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.”
SUNDAY
Teen Minyan, 8:30 AM in the Beit Midrash All Middle school and High school teens (boys and girls) and their parents are invited to join us for davening in minyan and a full breakfast. If you have any questions, please contact Hagay Ramati at [email protected].
“Great Debates in Jewish Law and Custom” with Prof. Jay Berkovitz, 8:45 AM, Bayit
Study of Bereshit Rabbah, 10:00-11:00 AM, Bayit
Professor Sol Schimmel leads an interactive study group of Bereshit Rabbah, one of the most widely studied of rabbinic midrashim on Sefer Bereshit and a major source that Rashi used for his commentary on Genesis. New participants welcome.
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- ספרים למנויים
- לפני 8 שנים
TUESDAY Parenthood and Procreation in Jewish Bioethics with Rabbi Samuels, continues Tuesday, Mar. 1.,7:30 – 8:45 PM at Shaarei Remaining sessions: March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; April 5, 12. In this course, we will study the identification of maternity and paternity, and their attendant bioethical considerations, in four current cases of assisted reproductive and genetic technologies. We will be especially interested in how halakhah navigates new realities born of technological advancement. Open to men and women. co-sponsored with Maayan. Free for Shaarei members. Click here to register or email [email protected].
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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.
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!
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.
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 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.
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 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
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.
The Young Israel of Sharon is a vibrant orthodox shul with a warm friendly, and relaxed atmosphere. Our ideology is inclusiveness. The Young Israel of Sharon brings together men, women, and children from a wide variety of backgrounds, with a broad array of religious styles and approaches, all unified by a commitment to authentic Torah life and spirit.
Young Israel of Sharon opened its doors in 1972 with just a minyan of families. In 2001, Young Israel moved to its present day facility. Today, we are experiencing 10% annual growth and have currently reached about 200 member families.
A variety of reasons contribute to Young Israel's growth: our family-oriented community; safe neighborhood to raise kids; modern diversity and openness; and our young and vibrant members. Another reason is Sharon’s affordable housing. Business Week online listed Sharon, MA as one of the top 20 Best Affordable suburbs in the Northeast.
Young Israel exemplifies the ideals of Modern Orthodox: serious Torah study and practice, together with an embrace of diversity and participatory openness to the best of contemporary culture and community.
Rabbi Dr. Meir Sendor is the spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Sharon, MA.
He is a recognized scholar in the field of Jewish History, specifically the history of Jewish mysticism, philosophy and medicine. He holds a rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University, a Ph.D. with Distinction from Harvard University and a Master’s from Yale University. Rabbi Sendor lectures widely on his specialties and holds many classes on various Torah topics for all levels.
Welcome to Congregation B’nai Avraham, the Orthodox synagogue in Brooklyn Heights. As the only Orthodox synagogue in the neighborhood, we serve a unique role in accommodating people with divergent religious backgrounds and at varying levels of observance. We welcome all!
Our goal is to increase the level of Jewish awareness, knowledge and observance by providing a warm, welcoming community with activities to appeal to people at all levels and with varying interests. We provide a daily morning and evening minyan and more than ten classes a week for adult learning, as well as beginner’s services and children’s services on Shabbat. Our Mei Menacham Mikvah is perhaps the most beautiful mikvah in the City.
Our membership includes both Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and our members’ first languages include Hebrew, Russian, Yiddush, French, Spanish and Arabic, as well as English. Our spiritual leader, Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin, is a member of the Chabad movement, and during services most people use the RCA ArtScroll Siddur and the Stone Chumash, although other Siddurim and Chumashim are readily available.
Come to Saturday services and enjoy a sociable kiddush afterwards, or stop by at one of our many classes, or come to a Friday night dinner with singing, joy and a guest speaker. Whether you are a yeshivah graduate, baal teshuvah, considering conversion or totally new to matters Jewish, we welcome you, and you will find a comfortable place in our vibrant community.
Daily Classes
There’s always something happening at B’nai Avraham! Every day of the week Jewish education classes are taught for free in English.
If you want to pursue your Jewish education, there are no more excuses. See our *list of classes* for more particulars. Don’t see your topic on the list? Ask us!
History
In the Summer of 1988 Stephen and Penny Rosen, having recently become more observant, wanted to establish an orthodox Shabbat minyan. Together, they contacted Rabbi Shimon Hecht of B’nai Jacob in Park Slope, who supplied them with a Torah scroll, books, and a very young man to lead services and read from the Torah. Space was rented from a local theater group, signs posted, calls made, and the hope was that someone would show up for the scheduled Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. Initially, there were the Rosens, Drs. Walter and Brenda Molofsky, previous members with the Rosens of a local Conservative Synagogue, the young man (Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin) and Rabbi Raskin’s brother Shua, who was recruited to walk from Crown Heights with the Rabbi.
Amazingly enough, other people came so that there was a minyan, and the first and only Orthodox Synagogue in Brooklyn Heights began.
After Yom Kippur, holiday and Saturday morning services were held at the Rosen’s residence for the next nine months. The Congregation was officially founded as a religious corporation in December 1988. It was named B’nai Avraham in honor of Stephen Rosen’s grandfathers, both of whom had the Hebrew name “Avraham.” Rabbi Raskin noted that “B’nai Avraham,” literally, “children of Abraham” is the name given to converts, and the Congregation has had many converts among its members. After nine months at the Rosens’, the Congregation rented a parlor floor apartment on Clinton Street. As the landlady lived upstairs, the front door had to remain locked. Generally, Stephen Rosen waited at the front door to let people in. Latecomers tossed pebbles against a window and someone would come down to let them in.
We then moved to a commercial space at 100 Clinton Street, where at long last, we could leave the door open. Finally, in 1996, we moved to our current location at 117 Remsen Street, purchased from the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue (Reform), which acquired a larger building three doors away.
In 2000, the Mei Menachem Community Mikvah was built. It is one of the most beautiful and elegant Mikvahs in the New York area.
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.
The Young Israel of Brookline is one of the largest Orthodox congregations in New England. The congregation was founded in 1953 and our earliest services were held in a small house on Fuller Street. When we quickly outgrew the space, member families purchased a larger site a few blocks away, on Green Street. In January 1994, when an electrical fire destroyed our shul building, our services and programs moved down the block, to a re-converted office building which we used while our new shul, shown above, was under construction. With great joy, the Young Israel community dedicated the new synagogue in November, 1996. The new facility hosts a main sanctuary which seats 525 congregants, beit midrash and Judaica library, banquet hall, kosher catering facilities, bridal room, classrooms, offices, keilim mikveh, and permanent sukkah structure.
Our members are a diverse group consisting of student couples, individuals, and families. Since Brookline is within walking distance of area hospitals, and a short drive to many universities and high-tech companies, it’s a popular destination. Many of our members are trained in the sciences, including the medical, software and engineering fields, and play leadership roles within their respective organizations. Also, since Boston is home to many top hospitals, we tend to see people from around the world, including many from Israel.
Your most heroic acts are those of which you may not even be aware.
Like the time you could have gotten even with the guy in the next cubicle, and nobody would have known. And you really wanted to. But you didn’t, just because it’s not right.
You may not have been impressed—you may even have been disappointed with yourself. But the angels burst into song, as all your world rose up a notch. It may have been the most elevating act of a lifetime.
Heroic acts are not heroic if they’re second nature. It’s when you break out of your nature that you enter the realm of the divine.
B"H We are all heros. We are all filled with the glory of God.
The difference between "the best of us and the worst of us" is a VERY fine line and moves with time.
Redemption and return to God is just a moment and thought away. A desire.
Rv. Freeman, the lessons are from God, with your sweet expression.
Thanks to God, through you on this Thanksgiving day.
Shalom,
how great to know that not only in general we are important, but every moment of our life!! we are the main actor and HASHEM is our main audience and our "Oscar" is His approval and joy.