Children's Shabbat services
Preschool Service, llana Garber / Shai Specht
For families with children ages 4 and under
11:00 a.m. - Noon. 2 South.
Family Service, Elena Sassower
For children ages 5-7 and their parents.
10:45-12:15pm. 6th West.
Family Davening, Mindy Fischer / Tommy Treitel
For children 8+ and up and their parents. 11:00-12:15pm. 6 North.
 

Family Kiddush Together
December 13th after Children's Services- in 6W
Families with children are invited for an extended Kiddush. This is a great time to snack, shmooze and get to know other AC families.

Young Judaea Youth Group - Grades 3- 5
Tuesday, December 2 from 5:45-7 pm
Sunday, December 14 from 4-6 pm
3rd-5th graders are invited to join the Young Judaea youth group at Ansche Chesed. See old friends, make new ones, have fun and eat pizza! The club meets at AC twice monthly. For more information or to RSVP to an upcoming meeting, please contact Noah Wilker, Group Leader 212-451-6878 or nwilker@youngjudaea.org
 

Dinner and a Movie for Teens
Tuesday, December 2nd at 5:45 p.m.
We will be meeting on the 5th floor. Feel free to bring friends! RSVP to Lauren.Kurland@anschechesed.org.
 

Second Annual Room to Grow Drive
December 8-December 20
Join Ansche Chesed, our Hebrew School, Morningside Montessori, Discovery Programs, Purple Circle, and Yaldaynu in a drive to benefit Room To Grow. Room To Grow is a non-profit organization that helps NYC children born into poverty during their critical first three years of life. Parents visit Room To Grow every three months to receive clothing, books and toys for their growing baby, free of charge. Along with your donated items, Room To Grow parents receive developmental information and guidance. Please bring new or nearly new children's clothing and toys for children under age 3 to the Ansche Chesed lobby.

Hanukkah Workshop for Families with Kids 2- 5
Sunday, December 14, 10:30 - Noon
Yaldaynu and the Ansche Chesed Family Education Department invite families with children ages 2-5 to attend a Family Hanukkah Workshop. We will make our own presents, decorate Hanukkah cookies, sing Hanukkah songs and learn more about the Festival of Lights. Cost: $10 for first child; $5 for each additional child. RSVP to Elaine Bloom at 212-866-4993 or yaldaynu@aol.com.
 

Family Hanukkah Party
Saturday night, December 20th
Celebrate the second night of Hanukkah at a special Havdallah for families. Bring your Hanukkah candles and menorahs, and get ready for latkes,sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts), songs and fun!

Family Shabbat Gym and Basketball
Shabbat Gym, the best deal on indoor play space around, allows families to meet, schmooze, and enjoy each others' company on those chilly Shabbat afternoons from now until March.
From 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., for children ages 1-7, we offer free play.
Season fee per family: Members $40, Non-members $75.
From 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., the gym is open for children ages 8 and older to play basketball.
Season fee per family: Members $20, non-members $40.
Application forms are available at the office, or online at www.anschechesed.org/education/family/shabbatgym20 03.htm, or call the AC office at ext. 412 for more information.

Check out the Family Education section of the AC website »

NYC's longest-running Judaica crafts fair is a marvelous marketplace of exciting, creative and affordable Jewish crafts, as well as Jewish books, music, toys, and more!

The Saturday night event includes wonderful desserts and drinks, along with a great live Klezmer band, Scotch,Wine, Champagne and Fancy Tea tastings. The all-day Sunday extravaganza includes the Maccabee Cafe and fun activities for kids. Plus, we're holding a 50/50 raffle - a way to win some serious gelt.

Support artists from Israel and the US. Stock up on gifts and treat yourself to items that will make your home and life more beautiful and meaningful. The fair supports Ansche Chesed, and you'll have a great time.

We also need sponsors: $150 donation (tax deductible!) includes 2 tickets to the Saturday night gala and a listing in the program. And, we need volunteers to help staff the festival. Please call the office at 212-865-0600 and leave a message for Jane Head or Mary Feinberg.

An Evening in the Kitchen with Levana Kirschenbaum
Tuesday, December 16 at 7:30PM
Spend an evening with Levana Kirschenbaum of the famous "Levana" restaurant, and learn how to make some of her favorite recipes from her own kitchen. Levana's cooking reflects her Moroccan background as well as Meditteranean, Italian, Indian, vegetarian, and Chinese influences and has won her fans around the globe. Levana will also sign her book, "Levana's Table: Kosher Cooking for Everyone". Suggested donation $5. Please RSVP to the office at ext. 415

Lunchtime Learning with Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky
Wednesdays, Noon-1:00 PM (not meeting on 12/24 or 31) No fee.
Many of the Bible's greatest stories in terms of literary artistry, spiritual depth and national significance are not found in the Torah at all, but in the less often studied books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Join Rabbi Kalmanofsky to study these masterpieces in English (while also consulting Hebrew). Bring lunch if you'd like, and join us every week you can.

Hevra Shas with Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky
Wednesdays, 6:30 PM (not meeting on 12/24 or 31) No fee.
We continue our "weekly page" study of Babylonian Talmud, tractate Avoda Zara (Idolatry), examining important questions of how Jews interact with the non- Jewish world outside their own community. Most members of this class use the ArtScroll English-Hebrew Talmud (volume one of this tractate), enabling them both to read the traditional text and fully understand the content.

New classes coming in January
"Corners of the Field: The Mitzvot of Feeding Others" with Rabbi David Rosenn
4 Tuesdays, 8:00-9:30 PM
January 6, 13, 20, 27
AC members $50, non-members $65
We will look at the ways Jewish teachings apply to the task of combating hunger in New York City, in Israel, and around the world and develop ideas for individual and communal action.

Israel Reading Group
December 9 at 7:30 PM
We invite you to join a group of people who want to read Israeli fiction together at Ansche Chesed. We want to see more clearly the cultural issues alive now in Israel by reading its fiction. We will meet one Tuesday evening a month. I've proposed that we begin with a collection of novellas, edited by Gershon Shaked, called Six Israeli Novellas. It covers fiction of the 1960s, '70s and '80s. The book is available from Amazon.com. It will prepare us for fiction of the '90s and beyond. We would like this to be a participant-led group. Let's read the first story in the collection for the first meeting: Ruth Almog's "Shrinking." If you would like to join us, please email me atjburstei@drew.edu or call at 212 316 1386. -- Janet Burstein.

Yiddish for the 21st Century with Charles Nydorf and Elinor Robinson
Every Wednesday (all year round), at 7:30 PM. No fee.
Through reading a wide range of Yiddish literature, we develop the ability to think, feel, and speak in Yiddish and make the Yiddish tradition our own.

Special Program:What American Jews Don't know, or Don't Want to Know,about Jewish Life on the Rise in Germany"
Friday, January 30
With Professor Mark Cohen and others who have recently spent extended time in Berlin.

Weekly Torah Study with Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky and other AC members
Shabbat mornings, 9:00 - 10:00 AM
Join us to discuss the weekly Torah portion. Participants are welcome on either an occasional or regular basis.

Kabbalat Shabbat Services 5:30 PM

Shabbat Morning Torah Study 9 AM - 10 AM
Led by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky and other Ansche Chesed members Each Shabbat we read and discuss the parashat hashavua (weekly Torah portion). Everyone is welcome to participate, whether on an occasional or regular basis.

Shabbat Morning Services 10 AM
Sanctuary Minyan weekly in the sanctuary
Minyan Ma'at weekly on the 5th floor
Beginners service weekly on the 3rd floor - not meeting on 12/27
Minyan Rimonim 12/6 and 12/20 in the Chapel
West Side Minyan 12/13 and 12/27 in the Chapel
 

Children's Shabbat services
Preschool Service, llana Garber / Shai Specht
For families with children ages 4 and under
11:00 a.m. - Noon. 2 South.
Family Service, Elena Sassower
For children ages 5-7 and their parents.
10:45-12:15pm. 6th West.
Family Davening, Mindy Fischer/Tommy Treitel
For children ages 8 and up and their parents.
11:00-12:15pm. 6 North.
 

Most recently, she managed the facility, budget, communications, computers, and endless details at the NYU Hillel house, known as the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, a 6-story landmarked townhouse with 2000 users, about 100 events weekly, and multiple minyanim.

Before joining NYU, Randi coordinated the 350-child religious school at her home congregation, Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn, for six years. An active member of her congregation, she is currently serving in her fourth year on the Board of Trustees, serves as co-chair of the youth committee, and is chairing the first women's seder; she has also served on the ritual, early childhood, and religious school committees, organized fundraisers, co-founded the Rosh Chodesh study group, and created the first membership directory at Beth Elohim. She has also managed a 37- unit landmarked housing coop, ran publicity and publications for the Engineering School at Columbia., and has been known to write poetry from time to time.

Randi graduated from Barnard College with an A.B. in writing and literature, and from Columbia University with an M.A. in English Literature, and studied synagogue management at Hebrew Union Collge and through membership in professional organizations. She and her husband David Roe are both native New Yorkers. They have two sons in college, and they live in Park Slope.

KOL NIDRE APPEAL
Debora Difronzo & Sanda Steinbauer
Freda & Evan Eisenberg
Walter & Esther Hautzig
Rebecca Joseph
Jordan Horvath & Elana Elster
Larry Silverman
 

RABBI'S DISCRETIONARY FUND
Jeff Bogursky & Marly Herscovici
Jennifer Cowan & Dan Jacob
Freda & Evan Eisenberg in memory of her parents, Selma & Moishe Cusher
Eric Gertner & Nina Yahr in memory of Annette Gertner
Fred & Jean Herschkowitz in memory of his mother, Etta Herschkowitz
Kesher Foundation, Inc.
Ira Krell
Edward Krowitz & Amy Stone
 

CHILDREN'S T'FILLAH FUND
Stuart Fisher
Stanley & Arlyne Zinn
 

LIBRARY FUND
Feygele Jacobs & Michael Cholden-Brown in memory of her father, Benjamin Janklewicz Jacobs
 

PRAYERBOOK FUND
Ernest & Heidi Kahn in memory of his grandfather, Sigmund Kahn, and his father, Morris Kahn
 

KIDDUSH FUND
Eric Gertner & Nina Yahr in memory of Annette Gertner
Herta Shriner in honor of Sasha Bogursky's Bat Mitzvah
 

SHELTER FUND
Valley Restoration LDC
 

For a year I have been proposing - first to the Sanctuary Minyan and now to the entire synagogue - that Ansche Chesed hire a musical professional on staff. Some people think it's a promising idea; others regard it as incompatible with Ansche Chesed's character. Let me share my thoughts on why I believe hiring the right person would be a major asset to our community. I hope you find these thoughts persuasive. In all events, everyone is invited to share your views with me and the search committee at music@AnscheChesed.org. I know you will.

Would We Change Beyond Recognition?

I am confident we can make a change for the better. We would be different, by evolution, not revolution.

We should acknowledge that it would be a significant change for our community to employ a music director who would - among other things - lead services regularly. For 30 years, Ansche Chesed has built its identity partly by rejecting the very idea of designated prayer leaders. In some measure that was a healthy rejection of a certain style of Cantorial music, which often made synagogues showy and cold, and insufficiently intense for worshippers. (For comparative purposes: As post-Vatican II Catholic priests stepped behind their altars to let worshippers approach communion themselves, so post-War American Jews reclaimed a populist model that gave everyone the chance to be shaliah tzibbur, communal spokesperson in prayer.)

I understand why some fear hiring a professional would betray that ethos. Let me assert that our core mission will always give opportunities for members of every minyan - the Sanctuary included - to lead tefilot [prayers]. That will not change. Nor would we give up on the "big tent" model of Ansche Chesed as a home for two Hebrew schools and multiple Shabbat morning minyanim. I have no desire to bring everyone to the Sanctuary every Shabbat (though I certainly hope the Sanctuary attracts more people every Shabbat!)

Nevertheless, a music director would bring an undeniable change to Ansche Chesed. We would still provide opportunities for members to lead services, and we would still esteem their contribution. But we would also open up a new realm of experience which is not now part of Ansche Chesed's offerings: the important experience of singing with a leader who can help worshippers reach spiritual places together they could not attain by themselves. I believe this is the real meaning of "participatory" davvening - where individuals in the seats as well as individuals standing at the amud [or leader's table] are bound into a community through words and music.

No one should be shocked that I believe clergy can enhance people's experience of Jewish life. If I believed rabbis and cantors were always disempowering, stultifying drains on a community, I would find a different job. Some 15 years ago this community elected to spend its resources to engage a rabbi. I hear no enthusiasm today for reconstituting AC today as it was two decades ago, without professional clergy. Today, all the lay prayer leaders in our various minyanim are competent. Some have more verve; some have less. Some are better at melding words and music into a total prayer experience; others are worse. And I love you all. But there are particularly talented people who can transport Jews to another plane, help them sing, and help their prayer take flight. And they can do that without turning us into a concert-audience. If we can find the right musical director, she or he can enhance our experience of worship wherever we invite him or her: the Sanctuary on Shabbat mornings, the chapel on Friday nights, morning minyan, special events, musical education for adults and kids, non- liturgical programming for the full range of our constituency.

This would entail that we recast our self-image somewhat. But I believe Ansche Chesed would be a healthier institution as a whole, more satisfying to current members and more attractive to potential members.

Where does the process sit?

Our search committee has convened two public meetings, has distributed (or will soon distribute) a poll to solicit members' views. So far, about 100 people have expressed their views, either in person or by e- mail. Public opinion runs heavily in favor of hiring such a person, provided an appropriate candidate can be identified. A smaller group opposes any professional musical leadership, while another segment is not opposed in principle, but is dubious that the right person can be found. By no means have we concluded that we will definitely hire someone. We have no deadline by which the position should be filled, and we're prepared to wait for the right person. We would certainly rather add no professional than add the wrong one.

Nonetheless, since interview season is in the winter and early spring, we have already advertised this position. It might seem premature to solicit applications for a position we are not certain to fill; but we believe we can determine whether it is possible to find the right person for this role only once we see some candidates.

Many members are concerned about how we would pay for an additional staff member. This is a legitimate worry, but it is distinct from exploring whether we want to add such a person if we could afford it. Certainly we will not expand our staff if our budget could not bear the weight. If we decide this is a communal priority, we would probably combine other budget savings and increased, targeted fundraising to marshal the resources. The costs would depend also on yet undetermined factors, like whether the person would work full-time or part-time.

What roles would a music director have? What kind of person should we seek?

That is an open question. The search committee is proceeding inductively, working from the feedback of synagogue members about what they would like, and from the skills of individual candidates to shape a position that meets the maximum number of our needs. In my view, the best role for such a professional would include leading regularly on Friday night and half of most Saturday morning services in the Sanctuary, plus offering classes and musical guidance that members of every minyan could enjoy.

The person we should seek, in my view, is informal and relaxed, with a big enough voice to make an impact in our vast Sanctuary. The person should not be a show- boat. But the person should also not be embarrassed to use musical gifts to enhance other people's experiences of prayer. This is not just lovely singing, although that is part of the job. More, the task is to give full expression through music to spiritual, deepwater prayer. I begin from the premise that a community can be built when people share such heartful song and prayer. Anyone we might hire must be able to bring us together in song. Especially in the Sanctuary, that is harder than it sounds. I have been in settings - and I bet you have too - in which a prayer leader truly leads for everyone's benefit: when he or she gathers up the rapt attention of those in the minyan, carries them along with words and music, and takes them together places they could not otherwise reach alone. There are people who can do this consistently. We should seek one.

Why does the community need such a person? If I am not a Sanctuary Minyan, member, why should I care?

Certainly, this proposal would have the greatest effect on the Sanctuary Minyan. But this is not a Sanctuary concern alone. First, the music director could enhance the experience of many AC members through Friday night services and other attractive programming, as noted above. Also, I believe such a person could attract members, strengthening Ansche Chesed communally and financially. Every member of AC who wants this institution to grow and attract new members should be invested in building the major portals to membership, whether or not they personally are involved in any given area. For example, that means supporting and building the Hebrew school and Havurah school, even if no one in your family attends.

Similarly, the Sanctuary Minyan is the most likely of the Shabbat morning minyanim to welcome new members, and is the place where I, the rabbi, am usually found. Therefore every Ansche Chesed member has a stake in the Sanctuary Minyan's success. Those who do not davven there should support its growth; those who do davven there should ask what we can build which will be self-sustaining and progressive.

Today, since all our minyanim share the same lay leadership format in prayer, it is axiomatic that people make Ansche Chesed their davvening home only if that is what they seek. But as we think about our ability to meet the spiritual needs of current and potential members, it behooves us to recognize the importance of music in prayer. Academic studies and anecdotal evidence confirm that most American Jews consistently seek a rich musical component to their worship. But no service in our building consistently offers a musically- inspired service. Each of our minyanim attains this sometimes, but none of them do so predictably, reliably, week-in and week-out. What happens when an AC member or prospective member seeks a regular, reliable strong musical element to davvening? In effect, we tell people: "We don't do that here. Why don't you try another shul."

I recommend a different course. I recommend that we expand what Ansche Chesed offers to include a musical director who can both lead prayers and coach lay leaders for a service that regularly inspires through music. As a community we might decide that our commitment to exclusive lay-leadership in prayer is so important that it outweighs our ability to offer an alternative - the kind of prayer that leads people into spiritual waters beyond their depth. I think we would miss a great opportunity, both for our current members and our future ones, if we chose that path.