The Friday Night Experience
Friday evening - Next Experience: during the Fall, dates to be determined

Come and enjoy the spirit of our Friday Night Experience!
A spiritual service, delicious dinner, relaxed atmosphere, singing, socializing with great people. All in all, a really warm and pleasant way to spend a Friday night.

Sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact Rabbi Herman

Cost: $18 — Students: $12

You may make reservations by calling the synagogue office: 212 502-5291 or online using PayPal.

Tot Shabbat
Next Tot Shabbat: not yet scheduled

BEGINNING RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING
Join us at our new monthly program for pre-schoolers and their parents. The first shabbat of every month, kids will engage in a fun and enriching Shabbat service complete with a mini-kiddush. A family-oriented kiddush will follow services.

Jewish Basics
Dates to be Announced
Do you know your Jewish Basics? Let’s look at these 10 basic questions and find out...

1. What are the five books in the Torah?
2. Who are the three patriarchs and four matriarchs in the Torah?
3. What are the names of the twelve months in the Hebrew calendar?
4. What other three species are waved with a lulav on the holiday of Sukkot?
5. Who was the first Jewish king and who anointed him?
6. What is the current year in the Jewish calendar?
7. What are the names of the Jacob’s twelve sons?
8. Who was the primary disciple of Moses?
9. Who was the author of the “Shulchan Aruch”?
10. On what holiday is the annual public reading of the Torah completed?
    
    If you can’t answer all of the above questions, this class is for you!

Jewish Prayer with Rabbi Herman
Dates to be Announced

The siddur or prayer book is, perhaps, the most well-read book in Jewish life. It contains the hopes of the Jewish People and the vision of Judaism through the ages. One may find within its pages the history of the Jewish People and the essence of the Jewish spirit. It is poetry, narrative and philosophy all together. It contains passages from the Bible, the Mishnah, the Talmud and the Zohar. Come and sit with us as we explore the infinite wisdom found in the Siddur. We will examine the prayers that make up the traditional Shabbat services, as well as the many prayers we say on special occasions - both happy and sad. אמן (Amen).

We'll look at why certain words are used in one prayer and why different words are used in others to express the same idea. We'll study the order of the prayers and why some are said at some times and others at different times.

If you've ever felt lost during a Shabbat service, come to this class. You'll get to know your way around the most important Jewish book.

Pirkei Avot
Shabbat afternoons after Mincha during the Summer
(see our weekly Shabbat schedule for Mincha time)

Pirkei Avot (Chapters of the Fathers - פרקי אבות) is a tractate of the Mishnah composed of ethical maxims of the Rabbis of the Mishnaic period. The tractate consists of five chapters. The first four chapters contain sayings attributed to sages from Simon the Just (3rd century B.C.E.) to Judah haNasi (3rd century C.E.), redactor of the Mishnah. These aphorisms concern proper ethical and social conduct, as well as the importance of Torah study.

The fifth chapter of Avot departs from the organization and content of the preceding four in that it consists mostly of anonymous sayings structured around numerical lists, several of which have no direct connection with ethics. The last four paragraphs return to the format of moral aphorisms attributed to specific rabbis.

From at least the time of Saadia Gaon (10th century C.E.), it has been customary to study one chapter a week on each of the seven Sabbaths between Passover and Shavuot, or nowadays until Rosh Hashana. In the course of such study, it is common to preface each chapter with the Mishnaic saying, "All Israel has a share in the world to come" (Sanhedrin 10:1), and to conclude each chapter with the saying, "The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to bestow merit upon Israel; therefore he gave them Torah and mitzvot in abundance" (Makkoth 3:16).

The tractate includes several of the most frequently-quoted rabbinic sayings, such as "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am [only] for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" (Avot 1:15), and "It is not up to you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it" (Avoth 2:19).
(From Wikipedia.)

Join our lively, informal group study on Saturday afternoons while enjoying Seudah Shlishit (the third Shabbat meal) between Mincha and Maariv!

Jewish Book Club
Second Wednesday of every month

Join our lively discussion group beginning at 7:00 and lasting about 1 1/2 hours. Light refreshments are served.
Here is our current schedule:

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 — note the day change!
Prisoner: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide by Jeffrey Goldberg

Monday, September 8, 2008 — also not on Wednesday this month!
Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

WSJC Film Club
Third Wednesday of every month

Join us as we watch and discuss movies and plays relevant to Jewish life.