Join us to break the fast together after the final shofar blast! Please sign up here to bring a vegetarian/kosher pareve dish if you can. Everyone is welcome at this community break-fast, there is no need to bring anything!

You can still reserve tickets for our Yom Kippur services!

Pricing:

Members: Free

Non-members

• Adults: $54
• Kids (2-12): $18
• Kids under 2: Free

ACI is joining City Harvest's annual High Holidays Food Drive to help feed Jewish families across New York City; right now, 1 in 4 Jewish families in New York is struggling to make ends meet. Please bring non-perishable kosher foods (rice, canned tuna, salmon, sardines, beans, and the like) to the donation box in the ACI lobby by Friday, October 2. Every can counts, especially in this season of giving.

Give the gift of life! ACI is hosting a blood drive on Sunday, October 11, from 10am to 4pm. Every donation can save up to three lives, and the need is constant.

Celebrate Z'man Simchatenu in the warmth of our Sukkah! We are hosting neighboring faith leaders and community members for a festive meal and meaningful conversation, as part of Neighbors Together, an interfaith initiative across the diverse faith communities of Western Queens. All are welcome at Shabbat services beforehand. Optional donation of $36 to offset costs. Please RSVP by September 23.

Wednesdays from 8:00-9:30 pm on Zoom
First Class September 23, 2026

The year since October 7, 2023 raised urgent, complex, and at times painful questions about Zionism. For many, the work has become harder: harder to hold community together, harder to navigate the emotional and ideological divides, and harder to chart a meaningful path forward.

In this eight-unit course, Shalom Hartman Institute scholars explore the core tensions and values of liberal Zionism, responding to the dominant critiques of Israel and Zionism in a post-October 7 reality. Together, we’ll explore frameworks for holding moral complexity, for teaching about Israel in a time of war, and for engaging our communities with courage, compassion, and clarity.

Participation is free, though a $36 donation for non-donors is appreciated.

The following article is reprinted from the 1980 ACI Bulletin, because of the beauty and relevance of the memories it evokes during this season.

Occurring before the sun has finally set but toward the end of the holiest Jewish holy days—the day of fasting and prayer and of so often intense emotion—Ne-ilah, the concluding section of the Yom Kippur service, is also its emotional climax; it contains, perhaps, the most moving passages in the entire Jewish liturgy. The emotional intensity of the Ne-ilah service is explained by musicologist Judith Kaplan Eisenstein in her text Heritage of Music: The Music of the Jewish People. “To the pious Jew,” she writes, “this is the last opportunity to appeal to the ‘ear’ of the Almighty with a final plea for forgiveness, for mercy and for a new year of life and blessing.”

In Europe it was traditional for the Ne-ilah service to be conducted by the Rabbi; to him belonged the task of conveying to the congregation the awesomeness of these, the final moments of the most solemn and sacred of days. I can recall most vividly the fervor of devotion which my own revered Rabbi, the well-known Talmudic scholar Dr. Samuel Ochs, brought to his rendition of Ne-ilah. The memory of his piety and reverence has been an inspiration to me throughout the years, and I have always sought to conduct Ne-ilah with his example in mind. I hope that God will give me the strength to do so for many years to come.

May all of you be inscribed for a happy and healthy life in the New Year.

Richard Cohn, Cantor Emeritus

The team at ACI could use your help getting our space back up and running. We have a long to-do list, and 30–60 minutes of your time will go a long way. Examples of volunteer duties include:

• Refilling the water coolers
• Cleaning the kids play room
• Sorting books
• Cleaning whiteboards
• Relocating chairs or tables after services or events

If you're interested, please email Lizanne at [email protected] with the subject line VOLUNTEER

Our Hebrew School is growing, and we're looking for teaching assistants and extra hands in the classroom for the coming year. You'd be working with our wonderful K–7th graders on Tuesday afternoons, roughly 3:00–5:30pm, right here at ACI. It's a great fit for anyone who loves being around kids and a perfect opportunity for high school students, who can earn community service hours with us (we're a nonprofit) or be paid $18–20/hour.

We ask for references and run a background check on all candidates. Interested, or know a teen who would be? Reach out to our Education Chair, Joanna, at [email protected], and please spread the word to anyone you know who'd be great in a classroom.

Join Rabbi Josh on Sunday, September 20, 2026, for the LiveOnNY Donor Heroes 5K at Flushing Meadows Corona Park—a meaningful run/walk honoring the heroes of organ and tissue donation. This is more than just a 5K; it’s a chance to come together as a community, celebrate life, and support a vital cause.

Whether you’re a runner, walker, or cheerleader, I’d love for us to show up as a team from our synagogue. Let’s move with purpose and make a difference—together.

Pick "Astoria Center of Israel (ACI)" as your 5K team!

The next Book Club, tentatively scheduled to meet after Kiddush on Saturday, October 3, will discuss I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. You can purchase it from The Strand or Amazon, or request it from Queens Public Library. It is also available as a six-hour audiobook.

Questions? Ask Kivi Young, Book Tsar.

Hebrew School is back, and what a start! Classes began this past Tuesday with every single one of our 57 students in attendance for a day of fun learning, while many parents joined an orientation with our new Education Director, Moreh Jeff Kelman. Thank you to Rabbi Josh, our teachers, madrichim, and all the volunteers and parents who made it such a beautiful kickoff to the 5787 school year.

Next up: all families and congregants are invited to a Fun Family Sukkah Decorating Brunch this Sunday, September 20, at 12:00 noon, where we'll make our own creative decorations for ACI's beautiful sukkah. Children are welcome to come on their own, and everyone is welcome — please RSVP to Moreh Jeff.