Past Events
December 2016
Lecture and Text Study in Memory of Dr. Yochanan Muffs, זצ״ל
Desperately Seeking Israel: Divine Struggles with Intimacy in the Torah with Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses The Torah's famous phrase: Panim El Panim-- meeting God face to face, has become a well-used maxim. We know that meeting God face to face is mortally dangerous for human beings. And, indeed, for the Israelites, meeting God in visual or auditory form is not an easy encounter; it is fraught with fear and trembling. In this lecture/text study, we will consider the nature of the divine/human encounter…
Find out more »January 2018
Resetting The Table: Roots and Foundations of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 1915-1949
Join Resetting The Table and Ansche Chesed as we delve deeply into the “Dual Narratives” that surround the formation of the State of Israel, from the perspective of Jews and of Palestinians.
Find out more »Shirei Chesed Community Chorus
Inspired by the diversity of Jewish music around the globe, from liturgical settings, Israeli songs, Hassidic niggunim, and new compositions. Ability to carry a tune is important. Free for members; non-members $90 per semester or $180 per year. For more info, please email NHirschhorn@anschechesed.org.
Find out more »October 2018
March 2020
Anchors of Identity: A Sculptor’s Search for Jewish Russian and Artistic Tradition
Join figurative sculptor James Sondow as he explores his current exhibition, which employs biblical narrative to allegorize his journey from the upper West Side to his ancestral roots in Russia. As the first American sculptor to graduate from Russia’s oldest art Institute, he describes finding refuge in Jewish community through the rigors of culture shock and his decade of academic training. With slides of his work portraying transformative moments of biblical matriarchs and patriarchs reconnecting to their essential ancestral lineage,…
Find out more »April 2022
Singing Our Way Into Freedom With Cantor Hirschhorn and Shirei Chesed Chorus – CANCELLED
Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled. We hope to see you for a musical Shirei Shabbat with members of the Shirei Chesed Community Chorus on Friday, April 29!
Find out more »September 2022
Worship, Wordy and Wordless, with Rabbi Kalmanofsky
Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur are notable for the abundance of words in the lengthy prayer book, and for the inarticulate, animal groans of the Shofar. In these sessions we will reflect on how texts can be tools enabling our spiritual journeys, as well as on their limitations, and how the wordless Shofar can express what poetry cannot.
Find out more »Asking the One for Just One Thing: Explore High Holiday Texts and Melodies with Hazzan Hirschhorn
The Jewish spiritual practice for the month of Elul invites us to engage daily with the text of Psalm 27. One of the most familiar lines from the Psalm declares - “I will ask God for only one thing”. If you had a chance to ask the One for one thing only, what would it be? What does this text teach us about ourselves, and about what might be essential in the life we are seeking to build? Please click…
Find out more »November 2022
Social Action Town Hall Meeting: Supporting Refugees and Reopening the AC Shelter
Ansche Chesed, our "Community of Kindness," has a strong track record of turning our religious commitments into action, to help neighbors near and far. For more than 30 years we have hosted and staffed a homeless shelter. And in the last two years, we have sponsored three refugee families from Afghanistan and Myanmar, helping them resettle in New York Now it is time to carry those commitments forward. After nearly three years of Covid-based disruption, we need to re-open the…
Find out more »Havdalah Pajama Party
Now that Shabbat is ending early, we invite our youngest friends to join us for a Havdalah Pajama Party! We will experience Havdalah together, and enjoy singing, stories + yummy and healthy food. Programming will be geared at toddlers and pre-schoolers. Siblings, stuffies and pajamas are welcome! Please RSVP here by Thursday, November 17th. Questions? Contact Aliza at asebert@anschechesed.org.
Find out more »December 2022
Project Aliyah Kickoff
Join us as we launch this year's B'nai Mitzvah cohort! Spend some time connecting as a family, getting to know other AC B'nai Mitzvah families and hearing more about the B'nai Mitzvah journey at AC. Parents will have the opportunity to meet with Rabbis Jeremy Kalmanofsky and Yael Hammerman, and Executive Director Josh Hanft for an overview of the AC B'nai Mitzvah process. B'nai Mitzvah students will also do activities together with Education Director, Aliza Sebert. Click here to register.
Find out more »January 2023
Special Dvar Torah/Prayer for the US with Minyan M’at
Join Minyan M'at for a special Dvar Torah/Prayer for the U.S. with Bonnie Zaben and Laura Gold in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.
Find out more »Learning Shabbat and Memorial Lunch with Minyan M’at
Following services, two special events at Minyan M'at: David Gedzelman will be teaching for a Learning Shabbat, as part of our continuing series on prayer. For those who knew and loved Yocheved Muffs, join us for lunch as we share memories of Yocheved over full plates and fuller hearts.
Find out more »March 2023
Keshet LGBTQ+ Training 101 for Parents, Siblings, Grandparents and Loved Ones
Are you a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle or cherished loved one of a child or young person who is part of the LGBTQ+ community? Do you want to learn more about how to celebrate them and show that you love them for who they are? You’d do anything for these kids to make their path in life smoother. But the issues they’re grappling with, the words and terms they’re using, and the times they’re living in, are new to…
Find out more »May 2023
“Oy Slay! The History of Jewish Drag” with Stav Meishar
RuPaul's Drag Race brought drag culture to the mainstream, and with it some fierce Jewish queens, but this art form has a long and diverse history. We will trace the subversive roots of cross-dressing in ancient texts, move through the traditions of drag queens and kings in Yiddish diaspora theatre, visit modern day gender-bending drag in prime-time TV and examine sabra drag among the LGBTQIA+ Israeli community. Learn more and register.
Find out more »July 2023
September 2023
Minyan M’at
Minyan M’at is an independent, traditional, egalitarian community within Ansche Chesed. Now more than 30 years old, our group of over 150 households comes together to daven (pray), to learn, to celebrate and to sustain each other.
Find out more »Highlights from the Musical Machzor
Join Hazzan Hirschhorn for an evening of singing some of the greatest melodies from the upcoming High Holiday season and exploring the deeper meaning behind the ancient texts that inspired the music.
Find out more »Minyan M’at 1st Day Sukkot Services
Join Minyan M’at for Sukkot services. Learn more about Minyan M'at
Find out more »October 2023
Minyan M’at 2nd Day Sukkot Services
Join Minyan M’at for Sukkot services. Learn more about Minyan M'at
Find out more »
Shirei Chesed Community Chorus
Shirei Chesed Community Chorus continues to build community through learning a rich and diverse repertoire of Jewish music, and bring harmony into the world that needs it more than ever. Our 4-part chorus brings together lovers of choral singing from both Ansche Chesed and the wider Jewish community. Recent performances include classical programs with The Bachanalia String Orchestra, a jazz concert with The Afro-Semitic Experience ensemble, Oratorio Souls on Fire based on the book by Elie Wiesel, a celebration of…
Find out more »Minyan M’at Shemini Atzeret Services
Join Minyan M’at for Shemini Atzeret services.
Find out more »November 2023
Teen Israel Conversation and Pizza with Aliza
Teens, are you thinking about the current situation in Israel and looking for a place to talk about it? Join Aliza and Rabbi Yael for pizza and to debrief.
Find out more »Antisemitism in Moments of Crisis, with Aryeh Tuchman
Anti-Semitism and hate crimes in America were already a worsening problem before the war between Israel and Hamas. Now both White Supremacy and the Israel conflict reverberate strongly, stoking old hatreds and prompting fear and anxiety among American Jews. Stick around after Morning Minyan for a light brunch and a presentation by Aryeh Tuchman, director of the ADL's Center on Extremism, who will share an inside perspective on antisemitism in the current moment. Aryeh Tuchman is the Director of ADL's…
Find out more »December 2023
Chanukah Family Celebration, with Yaldaynu Preschool
10:30 - 11:30am Crafts, 11:30am - 12pm Sing-Along Join Yaldaynu and AC for Chanukah crafts, a sing-along with AC's fabulous Mishpacha leader Leilah Rosen, and delicious treats! This program is geared towards families with tots, but all are welcome. Register here!
Find out more »Kabbalat Shabbat with Hostage Families and Israeli Guest Singer Bat Ella
At Kabbalat Shabbat services, Ansche Chesed will welcome a delegation from the Hostage Families Forum whose loved ones were kidnapped on October 7, who are working to #BringThemHomeNow. These hostage families will tell us about their loved ones, so viciously taken, and about their own unimaginably difficult passage since then. Please join us and our Israeli guests for Friday night services at 5:30pm – which will include the previously planned “New Member” Shabbat dinner, and participation by another guest, Israeli singer and…
Find out more »January 2024
Coffee, Conversation, and Community
Join us to schmooze with friends, old and new, over coffee and light refreshments! Come enjoy the caffeinated company of fellow members of our wonderful AC community. Click here to RSVP by Wednesday, January 24 at noon so that we know how much food to order. Walk-Ins also welcome.
Find out more »February 2024
Stories from Israel Now, Hosted by Minyan M’at
Join us as recent travelers to Israel share their reflections. Jane Eisner will moderate a panel with Rabbi Kalmanofsky, Lisa Sayegh, and Esther Altmann. Afterwards, other community members including David Shapiro, Lee Adlerstein, and Pearl Beck will guide small group conversations. Snacks, of course, will be served. Please register by Monday, February 12.
Find out more »March 2024
Interfaith Iftar Dinner & Maktoub/Katuv: An Exploration of Arabic and Hebrew Calligraphy
Join AC and our Muslim partners from Peace Islands Institute for an Interfaith Iftar Dinner (Ramadan break fast), as well as an exploration into the rich visual worlds of Arabic and Hebrew calligraphy, discovering the parallels between both languages. Educator, community builder, and artist Ruben Shimonov will also take us on a journey of his own multilingual calligraphy and how he has used his art to build Muslim-Jewish interfaith bridges. Participants will then have the opportunity to engage with these two languages through…
Find out more »Minyan M’at
Minyan M’at is an independent, traditional, egalitarian community within Ansche Chesed. Now more than 30 years old, our group of over 150 households comes together to daven (pray), to learn, to celebrate and to sustain each other.
Find out more »WSM/Rimonim/TeleTefila Erev Purim Megillah Reading
The WSM, Rimonim and TeleTefila will hold hybrid Purim services, beginning with maariv and followed by megillah reading. In-person attendance will be on the 5th floor of AC. Please bring eats and drinks! Please wear a medical mask (except while leading davening or chanting megillah) and leave your coat in the coatroom on the first floor. Please wear a costume, mask or funny hat — even if you are on line. We will be able to see you on Zoom!…
Find out more »Minyan M’at
Minyan M’at is an independent, traditional, egalitarian community within Ansche Chesed. Now more than 30 years old, our group of over 150 households comes together to daven (pray), to learn, to celebrate and to sustain each other.
Find out more »April 2024
Minyan M’at
Minyan M’at is an independent, traditional, egalitarian community within Ansche Chesed. Now more than 30 years old, our group of over 150 households comes together to daven (pray), to learn, to celebrate and to sustain each other.
Find out more »Minyan M’at
Minyan M’at is an independent, traditional, egalitarian community within Ansche Chesed. Now more than 30 years old, our group of over 150 households comes together to daven (pray), to learn, to celebrate and to sustain each other.
Find out more »Rugrats Passover
Join Tommy Pickles, Grandpa Boris and all their Rugrats friends for a morning of Passover fun at Ansche Chesed. We'll watch the classic '90's Rugrats Passover special (entertaining for the pre-schoolers AND nostalgic for their millennial parents!), get our hands dirty with a Passover craft, and do a taste test for the best Kosher for Passover snacks on the market. Geared at kids ages 2 - 6 and their families. Bring your own Rugrat pack -- aka your friends from…
Find out more »