Rabbi Joshua Rabin

Cantor Emeritus George Lindenblatt

Judaism With Open Arms

Member Meeting Sunday

The annual meeting of ACI membership will be held at ACI on Sunday, December 15, from 10:00am - 12:00pm. We invite all members to attend this meeting to review synagogue business and vote on new board members. A full agenda and slate of candidates will be distributed in advance of the meeting. All members, please plan to attend!

PJ Library Book Swap at the Hanukkah Party

Do you have PJ Library books that your kids have outgrown? Now is your chance to share them with someone else who will enjoy them!

Drop your books off at the ACI office any time before the December 15 Hanukkah Party, or just bring your books to swap at the table! Please contact Joanna with any questions.

Six Week Course: A History of Hatred: Antisemitism from the Past to the Present

ACI is proud to bring the Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning to Astoria and Western Queens. Rabbi Josh will begin our first six-week course in January 2025.

Antisemitism has been described as a virus that mutates. In each historical period, hatred of Jews takes on a different form or focus, often as a reaction to the prevailing ideology of the time – be it religious, racist, or political.

Join us to deepen your understanding of the development of antisemitism since ancient times.

Use coupon code ISRAEL50 at checkout for a deeply discounted registration fee of just $50. At the link below, choose "New York: Astoria / Astoria Center of Israel" from the "All Communities" filter to see our event.

Reminder: Tot Shabbat Scheduling Changes

In response to parents' preference for an earlier start and end time for our Tot Shabbat program, we've decided to change the times to 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM. This will include a musical portion and children’s Kiddush with challah and juice. In addition, we've decided to move our program back to the first and 3rd Shabbat of the month.

Upcoming dates include: 

• December 21st
• January 4th
• January 18th
• February 1st

We encourage donations of $18 per family for this program, and to support programming at ACI. Donate here.

Pathways to Judaism

This November, ACI launched an intro to Judaism course called Pathways to Judaism. This is perfect for the person in your life who wants to learn about Judaism from the ground up, as well as significant people in your life who are of a religion other than Judaism (regardless of whether or not they are interested in conversion). If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Rabbi Josh.

Classes will take place on Monday evenings at 8:00-9:30 p.m. ET on Zoom and once a month on Shabbat morning at ACI at 9:00-10:00 a.m.

Open Door Shabbat Calendar

Our Open Door Shabbat services are back once a month, starting in November! Upcoming dates are:

• December 14 (Tomorrow!)
• January 11
• February 15
• March 8
• April 26
• May 10
• June 14

What is Open Door Shabbat?

Shabbat morning is the best time for Jews to come together, and the WORST time to feel out of place in synagogue.

Join the ACI once a month for a no-experience-necessary Shabbat service, where we will explore the:

• Structure of a prayer experience
• Meaning behind key Jewish prayers
• How to sing when you don't know Hebrew

At 10:00, there will be a brief meditation service, and at 10:30 we will start the learning service.

If you have any questions, contact Rabbi Josh at [email protected].

This Week in Hebrew School

This week in Judaic Studies, Kitah Aleph learned the story of Hanukkah, sang a fun latke song where they pretended to be latkes jumping out of the pan, and practiced the three blessings recited on the first night of Hanukkah. Kitah Bet continued exploring Jewish life cycle events, focusing on the B’nei Mitzvah (coming of age ceremony) milestone, and added symbols to their poster board project commemorating the event. Kitah Gimmel studied Jewish immigration to America in the 19th and 20th centuries. Students shared family emigration stories, discussing challenges like learning a new culture while maintaining their kehilla (community). They also shared ideas for staying connected to Jewish roots, such as attending services and Hebrew school.

In Hebrew Language, Kitah Aleph practiced reading and writing letters, learned the words אמת (emet, truth) and חג שמח (chag sameach, happy holiday) in preparation for Hanukkah, and drew symbols of their favorite holiday traditions. Kitah Bet discussed Hanukkah, learned the blessings להדליק נר (l’hadlik ner, to light the candle) and שעשה נסים (she’asa nisim, who performed miracles), and created drawings with Hanukkah symbols. Kitah Gimmel practiced writing Hebrew words under Hanukkah symbols, discussed the importance of gratitude and joy during the holiday, and rehearsed the blessings for lighting the candles.

In Arts and Crafts, students learned the origins of dreidel customs, the meaning of the letters, and how dreidels were used to secretly study Torah during the Assyrian Greek rule. They then decorated wooden dreidels with acrylic paints.

Finally, the entire school gathered in the social hall to rehearse songs for the Hanukkah party on Sunday, December 15th.

Get Involved Planning ACI's Events!

We have a great roster of activities planned, but we can always use more help and more ideas. If you're interested in helping to plan and run our community events, please join our standing Events Committee meetings, the second Tuesday of every month at 8pm (over Zoom).

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, January 14. Reach out to [email protected] for the meeting link.

Messages

In memory of my beloved mother, Hanna Cohn, from Susan Cohn

In memory of my beloved grandfather, Bernard Klein,

from Mr. & Mrs. Lyle Frank

Pastoral Requests

ACI is committed to serving our community’s needs. If you would like to add a name to our Mi Sheberach list, inform the synagogue about a hospital visit or death, or request pastoral care for yourself or someone you know, please fill out this simple form. All submissions are confidential.

Please keep the following people in your hearts and prayers for the blessing of r'fua sh'leima:

Mindy Zimmerman
Reyna Rosendorf
Chia Minna bas Asna
Menachem Mendel
Yonah ben Beila V’Yaakov
Shalom ben Haim
Heddy bat Evelyn
Rachel bat Eleaonora
Joel Tarlowe
Aaron Vajda
Zalman Mordechai
Aaron ben Yehudit
Adina bat Guta
Leonard Rosendorf
Shashanna bat Toda
Gary Lefkowitz
Harold Lefkowitz
Eric Laxman
Michael Stoess
Pessah Ruchel bat Dina
Tzvi Hersh Bar Esther
Faith Braunschweig
Deborah Ramirez
Sherwin Lif
HaRav Yaakov ben Esther
Jack Demsheck
Dinah bat Brina
Tovan bat Sarah
Wendy Lu
Faiga Leah bat Devorah
Larry Opoliner
Sarah Chana bat Zeesl
v Dov-Beryl ben Rev
Chaim Ha Levi
Shalom ben Perel
Shaul ben Sara
Dov Shlomo ben Esther
Aviv Mordechai ben Yahel V’Steph
Moshe Ben Tova
Gail Seddon
Sande Lefkowitz

To add (or remove) a name, please contact Lizanne Fluxmon.

This week (13 - 19 Kislev), we observe the yahrzeits of the following ACI members, family and friends. May their memories always be a blessing.

Sophia Pasteelnick
Max Brecher
Bernard D. Klein
Leo Eppsteiner
Dinah Cohen
Isadore Block
Julian Walter Fondiller
Anna Shapiro
Sarah Leah Shraberg
Dr. William Telsey
Hyman Hoffman
Dorothy Stern
Joseph Hauptman
Rebecca Mishler
Alan Sterling
Shlomo Boms
Anne Rabinow
Margaret Epstein
Herman Horowitz
Ethel Kaplan
Esther Eisenberg
Minie Nadel