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March 2021
Hillel’s Burrito, the Spanish Pesach Bunny, and Pomegranates From the Sea: Seder Gems from Fruits of Freedom, the Torah Flora Hagadah
Much of the Pesach seder is rooted in the history of Jewish food and agriculture. Dr. Greenberg will present some of this forgotten Pesach lore that he recovered during his research for this unique and important new Hagadah. Come learn about the German rabbi who reversed the meaning of maror by replacing it with vermouth herbs; how ancient rabbis used botany, physics, and sophisticated culinary techniques to explain the Paschal lamb barbecue; and how the potential conflicts between Torah and…
Find out more »Spring Cleaning with ONE BLOCK
Join your fellow Ansche Chesed members and One Block to participate in direct action that supports our community. We will gather outside of Ansche Chesed on 100th Street and West End Avenue, and break into groups to take responsibility for the beauty of our local community, one block at a time. The details: Bags and gloves will be provided to you You will bag as much garbage as you can (not twigs or leaves) and place it next to the existing trash bins.…
Find out more »Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Hope
Exactly one year ago on this date, officials announced the first two Covid-19 deaths in our city and state. Since then, this terrible virus has killed nearly 30,000 of our fellow city residents, nearly 48,000 in our state, more than 500,000 nationwide, and more than 2.5 million across the globe. Every human community has been diminished. Let us restore ourselves by joining with our neighbors. Please join our Ansche Chesed community, along with Grace Church of Harlem, Hillside Islamic Center, and…
Find out more »Singing Our Way Into Freedom With Cantor Hirschhorn and special musical guests
It is impossible to imagine celebrating Passover without a song. From The Song of the Sea to Dayeynu to Chad Gadya, this season is brimming with great tunes that link us to our shared history and invoke many joyous, and sometimes poignant, memories of seders past. On our second Pesach in isolation, we may be able to relate to our ancestor’s experience of pain and affliction much more easily than usual. Yet we also affirm our belief that we will…
Find out more »Who Knows Four?: Inclusion and Exclusion in the Passover Seder
Why is the number four so important in the Passover Seder? Join Rabbi Bill Plevan to study the passage of the four children from the Haggadah and similar Rabbinic texts. Are these texts inclusive or exclusive? What can we learn from these texts about the tension between maintaining standards of behavior (moral or religious) and achieving inclusive community? Rabbi Bill Plevan holds rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a doctorate in Religion from Princeton University where he wrote…
Find out more »Community Shabbat Dinner in YOUR Home
Of the many things that we miss since the onset of the pandemic has been Ansche Chesed Shabbat Dinners. They have always been an opportunity to pray together, to celebrate Shabbat together, to eat together, to learn together… to be together. While we still can not come together in person, we can still enjoy Shabbat as a community. We invite you to join us for an instrumental Kabbalat Shabbat beginning at 6:15pm, and Maariv beginning at 6:40pm, have a shared catered…
Find out more »Family Memoir Workshop: The Holiday Meal
Nothing says family like food. But how do you tell your family’s story when there are so many meals to choose from? The Family Memoir Workshop invites you and your family—wherever they are—to join us for a virtual class as we discover new ways to put our stories on the page. Within family clusters, you’ll decide on a shared holiday meal—Passover, Hanukkah, the break-fast following Yom Kippur—and then each of you will write it from your own individual perspective. Sharing…
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The Four Children: The Superhero, The Supervillain, The Mentor and the Sidekick
Get ready for Passover with Batman editor and Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel creator Gorf's zoom presentation: "The Four Sons: The Superhero, the Supervillain, the Mentor and the Sidekick" — a SUPER 1-hour interactive session using "Marvel-ous” clips and art, and popular culture icons, for revealing multiple layers of the classic parable. It's fun, insightful, unique and engaging. Watch the teaser trailer video here! Registration requested, Zoom-in's welcome! JOIN VIA ZOOM Meeting ID: 821 7548 6081
Find out more »A Sweet and Kosher Pesach for 2021 With Rabbi Kalmanofsky
At least we can say: This year is better than the last! Are you ready for Covid Pesach, Round 2? Join us to reflect on Passover's musts and maybes, to ask Halakhic and aesthetic questions about shopping, cleaning, cooking and planning seders under another year of sub-optimal conditions. Among other topics, we consider the traditions of "telling the tale of the Exodus." What are the basics and the extras? If you'd like, send questions in advance to rjk@AnscheChesed.org. JOIN US VIA…
Find out more »Zoom Siyyum with Rabbi Kalmanofsky
On Thursday, March 25, please join Rabbi Kalmanofsky after morning minyan to conclude Tractate Makkot and participate in a virtual Siyyum for the Fast of the First Born. JOIN VIA ZOOM
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