Donations

If you'd like to make a donation to AJ, you can make a donation online, on our website. Or, you can click here to download a donation form.

Meetings with Rav Shai

If you would like to meet with Rav Shai, you can now view his calendar online and make an appointment! Click here.

REMINDER: All services are now in person at AJ and available via Zoom. Please continue to register for Friday evening and Saturday morning services by completing the January online registration form, February online registration form, by calling the office at 215.635.6611, or by using the January or February service sign-up form links on the AJ website. Your registration will help us to keep the building secure. Thank you!

Adult Education with Rav Shai:

Prayer: For Those Who Don’t Know How to Pray/For Those Who Pray But Don’t Know Why

Last Session: Sunday, January 29 at 10:30 AM (at AJ and via Zoom)

Prayer can be personal or communal, spontaneous or scheduled, in English or Hebrew. Prayer can be an expression of gratitude, a song of praise, or a deeply needed request. Prayer can raise your consciousness or deepen your relationship with the Divine. This class taught by Rav Shai will explore the meanings and purposes of Jewish prayer and will include readings from some of the greatest theologians of our tradition. One Sunday morning left: January 29, at 10:30 AM. Click here to register.

AJWA Sisterhood Shabbat

Saturday, January 28 at 9:30 AM (at AJ and via Zoom)

Our speaker for this year’s AJWA Sisterhood Shabbat is family historian Sharon F. Taylor. She is a member of Temple Sinai and will be speaking on the following topic: The Power of Genealogy – Keeping Women’s Stories Alive. During the service, she will speak about discovering an inspiring story about her great-grandmother Hudia, and why genealogy is important, especially for Jewish women. She will also present an introduction to Jewish genealogy and how to research your own family stories. At our luncheon, she will present more tips on researching your family along with another fascinating family story titled “My Great-Aunt Madam: In Search of an Offbeat Ancestor.”Please use the January Online Services form to register or click here.

Would you like to participate in the AJWA Sisterhood Shabbat service? Say Yes! We are pulling together the service and are currently organizing the parts. If you are an AJWA Sisterhood member (or would like to become one!) and would like to co-lead a Hebrew prayer or participate in an easy, small group English reading, please say so. We’d love for you to be included. If you are interested in participating, send an email to Mindy Goldstein at mgoldst@comcast.net or call her at 610.506.0632.

Calling All Cooks! Join chefs Lorna Rosenberg and Ossi Nussbaum and friends as we prepare for AJWA Sisterhood Shabbat! Thursday, January 26: 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM (desserts); Friday, January 27: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (entrees, etc.); and Saturday, January 28: 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM, and clean-up. If you haven't signed up yet and want to help, just show up!

Are You An Angel? Please consider becoming a AJWA Sisterhood Shabbat Angel! Your donation of $25 (or more) will help make possible AJWA Sisterhood’s 2023 wonderful Shabbat service, speaker, and luncheon. It is a program that reaches out to the entire AJ family and is met each year with great anticipation and enthusiasm! All Shabbat Angels will be acknowledged in the AJWA Sisterhood Shabbat program. Thank you! Please send your name, phone number and email address with your check to AJWA Sisterhood Shabbat Angels, 7763 Old York Rd., Elkins Park, PA 19027. Make checks payable to “AJWA Sisterhood” with “Shabbat Angel Donation” on the memo line. Or click here to donate online. If you plan to donate, please do so by noon tomorrow (Friday).

Bimah Skills, Thrills, and More! Part 3: The Jewish Ps of Spring

Sunday, January 29 at 6:15 PM (at AJ)

This is the last class in Hazzan Glantz's Bimah Skills series. Megillat Esther is chanted to a fun trope that expresses the text’s tragic humor. Go on to learn a few verses or a whole chapter. 6:15 PM. Attendees will have the option to stay thereafter for continued instruction, discussions, and questions. Please register here.

This will be only session for The Jewish Ps of Spring — we have decided to save the Passover portion of this series for Pesah U, on Sunday, March 26. More info to come!

AJWA Sisterhood Event: Pastabilities Cooking Event

Sunday, February 12 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM (at AJ)

Join Chefs Maya Dvir and Ossi Nussbaum for a cooking demo! Maya is an Israeli native, who has lived in Italy for twenty years, and has just immigrated to the USA. She arrived here in January with her husband and three children and united with her oldest son, a Temple university student. Maya has been in the culinary industry for many years. She is a professional pasta maker and a pastry chef. She worked in some restaurants and pasta shops in Milan and owned a small restaurant and fresh pasta shop in Israel. She came to the USA to work for Crown Bakeries as a developer of new products. Ossi is a long-time member of AJWA Sisterhood and beloved chef for AJWA Sisterhood events.The cost is $10 per participant. We will be making enough for each person to take some home. RSVP by February 6. Click here to register.

Beth Sholom and Adath Jeshurun Players

Tickets Now Available for The Drowsy Chaperone!

Don’t miss our next production: The Drowsy Chaperone! In this hilarious valentine to show tunes and show people, a forgotten Jazz Age musical comes to life in the living room of a diehard theatre fan. As he eagerly spins his favorite cast album, a fizzy vintage show suddenly appears, exploding with song, dance and pure entertainment. Our quirky narrator fills the plot holes, with laugh-out-loud results. Packed with show-stopping numbers and larger-than-life characters, here’s a Tony Award-winning spoof that will have everyone falling in love with zany musical comedy! To see a peek of what's in store for audiences attending The Drowsy Chaperone, click here.

Please go to bethsholomplayers.org to purchase tickets. (The deadline for placing ads in the program book has passed.) Show dates: February 16, 18, and 19. Venue: Gratz College.

Beginners' Israeli Dancing Group at AJ

Tuesday Afternoons from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM

Do you have ru’ach (spirit)? Did you do Israeli dancing a while ago and want to do it again? Never done it? Just want to do some easy dances? Join Susan Novack each Tuesday from 12:30 to 2:30 PM for a beginner group. The basic steps and dances will be taught and reviewed. The group meets in the Orleans at AJ. Email Susan at susan@novack.net to sign up.

Congregation Adath Jeshurun, dedicated to the Jewish value of learning for its own sake (Torah lishmah), has partnered with the Orange County Community Scholar Program (CSP). As a partner, we’ll join a small group of synagogues enjoying the best Jewish learning available. AJ has the distinction of being the first Pennsylvania synagogue to do so. The courses for January are listed below, and Rav Shai recommends the titles in blue.

Demystifying History, with Prof. Stephen Berk

Four-Part Sunday Series, Remaining Session: January 29, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM

January 29: Part 4: Putin, Ukraine, and the Jews

https://mailchi.mp/e7eea5d61350/csp-zoom-programs-week-of-april-5-5925464

The Radical Responsibility of Rabbi Sacks: The Problem of Evil as a Call to Action, with Dr. Tanya White

Tuesday, January 31, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM

https://mailchi.mp/c20c20769bca/csp-zoom-programs-week-of-april-5-5925480

You can find details on all of the programs and the presenters here. If you register and can’t attend, a link will be sent after the event to a recording. There is also an archive of classes that you can view here.

***PLEASE NOTE: The start times (except where noted) on the CSP website are Pacific time, so remember to add three hours for the Eastern start time. The times above are Eastern time.***

Community Events You May Be Interested In

Saturday, January 28: Old York Road Israeli Dancing with RAK-DAN. Join the Old York Road Kehillah for an exciting evening of Israeli dancing for every skill level. Come for fun, movement, and Israeli connection that uses your entire body. This program is free to register; just click click here.. At Old York Road Temple – Beth Am. 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Philadelphia Jewish Film + Media (PJFM) has an exciting, FREE new set of films that they will be streaming on demand the weekend of January 28-30, in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is a three-part animated trilogy titled Traces: Portraits of Resistance, Survival, and Resolve, presented by Humanity in Action and co-presented by the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center (HAMEC). Registration here is required to receive the link for streaming.

Saturday, February 18: Private Screening of Code Name: Ayalon. All are welcome to join Old York Road Kehillah for a private screening of Code Name: Ayalon to hear the untold story of the service, courage, and sacrifice made by Jewish teenagers during Israel’s War of Independence. Following the film, audience members will have the opportunity to join a discussion with the film’s producer, Laurel Fairworth. This program is free to register; just click click here. At Old York Road Temple – Beth Am. 6:45 p.m.

Sunday, March 5: Old York Road Kehillah Purim Carnival. Join Old York Road Jewish Community for a Purim Carnival the entire family will love! Enjoy hamantaschen, prizes, inflatable obstacle courses, slides and more. To register, click click here. At Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel. 11:30 PM – 12:30 PM | Families with Preschool Children; 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM | General Admission.

ONE BOOK, ONE JEWISH COMMUNITY presents Who By Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai with author Matti Friedman on Sunday, March 19 at 11:00 AM online, live from Israel. Who By Fire is the little-known story of Leonard Cohen’s concert tour to the front lines of the Yom Kippur War, including never-before-seen selections from an unfinished manuscript by Cohen and rare photographs. This program is made possible by the Stern Family Lecture on Israel Studies at Gratz College, in partnership with the Laurie Wagman Initiative in Jewish Studies at Drexel University. You can find out more here.

Sunday, March 26: The Birth of Modern Hebrew. Join Old York Kehillah for lunch and learn about the rebirth of Modern Hebrew from Dr. Zach Kassutto, the great-grandson of famed Jewish linguist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda. Ben-Yehuda was the force behind revitalizing Hebrew. This program will have virtual and in-person options. To register for the in-person program, click here. To register for the virtual program, click here. At Old York Road Temple – Beth Am. 11:00 AM

Attending AJ Friday Evening or Saturday Morning Services in Person

Our current COVID-19 guidelines are:

• Pre-register for services by completing the January online registration form, or February online registration form, by calling the office at 215.635.6611.
• Use hand sanitizer before entering the sanctuary. Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the building.
• Vaccinations and boosters: While all those eligible to receive COVID vaccinations and boosters are strongly encouraged to do so, vaccination against COVID is no longer a requirement to attend AJ services and events.
• Masking: Currently, the community COVID level in Montgomery County is "Medium." As long as the level remains either “Medium” or “Low”, masking will be optional. Should the level become “High,” masking will be mandatory. For current community levels according to the CDC, please click here and use the drop-down menu to check for Montgomery County. This link will also be posted on the AJ website.
• If you have had COVID or have been exposed to someone with COVID, please use the CDC COVID calculator here to determine if you need to isolate or mask. This link will also be on the AJ website.
• Anyone who presents with symptoms of possible COVID-19 will not be admitted to the building.
• You can see our updated guidelines here.

If you would like to attend Friday evening and/or Saturday morning services, you must pre-register by 2:30 PM Friday afternoon.

Lifecycle Notices

Helaina Barbara Kanoff, 12th great-grandchild of Diana Kanoff and daughter of Elizabeth and Matthew Kanoff was born on January 7.

We offer this list as a courtesy. If there is a lifecycle event you would like included, please contact the office at 215.635.6611.

Interested in Learning Some Yiddish?



KleinLife has a Yiddish group that meets on Zoom once a month, led by Marcia Babbitt. It is mostly in English, with some stories or songs in Yiddish. It is the first Wednesday of each month, from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM. If you are interested, contact Gail Korostoff at 215.635.5244 or gkorostoff@kleinlife.org.

Earn Money for AJ by Shopping at House of Kosher!

For any amount that an AJ member spends, House of Kosher will give 2% of the sale to AJ! All you need to do is mention AJ's unique Shopper Code 6611 and the discount is immediately applied as a credit to your organization.

Any first-time customer that is a member of AJ will receive a 10% discount on your in-store shopping of over $100! House of Kosher is located at 9806 Bustleton Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19115.

Get an Addition of an Edition!

When the new Seder Avodah edition was printed in 2008 (the 150th anniversary of AJ), the price for those who wished to have their own copy was $60. Even with recent inflation, and after all these years, we never raised the price. Now, for a limited time, as we approach the gift-giving season, AJ offers members a deep discount to purchase a copy of Seder Avodah of your own or as a gift...$36 per copy.

In Hazzan Glantz’s class, "Bimah Skills, Thrills, and More," he encouraged attendees to procure their very own copy. Hazzan suggests that this simple change, having a personal siddur, can increase kavannah (intention, meaning, purpose) and allows one to write notes, and feelings, and add sources upon which to reflect.

Make a personalized cover — It’s yours, so feel free to write directly on pages or use post-its notes to recall your inspiring take on the text. Add tabs to turn to sections easily. Hazzan even has a label maker to provide personalized labels identifying your Seder Avodah from the outside cover and spine.

Whether you bring your 'addition of an edition' back and forth to shul or keep it at home, we will still have copies for you at AJ.

Torah Fund 5783: Celebrating 80 Years

Chazal v'Ematz—Be Strong and Courageous

AJ Family,

When you support Torah Fund you help to educate Jewish students all over the world—and you align yourself with those who value knowledge, learning—and provide future generations with skills to enrich our people.

Your generosity helps provide scholarships and programs to train future leaders of our communities. Torah Fund helps develop future rabbis, cantors, educators, synagogue administrators, social workers, scholars, researchers, lay leaders, and others.

Please mark Sunday, May 21 on your calendar. At that time we will honor Ann Kalamanor as our Woman of Achievement. She will join a list of esteemed women and men that we have celebrated in the past.

Kindly take some time and make your contribution (or pledge) to our 2022-23 Chazak v'Ematz campaign. You may send a check payable to "Torah Fund."

Please consider a contribution of Benefactor, Guardian, or higher. Contributions of $180 and up will receive the pin in recognition of your generous support. The pin symbolizes the story of the Israelites preparing to enter the Promised Land when the leadership transfers from Moses to Joshua. The Israelites were instructed to “be strong and courageous.” We are also adding a new category of giving—Chazak will be a contribution of $80.

The costs of everything continue to rise. In addition to showing support of the Torah Fund mission, your minimum donation of $18 will help maintain excellence and resources at the five global Conservative/Masorti institutions of higher education. Your steadfast commitment to Torah Fund inspires and ensures another successful 80 years!

Questions? Call Merril Stup at 215.782.3735.

Buy a Brick to Support the AJ Early Learning Center

The AJ Early Learning Center debuted a new Toddler playground last month! A brick path will be built from the sidewalk to the entrance of the playground. You can customize a brick to honor your child, a favorite teacher, the school, or family name! We're selling two sizes: 4" x 8" for $36 and 8" x 8" for $54. Click here to purchase your customized brick that will create the memorable path! 

KleinLife: Montgomery County Update

Programs for Seniors at AJ 

Our Montgomery County location is OPEN for one in-person exercise class 10:30-11:30 AM, Tuesday through Thursday, with some virtual classes still available, as well as other special programs. Reservations are appreciated one week in advance to partake in the in-person classes. You can also sign up for lunch after Tuesday class. For more information and/or to reserve your spot, please call 215.635.5244 or email gkorostoff@kleinlife.org. You can find their calendar of events here.

UPDATE! KleinLife: Montgomery County has resumed a regular schedule of Tuesday to Thursday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. They have also resumed in-person lunch with a boxed lunch on Tuesdays, and hot lunches on Wednesday and Thursday.

Grab & Go Meals! Kleinlife is now offering Grab & Go frozen meals once a week from AJ. You MUST RESERVE at least a week ahead of time for 5 frozen kosher meals. Thursday is the regular pick-up day, between 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM. Call 215.635.5244 for more details.

NEW! If you attend a service or other event via Zoom, please identify yourself with your name on your Zoom account. This is helpful in maintaining security on Zoom.

How to change your name on Zoom when joining a meeting:

1. Join a Zoom meeting on the Zoom desktop client.
2. Enter the meeting ID number.
3. Add/Update your name if desired.

How to change your name on Zoom during a meeting:

1. Join a Zoom meeting on the Zoom desktop client.
2. On the Zoom in-meeting controls, click Participants.
3. Hover your mouse over your name, then click the ellipses.
4. Click Rename.
5. A pop-up box will appear.
6. In the pop-up box, enter your display name.
7. Click Change.