Please note that this newsletter may be cut off, especially if you are reading it on Gmail or Outlook. To see the rest of the newsletter, either click here or scroll to the bottom of the email and click "view entire message" (or similar prompt.)

Mishloach Manot 2023 are coming! Ansche Chesed will be assembling a bag of goodies for every member household, to help us all celebrate (and also raise vital funds for the shul). Here's how it works: send Mishloach Manot to friends for $9/bag, or send a Mishloach Manot bag to the entire membership for a total of $450. Each family will get an email with a list of everyone who sponsored their gift.

The DEADLINE is Monday, February 27. To participate, log into your Shul account and click on this link: https://anschechesed.org/MishloachManot.

Contact the office with any questions.

You can pick up your bag on the evening of Erev Purim, Monday March 6. Pickup will also be in our newly renovated lobby during the day on Tuesday, March 7.

Please note that the tax letters acknowledging donations made in the year 2022 were emailed out on Monday, January 23. Please check your inboxes or spam folders. If you did not receive your tax statement, please contact the Ansche Chesed office.

Masks: AC Sanctuary services are mask-optional, with a designated mask-mandatory section of the Sanctuary available.

Attendance: We are not requiring preregistration to attend services.

Vaccination: Attendees must have received all eligible vaccines.

Please see our website for a full list.

Pass along THIS VIDEO to anyone in your network who may have an interest. Post on social media! You’ll be helping the shul establish an important source of revenue.

Saturday, February 4 in the Sanctuary

Saturday, February 4 in Hirsch Hall

Join us on February 4th at kiddush when we honor and say farewell to our long-time security guard, Sylvia Ortiz. Sylvia has been with us for close to thirty years, has seen generations of kids grow into adults, has been with us in happy and sad times, always watching over and protecting us. Let us take some time to thank her for her years of dedicated services and say a heartfelt goodbye to her before she retires later in the month.

If you are planning to join us for Kiddush, please consider making a donation to the AC Kiddush Fund in Sylvia's honor.

Sunday, February 5 from 1 - 2:30pm, Meeting at 100th St. & Central Park West

Celebrate Tu B'Shevat with Ansche Chesed in a new way this year! Join "AC alum" Levi O'Brien on a walk in Central Park to explore tree diversity in our own neighborhood. He will guide us in winter tree identification and discuss the ecology, historical and cultural relevance of the species encountered. Why should fall foliage and spring blossoms get all the glory?! This Tu B'Shevat, we will learn to appreciate our beautiful, backyard winter bounty!

Wear your winter gear, bring a thermos of hot cocoa or coffee to keep you warm, and meet us at 100th and Central Park West at 1pm!

Click here to register.

Levi O'Brien has an extensive knowledge of trees, other plants, and wood, and is happiest when he's sharing his knowledge and passion with others. An ISA certified arborist, Levi is on faculty at the New York Botanical Garden, where he teaches classes on woody plants, horticulture and woodlore. He is also a guest instructor at various public gardens and arboretums in the NY/NJ and Hudson Valley areas, and has taught Dendrology and Entomology at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, where he earned his degree in Environmental Biology. Follow Levi on Instagram @Leviobrien_trees.

Sunday, February 12 from 10 - 11:30am in the AC Lobby

Experienced and novice knitters alike are invited to join the inaugural gathering of an intergenerational AC Mitzvah Knitting Group! -- Sabas and Savtas, bring your grandkids; kids - bring your parents! We will begin knitting winter hats to donate to refugees who have arrived to a cold NYC winter. Knitting instructor, Judith Kane, will advise knitters as needed.

AC will supply the yarn. Let us know if you'll bring your own needles, or need AC to provide needles.

Click here to register.

Contact Rabbi Yael with questions.

The more comfortable you feel in synagogue, the more comforted you can feel in synagogue. Please join Rabbi Hammerman, Hazzan Hirschhorn, and Rabbi Kalmanofsky - who will rotate as leaders - to become more familiar with the literary, spiritual, and musical highlights of the Saturday morning service. After the 60-minute sessions, we will rejoin the wider community in the Sanctuary.

Shabbat mornings through March 4

February 13, 27, March 13, 27, April 3, 17, May 8, 22

Note: We have scheduled these two classes consecutively so that people who want to attend both can do so. RSVP here, walk-ins welcome.

Would you like to learn how chant the Torah, helping the community hear the holy text? Please join Hazzan Hirschhorn to learn the cantillation system. Participants in the class can prepare a section of the Torah to read during services on the second day of Shavuot, May 27.

Jewish life often seems to demand a lot of background knowledge. Where do you learn it all, especially as an adult? Please join Rabbi Hammerman and Rabbi Kalmanofsky to learn anew or go back and review some core Jewish practices and concepts.

Ability to carry a tune is important; reading Hebrew or music is not required; Tuesdays 7:30-9:00pm. Free for Ansche Chesed members; non-members pay $90 per semester or $180 per year. For more information, or to schedule an audition, please email NHirschhorn@AnscheChesed.org.

Wednesdays at 7pm in the Chapel or via Zoom

This year in Rabbi Kalmanofsky's weekly Wednesday Night Talmud class we will study Bava Metzia chapter 6, known as "One Who Hires Artisans," and the obligations of employers and employees towards each other, as well as problems created by breaches of contract. The chapter also includes some spiritually rich material about freedom and obligation, as well ethical excellence beyond the letter of the law.

You can use any Talmud edition you like, including the Koren-Steinsaltz or Artscroll

(both of these are Bava Metzia vol. 2). You can also use websites like Sefaria (which uses the English from Koren-Steinsaltz).

Saturdays, 9am in the Chapel or on Zoom

Also available virtually on Zoom.

Click here for the Source Sheet for this week's class (updated on Friday afternoon).

Continuing their tradition from summers at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, Rabbi Kalmanofsky and his buddies, Rabbis Barry Chesler and Eliot Malomet host Parsha Talk, more popularly known as "Three Old Guys Talking About the Parsha."

Click here for the latest episode!

February 3: Shirei Shabbat - with a Musical Surprise for Shabbat Shirah!

Join Hazzan Hirschhorn for an evening of song and prayer as we support and elevate the voice of our community with the help of Shirei Chesed and Musical Guests from ACHS Kitah Gimmel, and a special guest, Nir Furman on percussion. We hope that everyone will feel empowered and inspired to lift their voice with us in holy harmony, uv'nima kedosha. Come to hear what musical intergenerational surprise we have for you today!

Join us as we begin Shabbat with our traditional Kabbalat Shabbat and maariv service.

We invite you to add the names of your dear ones to our Misheberakh List so that we can include them in our weekly Shabbat prayers for healing. Submit names here: https://anschechesed.shulcloud.com/form/2022-ansche-chesed-misheberakh-submissions-htm. Names will remain on the Mishaberakh list for one month.

Mishpacha Service (Ages 0-4, with Parents)

Saturday, February 4 at 11am in 2 North

Babies, toddlers and preschool age kids and their families are invited to join us for our Mishpacha Service. Get in the Shabbat spirit with songs, puppets, movement — and your friends from Ansche Chesed.

Yigdal Service (Ages 5-7, with Parents)

Saturday, February 4 at 11am in 2 South

Saturday, February 4 at 11am in the Chapel

This service delves into the structure, purpose and words of our Shabbat morning tefillot (prayers) and the weekly parshah (Torah portion), which we experience as community through discussion and interactive activities.

Saturday, February 4 from 10:30am - 12pm on the 4th Floor

ALL 4th and 5th graders -- from ACHS, Jewish day schools and beyond -- and their parents are invited to join our Shabbat Family Beit Midrash & Nosh!

This Beit Midrash will be led by Rabbi Yael, Aliza Sebert & Jess Feiwus (former ACHS and Schechter Manhattan teacher).

We'll study selections from Devash: Hadar's Weekly Parashah Magazine in family groups, and in groups of just kids and just parents; and we'll enjoy some nosh and being in community!

After the Beit Midrash, families are welcome in the Sanctuary for the conclusion of services, and then Kiddush.

RSVP here!

Wherever you are in the b'nai mitzvah prep process, you will have the opportunity to explore the origins of the mitzvot of tallit and tefillin, practice putting them on, and discuss what they mean as a B'nai Mitzvah, all with guidance from our rabbis!

If you already have a tallit and/or tefillin for your Bar or Bat Mitzvah student, please bring them to this session, so we can help you resize them if necessary. They are not necessary to buy at this point, however.

For those who are looking to purchase a tallit or tefillin, there are many different styles, at different price points, available online.

RSVP here!

ACRA is part of Ansche Chesed’s response to the world refugee crisis. Over the past year, we have helped 4 families rebuild their lives in the US. In 2023 we will extend our work to others in need.

Learn more about AC's Refugee Assistance efforts HERE.

To become more involved, please reach out to us HERE.

Repair the World is excited to be entering another season of our Service Corps! The Service Corps mobilizes young adults to invest both in their communities and themselves through the lens of Jewish values. Corps members will spend 5-10 hours per week volunteering with local service partners and connecting Jewish approaches to justice through issue-area education alongside a cohort. They are eligible for up to $1,500 at the completion of the program with additional funding available through the Economic Access Fund. Our spring application is open until February 16.

Interested in one on one cooking lessons with kosher caterer Janice Tannin in your home? I tailor classes to your skills, experience and interests. Cooking lessons make a wonderful wedding or graduation gift! They are also a fine gift for anyone who wants to learn new techniques and get creative in the kitchen.

For information please visit my website: Janicetannin.com.

I am recommending my housekeeper who is both excellent and very experienced.

She also served as my mother's caretaker and definitely enhanced my mother's quality of life.

Please feel free to email me or call me at 212-864-8163 should you wish to have further details.

Barbara Colton has an electric scooter that she is able to give away. It is in excellent condition, and just needs a new battery. It will need to be picked up from her apartment.

Please contact her at 212-580-1594 or ladybarbarasage@gmail.com if interested.

I have been working as a freelance writer and am available for any writing needs that you'd like to outsource, including articles, blog posts, white papers, college entrance essays/high school and college papers (development/editor), editorials, thought pieces and guidance in creative nonfiction and fiction writing.

I’m also available to dog and puppy owners for visits, walks, feeding, playtime and even overnight stays. References available. Our new family member is Cole, a one-year old Labradoodle, and I’ve also cared for two family dogs over my adult years.

Gil Israeli, gifi@nyc.rr.com