Past Events › Holidays

We will celebrate the high holidays amidst a global pandemic, unimaginable loss and illness, and massive social disruption. As we approach a new year, we all carry much fatigue, uncertainty, hopelessness and unprocessed grief. To help reflect on those dynamics, please join us for a conversation with AC members who worked on the Covid front lines in NYC hospitals and clinics, nurse Brenda Dore, physician’s assistant Irene Soloway, and Rabbis Mychal Springer and Kara Tav, hospital chaplains. Their reflections can…

As we prepare ourselves for the Awesome Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, just how do we learn from our mistakes, transform worry, and cultivate compassion as we greet the New Year? Contemplative meditation offers a mindful vehicle for Teshuvah (repentance--literally, return). By turning within, we can reflect on the past, let go, and move forward. Join us for Mondays in Elul to practice meditation with kavannot (focused intentions) to ready ourselves for the year to come. We invite…

For centuries Jews have created artwork to emulate G-d, to indicate the direction of prayer and as a means of protection.  Join artist Elana Weinberg in this workshop where she will present a brief introduction to the “shiviti” and other Jewish hanging artwork for the home and synagogue (such as mizrachs). Participants will get an overview of how to create a piece like this on your own. Materials for such artwork range dramatically. For this workshop it is most important to…

The High Holiday liturgy gains power when recited by hundreds of voices in unison. This year the poems, pleas, and praises of our prayers will sound different as we hear them over electronic platforms and recite them to ourselves in our apartments. Join Hazzan Hirschhorn and Rabbi Kalmanofsky to study some classic High Holiday passage, and think together about what they will mean when recited during Covid isolation. Register to join us via Zoom

Let’s talk about God: How do you describe the ineffable? How do you capture the intangible? Our High Holiday liturgy tries to do just that by portraying God in many familiar metaphors - as Parent, Sovereign, Creator, Protector, Judge, Shepherd, Potter, and more. Some of these images may resonate with you, while others may make you cringe. Who is the God that you believe in? What is the God that you do not believe in? When and Where do you…

The High Holiday season of teshuva asks us to look into the mirror honestly, to see the gap between who we are and who we might yet become. Please sit around a virtual table with Rabbi Kalmanofsky and sages from 13th century Spain, 16th century Land of Israel and 19th century Poland to ask ourselves: How do you want to live? Register to join us via Zoom