought with it newfound responsibility: to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse membership, an ever-expanding neighborhood and a 21st-century world. New solutions for new realities were required that would acknowledge the changing landscape, while staying true to the synagogue’s core principles and personality. Recognizing the difficulties faced by those forced to care for their children and their parents at the same time, and those older members in need of help, LSS became the first local Orthodox synagogue to add a part-time social worker to its core staff, guiding those needing support and companionship through the complicated maze of social service programs.
Identifying a resurgent thirst for Torah study on an individual, one-on-one level, LSS members founded the first full-time Modern Orthodox/Religious Zionist Kollel in the New York metropolitan area, offering the learned and the uninitiated new and exciting educational opportunities that reflected a love of Torah as well as eretz yisrael and am yisrael – the land and the nation of Israel.
And always mindful of the needs of the greater Jewish community, LSS members created the Lea Segre Tomchei Shabbos Fund providing free meals to those recovering from illness and childbirth or sitting shiva, as well as the Louis Lazar Benevolent Fund providing free religious articles like siddurim, mezuzot, and tefillin to those in need. All of this and weekly Bikur Cholim visits to Roosevelt Hospital every Shabbat afternoon, annual clothing drives, and a dedicated Chesed Fund that supports a variety of charitable causes in New York and across the country. As our sages teach, “olam chesed yibaneh” – acts of kindness build the world – and Lincoln Square Synagogue always does its part.
In 2013, LSS continued the next phase of its history and moved 100 yards south to 180 Amsterdam Avenue.
Ramath Orah has a unique legacy among Upper West Side synagogues. Founded in 1941 by Rabbi Dr. Robert Serebrenik, the synagogue’s original congregation was comprised of 61 refugees from Luxembourg who escaped the Nazi occupation under extraordinary circumstances. When they arrived in New York they immediately began the work of establishing a congregation in their new home. By 1942, they had founded Congregation Ramath Orah, naming it after the community they'd left.
We want our children to love the experience of shul so that they look forward to coming every Shabbat and holiday. We want our congregants to enjoy each others’ company, linger over Kiddush, laugh with one another, and be comfortable in our shul. For our members, we want to be the first place that they think of when it is time to celebrate a simchah, and the community they turn to in times of loss.
Worship – We are a place where Jews may worship together in an atmosphere that maximizes our ability to forge a relationship with G-d. Our community embraces spiritual, melodic prayer, from a Carlebach-style Kabbalat Shabbat, to festive holiday celebrations, and daily prayer.
Learning – We are deeply committed to study and education, and there are opportunities every week to learn with our rabbis and visiting scholars.
Chesed – We are dedicated to the ideals of bikur cholim (visiting the sick) and g’milut chasadim (doing good deeds), and the Ramath Orah Team of Chesed (ROTC) can often be seen visiting sick or elderly members of the community. We seek to integrate Chesed programs into the life of our community and to involve as many of our congregants as we possibly can in our Chesed programs.
Zionism – As a Jewish community, we are strongly committed to the State of Israel and encourage advocacy and activism. We believe that the creation of the State of Israel marks the beginning of the fulfillment of G-d’s promise to the Jewish people and foreshadows our ultimate redemption. Accordingly, the preservation of the Jewish State and the ability of its citizens to live in peace, safety and prosperity is a goal of our congregation, one which we not only pray for, but contribute our time and resources to help achieve.
Engagement – All members of our community are active participants, . While everyone is welcome to attend davening in our main sanctuary on holidays, we also host a monthly women’s prayer group and weekly Children’s Shabbat programs.
We are not judgmental of our fellow Jews, and we welcome all to our synagogue and accord honors in our services without regard to affiliation or non-affiliation of our members and guests. Ramath Orah seeks to be at the forefront of mutual tolerance and respect for Klal Yisrael. Ramath Orah, moreover, does not turn away anyone, either from participation in shul activities or from receiving honors, because of an inability to pay dues or make contributions.
We aspire to be a synagogue that makes every visitor, from the moment he or she enters our Shul, feel welcome and appreciated. We want every congregant to feel a personal obligation to reach out not only to visitors and new members, but to their fellow congregants. Click here to learn more about our hospitality program.
SpatzShulPhoto tinyWe are an independent, historic Orthodox synagogue that serves a diverse congregation and the broader community.
Our little shul is a great place for davening (prayer), learning, and spiritual growth; and a social environment where we celebrate holidays and life-cycle events together.
We are a warm, caring, welcoming community where everyone can contribute and be active in the life of the congregation, build on the traditions of our founders, and link the Jewish past to the future.
The Adams Street Shul is an orthodox synagogue located near Boston, Massachusetts. The congregation was founded in 1911 — and the shul built in 1912 — by immigrants who had been settling there since the 1890's, mostly from Hungary and the Ukraine.
The synagogue is located in the Nonantum neighborhood of Newton, less than five miles from downtown Boston. Newton is famously safe, and extremely convenient to all the Boston attractions, colleges, high-tech employment, and world-class medical centers.
The Adams Street Synagogue is also convenient to mikvaot and day schools, enjoys having an eruv, and often partners with the three other orthodox synagogues within walking distance.
In the last decade of the 20th century, the antique synagogue was physically restored, and its small, vibrant congregation has been growing ever since.
The shul's members benefit from Newton's excellent municipal services. The shul's Nonantum neighborhood has more homes for rent, more two-family homes, and lower cost houses than can be found in Brookline, Sharon, or other parts of Newton. And there is an eruv.
Individuals and young families relocating to the Boston area for its job market or educational opportunities find the Adams Street Shul to be a place where they can become active and really make a difference in a welcoming, haimish community.
The synagogue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the congregation has been housed there continuously for over a century.
For more information, explore the synagogue's website or contact to arrange a tour or Shabbat hospitality.
Join our diverse congregation, over one hundred years old and still going strong!
Rabbi Yosie Levine joined The Jewish Center's rabbinic team in 2004. He earned a BA in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia College and was awarded the university's William F. Curtis award for outstanding oratory. A Wexner Graduate Fellow, Rabbi Levine received rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and was the winner of RIETS' writing prize. He holds an MPA in Public Policy from NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Modern Jewish History at Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School. Rabbi Levine served as Rabbinic Intern, Assistant Rabbi and Associate Rabbi at The Jewish Center where he received practical rabbinic training and mentoring from Rabbi Ari Berman. Before joining the Center, he served as the educational director of the Lauder Foundation's Beit Midrash in Berlin, Germany and as the visiting scholar of Congregation Knesseth Israel in Birmingham, Alabama. Rabbi Levine has taken a leadership role on the issue of day school affordability and serves as the chair of Manhattan Day School's Political Advocacy Committee. He is co-chair of the Manhattan Eruv and is active in numerous communal organizations including AIPAC and the Beth Din of America and serves on the Board of UJA-Federation of New York. Rabbi Levine's wife, Rachel, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Manhattan. They are the proud parents of Akiva, Yehoshua, Ari and Judy.
Rabbi Dovid Zirkind, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, joined The Jewish Center clergy in July 2012. After two years of study at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh in Israel, Dovid continued his education at Yeshiva University. There he received his undergraduate degree in Psychology, graduating from the Yeshiva Program with honors. Upon graduation, Rabbi Zirkind attended the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, studying in the Marcos and Adina Katz Kollel. In 2010, Rabbi Zirkind joined the Yeshiva University Torah MiTzion Beit Midrash of Toronto, where he studied full time in the Beit Midrash and served as Rabbinic Assistant at Shaarei Shomayim Congregation. In that role, Rabbi Zirkind taught classes throughout the Greater Toronto Area, crafted programs and curricula for adults, college students and children alike and trained under a number of the communities leading Rabbis.
In his role as Assistant Rabbi of The Jewish Center, Rabbi Zirkind services the full gamut of our membership. He is the director of our Adult Education program, Jewish Center University, leads our daily minyanim and heads our Young Leadership Minyan and programming. Internally, Rabbi Zirkind teaches a number of ongoing classes and shiurim, including Talmud, Contemporary Ethics and Jewish Law. He believes that passionate Torah Study should be text based, highly engaging and grapple with the major issues of our time. In the broader community, Rabbi Zirkind increasingly represents our shul as well. He is teacher at Manhattan Day School and a frequent lecturer in local institutions including; the JCC, West Side Sefardic Synagogue, Congregation Rodeph Shalom, the RIETS Rabbinic Training Seminar and others. In addition, as a UJA Federation Grant Recipient, Rabbi Zirkind currently leads the inaugural cohort of The Jewish Center Social Action Fellowship (JCSAF). Together with his wife, Ariella, the Zirkind’s lead sought after personalized marriage workshops, which include Chattan & Kallah classes and ongoing Taharat HaMishpacha and fertility counseling for young families.
Young Israel: Past, Present and Future
"The aims and purposes of the organization shall be to foster and maintain a program of spiritual, cultural, social and communal activity towards the advancement and perpetuation of traditional Torah-true Judaism; and to instill into American Jewish youth an understanding and appreciation of the high ethical and spiritual values of Judaism and demonstrate the compatibility of the ancient faith of Israel with good Americanism.
The organization shall promote cooperation among the constituent branches now existing and which may hereafter be formed, establish a close bond of kinship to the end that their individual and common problems may more easily be solved, and act as the federated and central body for the Young Israel Movement so that its influence as a force in Jewry may be felt and recognized in America and the world over."
(from the Preamble of the National Council of Young Israel Constitution)
Young Israel was born in 1912, when the primary aspirations of most American-born Jews were economic success and acceptance in American society. Jewish education was very low on their list of priorities, and as a result, was usually rudimentary, at best. Orthodox synagogues were exclusively Yiddish-speaking and permeated by an Eastern European atmosphere. American-raised Jewish youth who wandered into these synagogues typically found themselves shut out completely. It is not surprising that the Jewish youth of that era generally avoided the synagogue, attending only when expected by family custom. Although intermarriage was relatively rare, the distance between young Jewish hearts and minds and Jewish belief and practice was almost huge. It was in this environment that Young Israel was founded by a group of 15 visionary young men and women.
Its first activities were Friday night lectures in English (which was very controversial) on a variety of topics of Jewish interest. Three years later, the group formed a "Model Synagogue" with innovations designed to attract American-raised English-speaking Jewish youth, including participatory singing and youth programs. To enable people of all means to fully participate in synagogue services, Young Israel prohibited the auctioning of synagogue honors. The National Council of Young Israel required the minimum halachic standards of a mechitza, closed parking facilities on Shabbat and Yom Tov, and that each of its synagogues officers be Shomer Shabbat. Young Israel synagogues popped up across North America.
Young Israel envisioned itself as much more than a conglomeration of synagogues. Young Israel was the first on secular college campuses, with over 20 kosher dining halls and intercollegiate programs. Young Israel created an Employment Bureau for Sabbath Observers, in an era when most employees were expected to work 6 days a week. At Young Israel’s headquarters in New York, arms were packed for the Haganah defense forces of the not-yet-born State of Israel. The Free Soviet Jewry Movement was championed by the leadership of Young Israel. Young Israel has always been fiercely Zionistic, and promoted the rights of Jews to live throughout the Land of Israel. Young Israel placed an important role in gaining broad acceptance for advocating for the commuting of Jonathan Pollard’s sentence.
Today the National Council of Young Israel provides professional advice and cost-saving initiatives to 135 Young Israel synagogues (and beyond), advocates for the interests and views of our 25,000 member families, trains aspiring rabbis, supports rabbis in the field with biweekly question and answer sessions, aides communities in rabbinic searches and relations, coordinates informative Gabbai2Gabbai conference calls, provides exciting Parsha Nation curriculum for synagogue youth groups, runs inspiring Achva Summer Teen Experiences, shares best practices through monthly e-publications Shul Solutions and The Practical Pulpit, runs a three division basketball league in the New York metropolitan area, and serves as the sponsor of four senior centers at Young Israel synagogues which feed, educate and recreate the generation that made Young Israel great.
Future plans include providing spiritual inspiration and connection for Young Professionals and training Ashkenazic rabbis how to serve their Sephardic congregants. We are committed to work to maximize the resources of the Jewish community by working with our colleagues at other Jewish organizations and Jewish institutes of higher education and to maintaining a standard of excellence in everything we do.
Shacharit Mincha/Maariv
Sunday 8:30 am
Weekday 7:00 am
Friday evening sundown
Shabbos morning 9:15 am
Montefiore Orthodox Synagogue
460 Westford Street
Lowell, MA 01851
(978) 459-9400
B"H Shalom! Montefiore Synagogue (previously known as Montefiore Society Synagogue ), the oldest synagogue in Lowell, Massachusetts was established in 1896. It relocated to Westford Street in 1971, after merging with Anshe Sfard Synagogue in 1969.
Lowell, is a great place for Orthodox Jews! We have a small close-knit Jewish community dedicated to preserving and enhancing Jewish life in the Merrimack Valley region. Lowell, Massachusetts is located off the junction of Routes 3 and 495, and is conveniently located in the high-tech region of Boston Routes 128/95 and 93. Boston is just a 45-minute drive from us and New Hampshire is just 10 minutes north of us. Lowell is home to a minor league baseball team, the Spinners , and hockey team, the Lock Monsters. Lowell has quite a number of cultural and theatrical venues, the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, the Tsongas Arena, and the Merrimack Repertory Theatre to name a few.
Rabbi Ben Skydell has been the rabbi at Congregation Orach Chaim since January 2013. He follows an illustrious tradition of major American Rabbis to have served as the Congregation’s Rabbi, including Rabbis Michael D. Shmidman, Kenneth Hain and Simon Langer.
A native of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Rabbi Skydell is a graduate of Yeshiva College and the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He is a long-time faculty member of the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, and the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, and taught for several years at Yeshivat Hadar. Rabbi Skydell also served on the rabbinic staff of Congregation Beth Sholom of Lawrence, New York for nine years.
Rabbi Skydell’s areas of interest include the intersection of Halacha and history, the spiritual worlds of mussar and hasidut, and the historical world of the Rabbis of the Talmud. Rabbi Skydell’s dynamic and engaging presentation has made him a sought-out speaker on college campuses throughout the United States.
Rabbi Skydell is married to Shani, a dedicated social worker and teacher. They are the proud parents of Hannah, Emmie and Zacky.
Cantor Yaakov Y. Stark has been described as possessing “a voice of great beauty, clear and true…breathtaking, radiant, as though from another world.” A child prodigy, at the mere age of seven Yaakov Yoseph Stark was already thrilling congregations with his heartrending solos on the High Holidays. His talent and ability were nurtured by the distinguished cantors in his family, and through continuously listening to the master cantors of the golden age: Rosenblatt, Hershman, Kwartin, Pinchik, Glantz and Koussevitzky. Huge crowds of people regularly attend to savor the stirring songs and timeless tefillos eloquently enhanced and warmly delivered by their beloved cantor. Cantor Stark was privileged to perform at numerous sold-out concerts with the most prestigious philharmonic orchestras and finest choirs throughout the world. His lyric tenor voice has put him in constant demand as a guest cantor in synagogues worldwide. Cantor Stark resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with his wife and children.
Rabbi Shmidman has served the Orach Chaim congregation and Upper East Side community since 1988. In addition to Rabbinic ordination, he holds a Ph.D. degree in Public Law and Government from Columbia University. He has served as Professor and Chairman of Political and Social Science at City University of New York and most recently as Dean of Undergraduate Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University. A widely recognized scholar, he is acclaimed as an outstanding teacher and inspiring preacher. An ardent Zionist, he has been honored by religious, social and cultural institutions in Israel and the United States.
Rabbi Gavriel Bellino
A native of Lower Manhattan, Rabbi Bellino grew up attending the Young Israel of Fifth Avenue, and after graduating from Ramaz, studied at Yeshivat Shalavim outside of Yerushalayim before getting his degree in Psychology, Philosophy and Women’s Studies from Brandeis University. He pursued his smicha at RIETS before returning to his childhood community in 2006 to lead the Sixteenth Street Synagogue (formerly the Young Israel of Fifth Avenue).
With the recent joining of the Sixth and Sixteenth Street communities, Rabbi Bellino now presides as the Rabbi of the largest downtown Modern Orthodox community, ready to enter a newly invigorated era of downtown Jewish life.
During his tenure as the spiritual leader of the Sixth and Sixteenth Street communities, Rabbi Bellino has established himself as a compelling and unconventional force in Orthodox Judaism.
He has worked hard to diversify approaches and experiences to make Judaism more accessible to the entire community through programs like his Foundations of Judaism class, his Tanakh Yomi initiative, and his inspiring musical havdallah service.
Rabbi Bellino’s intellectual approach is diverse and ecumenical, integrating classical midrash, early Kabbalah and Hassidut, philosophers such as Levinas and Heidegger, underrepresented Jewish thinkers like Yeshayahu Leibowitz and Avraham ben HaRambam, all alongside traditional commentators like Maimonides and Soloveitchik. His ability to draw from such a wide net and boil down complex ideas into easily digestible points is not often seen in the Orthodox world.
Rabbi Bellino works closely with other local rabbis to maintain the downtown eruv and serves as a part of the Downtown Rabbinical Council – a newly formed committee of community leaders dedicated to the Jewish revival of Lower Manhattan.
You may be able to find him at a nearby underground coffee or beer shop, or possibly at a local boxing gym. He splits his time between Teaneck and Manhattan with his wife Cori and children Choni and Keshet.
Zmanim
Alot Hashachar 5:11a
Earliest Tallit 5:42a
Netz (Sunrise) 6:32a
Latest Shema 9:20a
Zman Tefillah 10:17a
Chatzot (Midday) 12:09p
Mincha Gedola 12:37p
Mincha Ketana 3:25p
Plag HaMincha 4:36p
Shkiah (Sunset) 5:46p
Tzeit Hakochavim 6:27p
Our Hebrew School
We create and environment that brings Judaism to life, fosters creativity and supports your child's unique style of learning. We use a unique approach which is hands-on and stimulates your child's intellect. Our curriculum has been designed to make a lasting, positive impact on the life of your child.
Judaism Comes Alive
Through drama, song art and stories we bring Judaism to life. OUr innovative methods make learning fun and memorable. We teach history by showing Jewish history, a method that encourages critical thinking. Through our mitzvah curriculum we emphasize each mivtzah's meaning for everyday life, in addition to the how-to ritual observance. Our hebrew language ensures that your child will be able to read from a Siddur (prayer book) No matter what synagogue your child affiliates with later in life, she or he will share the language of prayer with Jews around the world.
Our Staff
Our Hebrew School prides itself in our staff. Staff members are imbued with a desire to impart their love and knowledge of Judaism to their students. Recognizing that Hebrew School is an academic after-school program in addition to their regular school hours, our teachers endeavor to create an engaging program that keeps the interest of the child.
Educational Philosophy
Yeshiva Academy is founded on the principles of Chabad philosophy, which is a way of life that integrates the love of G‑d, intellectual knowledge and understanding of the Torah, and the appreciation of the uniqueness of every individual of the community.
Our administration and staff implement this philosophy in all areas of Judaic and General Studies while fostering a supportive environment for all our students.
Holistic growth in academic, spiritual, moral and social/emotions domains
Rigorous academics are pursued with a recognition that our students possess a variety of learning styles and abilities.
Students are taught to apply academic lessons from their practical settings to their daily lives.
Respect for each individual unique identity and talents forms the core of enhancing our students’ sense of self.
Ethics and moral values are explicitly taught, modeled, and practiced throughout the daily life of school.
Yeshiva teachers help our students realize that the Judaic and Secular worlds are interconnected.
Faculty strives to inspire and motivate each child to enjoy learning and a accept challenges while stimulating critical thought processes.
By empowering the head, heart, and soul, a Yeshiva education provides our students with knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to be successful and to become members of con
RABBI DANIEL SHERMAN
Rabbi Daniel Sherman joined West Side Institutional Synagogue in 2013. He studied at Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem and then earned a BA from Yeshiva College, where he won the award for Talmudic Excellence. He earned his rabbinic ordination at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, where he was a Maybaum Scholar as well. Prior to recieving his semicha, he interned at Congregation BIAV in Overland Park, Kansas. Rabbi Sherman is also the Co-Director of TorahLetzion, an organization that assists motivated high school students afford a gap-year in Israel. He also spent many summers at Camp Nesher serving as the Head of Staff Beit Medrash Program, chinuch Rebbi, and Assistant Athletic Director.
CANTOR ZEV MULLER
Cantor Zev Müller, our very own "Chazzan Zevi", was raised in a house of Rabbis and Chazzanim. His father, Rabbi Aron Müller, is the Rabbi of the Jewish community in Baden, Switzerland, and his uncle is the famous Cantor Benjamin Müller of Antwerp, Belgium. Chazzan Zevi studied in the renowned Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, Israel, and in Beth Medrash Gavoha of Lakewood, New Jersey. Zevi received his BA in Cell Biology & Neuroscience summa cum laude from Rutgers University, and his MA in Biological Sciences from Columbia University. He is currently a graduate student at the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at Columbia University.
Cantor Müller has studied Chazzanut and voice for many years with acclaimed cantors and opera singers, and has been leading high holiday services since the age of 18. He is a Spinto Tenor with a full range and with variations of color and dynamics. Despite his young age, Cantor Müller is well regarded in the cantorial world and is often invited to perform at concerts, officiate Chuppot and daven as a guest Chazzan around the world. In 2010, Cantor Müller recited the Kel Moleh Rachamim prayer at the UN General Assembly in commemoration of the Holocaust.
Cantor Müller has been the cantor at WSIS since 2007 and has become an integral part of the shul and the community. Though well-versed in traditional Chazzanut, Chazzan Zevi has integrated more contemporary-styled music, which encourages participatory davening and singing. Chazzan Zevi has inspired many with his warm heartfelt services and attracts many locals and visitors to the synagogue.
Besides his role as Cantor, Zevi also lectures and gives shiurim on Gemara, Jewish and Halachic topics for members of the shul and the broader community. He also finds time to teach Chazzanut, Nusach and voice to adults and children. Zevi and his wife, Chaya, live on the Upper West Side.
Rabbi Joshua Metzger – Executive Director
Rabbi Asher N. Webb – Kollel Director
Rabbi Levi Shmotkin – Young professionals
Rabbi Noach Heber – IAT Law and Chabad Relief NYC
Rabbi Shmuel Metzger – Upper Midtown Chabad
Mrs. Raizy Metzger – Chabad Preschool
Rabbi Yehuda Rader – Program Director
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Weisz – Assistant Rabbi
509 Fifth Ave Between 42nd and 43rd
New York City
Shachris morning service: Monday-Friday 7:45 A.M.
2nd Shachris Minyan Monday-Thursday 8:45 A.M.
Sundays (and major legal holidays) 9:30 A.M.
Mincha afternoon service: 1:45 P.M. Sunday-Friday (year- round)
Mincha/Maariv service: 4:15/4:30P.M. Sunday-Thursday
Maariv Evening Service: 5:45 p.m. Monday-Thursday
Shabbat Schedule at Chabad of Midtown Manhattan:
For Shabbat candle lighting times click here
Friday Night Service: Kabbalat Shabbat/Arvit 6:00 pm
Dinner: Following service
Shabbat Morning Service: 10:00 am
Kiddush Buffet: 12:30 pm
About Us
The Old Broadway Synagogue is located at 15 Old Broadway, which is a small street that spans between 125th and 126th streets approximately half a block east of Broadway. Take the 1 train or M104 bus to 125th street and walk east to Old Broadway. We hold services every Friday at sunset, Shabbos mornings at 9:15 and Saturday afternoon 20 minutes before sunset. We have Sunday morning services followed by breakfast and a shiur with Daniel Fridman.
The Old Broadway Synagogue is the better known name of our congregation, the Chevra Talmud Torah Anshei Marovi. we were founded in 1911 in the West Harlem neighborhood of Manhattanville by a small group of Eastern European Jewish immigrants. The congregation originally met in storefronts and in the back of a bar until we built our own building in 1923 on Old Broadway. The congregation was active in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, but by 1950 was struggling when we hired Rabbi Jacob Kret. Together with his wife, Chana, Rabbi and Mrs. Kret brought the shul back to life by recruiting new congregants, at that point, mostly Holocaust survivors. May of these people moved on, but by this time, Rabbi Kret was a Talmud tutor at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He recruited students from JTS and later also from Columbia (he was a regular at Columbia's daily minyan and was the mashgiach in the Barnard kosher kitchen). For me Rabbi Kret embodied an ideal of Jewish authenticity: knowledgeable, observant, welcoming, warm and loving. We are doing our best to follow in his footsteps. In 2001, the shul was listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. We are slowly trying to restore the building and striving to be a beacon of Torah, Yiddishkeyt and Menschlikhkeyt in West Harlem.
Rabbi Moskowitz has focused much of his outreach efforts on the Jewish students at Columbia University. In recognition of his work there he was appointed as a "Religious Life Adviser" by the Office of the University Chaplain in partnership with Aish Hatorah New York. Rabbi Moskowitz has held several Aish co-sponsored events at Old Broadway and some of the students he has worked with through Aish have started to attend Old Broadway.
Following the tradition of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Kret, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Moskowitz regularly open their home and invite many Jews from the neighborhood to their Shabbos table every week. These efforts have resulted in more robust attendance every Shabbos and the understanding that Old Broadway is a happening place.
Another exciting development: the shul has been contacted by a group of Columbia staffers who work in the Manhattanville campus and who would like to have a regular Mincha minyan. The Columbia people, together with some of the Old Broadway regulars, have been meeting daily for Mincha since the beginning of December. This is the first daily minyan that has met at Old Broadway since the 1970s. The service takes place at 1:00pm Monday through Thursday at the shul and we invite you to join us. We look forward to seeing our new Mincha minyan grow.
About Beth Israel
Beth Israel Congregation was started in 1954. Two New Yorkers, purchased two storefronts on the corner of Prairie Avenue and 41st Street (currently where the Miami Beach CVS is) to begin a synagogue primarily for snow birds.
Ten years later after growing out of their storefronts, which had grown into three storefronts, the founders purchased the current location across the street, on the corner of 40th Street and Chase Avenue and began to renovate the original building to be better used as a synagogue. For decades, Beth Israel Congregation was the only Orthodox Congregation in the Miami Beach area. To this day it is the largest Orthodox congregation in Miami Beach.
In January of 2012 Beth Israel Congregation merged with the Young Israel of Miami Beach a unifying factor that speaks to the Achdut of the community. Today Beth Israel has a membership of over 230 families of all ages and different backgrounds.
Our Rabbi, Rabbi Donald Bixon, moved to Miami Beach in 1997, where he was the Young Israel of Miami Beach’s inaugural rabbi. In 2010, he was instrumental in merging the YIMB and Beth Israel Congregation, the oldest Orthodox Synagogue in Miami Beach
Rabbi Bixon’s humor and casual demeanor make him easily approachable and well liked by our congregation and community. After Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim in Israel he completed his undergraduate studies at Yeshiva College and Rabbinic ordination at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanon Theological Seminary where he was an Adina and Marcos Katz Kollel Fellow.
Rabbi Bixon has been dedicated to the Miami Beach community’s spiritual and physical growth. He has been active in all aspects of our community and its various institutions. Beth Israel Congregation is fortunate to have him and his wife Aliza, a Stern College Graduate, as our Rabbi and Rebbitzen.
Davening Schedule
Sunday AM Daf Yomi 7:45 AM
Sunday Shacharis 8:30 AM (followed by shiur and breakfast)
Daily Daf Yomi: 6:45 AM
Daily Shacharis: 7:30 AM
Rosh Chodesh: 7:15 AM
Fast Days: 7:20 AM
Evening Night Beis Medrash: 8:00 PM
M, T, W – Gemara Shiur 8:15-9:00 PM
Evening Daf Yomi: 9:00 PM
Daily Maariv: 10:00 PM
Friday Mincha: 8 minutes after Candle Lighting
Shabbos Morning Shacharis: 9:00 AM
Minyan Times:
Shacharis Sun: 8:15 AM
Shacharis Mon/Thu: 7:15 AM
Shacharis T/W/F: 7:15 AM
Shacharis Rosh Chodesh: 15 minutes earlier than normal
Mincha: 10 minutes before Shkia
Maariv: Follows Mincha Friday
Mincha: Between 10-15 minutes before shkiah
Shabbos Shacharis: 9:00 AM in winter 9:15 in summer Shabbos
Mincha: candle lighting time Motsei Shabbos
Maariv: aproximately 50 minutes after shkiah
Daf Yomi
Monday through Friday at 6:30 am
Edit Shiur
Daf Yomi
Shabbos
(45 min. before Mincha)
Boyaner Rebbe Shlit"a Speaking at Tish commemorating the Yohrtziet of his Alter Zeide The Pachad Yitzchock of Boyan Zatza"l at Mannhatan Day School on the Upper West Side, Feb 20th 2011. Hosted by the Boyaner Shtiebel of the West Side.
Chabad of Fort Lee is founded on the principle that, while Jews embrace many levels of observance in their personal lives, there should be a place for all Jews no labels, no affiliations. They develop a sense of community and enhance the experience of being Jewish. They have successfully catered to hundreds of families from all backgrounds, offering Jewish educational programming in an accepting and innovative setting where all feel welcome. The goal is to create a positive Jewish experience for everyone as they strengthen their ties to the Jewish community.
Chabad of of Fort Lee is a place where every Jewish person is welcome – regardless of affiliation or level of knowledge. Our sole purpose is to create a warm welcoming environment to explore and experience our heritage in a non-judgmental and inviting atmosphere.
Chabad:
There's a palpable warmth at our synagogue services that melts away any embarrassment for those unfamiliar with, or new to, communal prayer.
Everyone feels at home. Come feel for yourself the family atmosphere that makes our services such a delightful experience.
Growth. Connection.
Two little words that symbolize what Chabad of Fort Lee stands for. Two big words that tell you what's so special about us.
Many people come to study or pray at Chabad. They come from all sorts of backgrounds, have many different religious affiliations, and function at all levels of Judaic observance.
But there is one thing they have in common: they are on a journey of growth – personal, intellectual, emotional, religious. They seek to expand their Jewish horizons, increase their knowledge in areas of Judaism, and for some, to grow in Jewish observance.
Warmly, gently, humorously, humbly, but persistently, our Rabbi, Rabbi Konikov, a world class Rabbi and scholar, urges everyone onward and upward, based on the teachings of Chassidism and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, that every Jew is precious and important because he is a Jew, and endowed with a G‑dly soul. One more Torah class. Try out a mitzvah. Explore your roots, take one step further on the path of Judaism; tomorrow maybe another. What when how much and how fast is up to you. But take a step forward. As long one lives one must keep on growing.
But a person, like a plant, needs warmth to grow. Our Chabad is legendary for its warmth, its friendliness, its caring, its hospitality. The words shul family are so often used here, that they've actually become a cliche. The Chabad has become the true center of our community.
We are a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in beautiful Newton Centre, Massachusetts, in the greater Boston area.
Our small, energetic shul aspires to provide an inclusive, friendly, and participatory atmosphere conducive to personal growth through tefillah, tzedakah, Torah study, serious religious expression, and building a supportive community of values and meaning.
As our Sages taught us so long ago: The world stands on three things: Torah, Avodah, Ug'milut Chasadim. At Shaarei, we too stand on — and just as importantly, we stand for — these three foundational pillars.
In January of 2014, the Orthodox Union recognized our synagogue as a Hineinu Synagogue, an exemplary national model of communal inclusivity. Our Shul’s inclusivity statement follows:
We are excited to partner with the Hineinu initiative of the Orthodox Union. At Shaarei Tefillah, we pride ourselves on our warm, welcoming Modern Orthodox community. However, we have learned over the years that creating an inclusive environment requires more than good will. A sincere call for inclusivity must be conveyed not only with greetings and invitations, but must be expressed through architecture and access, signage, wordage and programs. The strength of kehillah (community) should be measured not only in membership units and the length of weekly announcements, but also by our manifest inclusivity and our capacity as a halakhic community to learn and improve, to outreach and in-reach, to grow together through full encounter of Torah uMitzvot. When we built our new Shul building just a couple of years ago, a vision of inclusivity drove our process. We designed our Shul to communicate through structure and form that our Beit Kenesset, our home of spiritual ingathering, invites and values the participation of men and women, adults and children, abled and disabled, empty nesters and young families, frum-from-birth and newly religious seekers. We work hard to concretize this message through our programming and publicity as well. Joining the Hineinu initiative is our way of continuing to respond to this Divine call and charge of hakhel, of inclusivity. We sincerely hope that by stepping up to say “Here We Are,” we will inspire other Shuls to do likewise and invite those who have previously felt without community to join us with their own “Hineini — Here I am.”