Past Events
May 2016
Dinner with the Rabbi
Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky hosts monthly dinners during which he leads a discussion about the ways Judaism can guide responses to ethical challenges, both personal and communal.
Find out more »June 2016
Ansche Chesed Annual Meeting
Ansche Chesed will host its annual meeting on June 7, 2016 at 8pm in Hirsch Hall.
Find out more »Family Kiddush
Ansche Chesed thrives in large part because of the children and families in its midst. Join us in introducing them to Jewish concepts, ideas and practices.
Find out more »August 2016
Erev Tishah B’Av
Holidays at Ansche Chesed are filled with prayer, learning and other opportunities for members to come together as a strong community. Join us.
Find out more »August Birthdays Kiddush
The Annual August birthday kiddush for the Sanctuary Service will take place on August 20th, so if you have an August birthday or have a friend that does, please contribute to our kiddush fund and note that it is for the August birthday kiddush.
Find out more »Communal Davening with Potluck Kiddush
We ask that each attendee help arrange for a more robust, plentiful weekly kiddush, bringing in a greater variety of appealing dishes. Let's step up and sanctify Shabbat with a hearty kiddush!
Find out more »September 2016
Left vs. Right: The Battle for Israel’s Soul
Is Israel locked in a tragic dispute between two peoples claiming the same land - or a global conflict between Western democracy and Islamist terrorism?
Find out more »December 2016
Change a Story and You Can Change the World
Join the Ansche Chesed community for a Shabbat dinner and learn from Dr. Dovid Roskies about how, bu learning the power of twice-told tales, three restless rebellious Jews—Reb Nahman of Braslav, I. L. Peretz and I.B. Singer— were reborn as Yiddish storytellers. **Families Welcome! Open Gym available from 6:30-9pm** Register using link below.
Find out more »A Nittel Nacht (Shabbat Dinner)
For many hundreds of years, the Jewish people have struggled with their otherness in the world. Sometimes we respond with learning, humor, and game-playing. Join us on Erev Christmas eve and Chanukkah to learn more about the custom of Nittel Nacht as we dine for Shabbat dinner on traditional Chinese food, and laugh, learn, and play together. Register Here
Find out more »July 2017
Tisha B’Av Services
Please join us on Monday evening, July 31 at 8:30pm for communal Tisha B'Av services in Hirsch Hall; and again on Tuesday morning, August 1 at 7:15am and 2pm in the Chapel.
Find out more »September 2017
Communal Davening and Kiddush
Please join us on Shabbat of Labor Day weekend for communal davening and kiddush. All food should be dairy or pareve. If your last name begins with A-I, please bring an appetizer. If your last name begins with J-Q, please bring a salad. If your last name begins with R-Z, please bring a dessert. Those who cannot contribute food may make a donation to the kiddush fund.
Find out more »November 2017
Ansche Chesed Survey: Highlights
Please join us for a community meeting to discuss the findings of the synagogue-wide survey, and work together to chart an initial course of action. There will be a presentation of the survey highlights, followed by round table discussions. Bagels and lox will be served, and the gym will be open for supervised children's play. All members (even those who did not take the survey) are encouraged to attend! Please RSVP! If you do, you will be entered into a…
Find out more »January 2018
Millennials and the Jewish Home: An Ansche Chesed Shabbaton
Join us for Shabbat Dinner as we discuss Millienials and the Jewish Home as a part of our Shabbaton on the larger Millenial experience. After dinner, our conversation, which will include both Jewish professionals who work with this age cohort as well as including members of our community who belong to this age-group, as we discuss issues such as intermarriage and relationships, money, professional goals, you know... life.
Find out more »February 2018
Shabbat Dinner with Zemirot
Join Cantor Natasha J. Hirschhorn for a spirited and joyous evening of welcoming Shabbat. Stay for dinner with friends and fellow lovers of singing and raise the roof with soulful and rousing sounds of Zemirot and Nigunim! Gym will be open for supervised play!
Find out more »May 2018
Tikkun Shavuot in the Zohar – An Invitation To Take Part In The Torah
Melila Hellner-Eshed is a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. She has taught for the past 25 years Jewish mysticism and Zohar at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and serves on the faculty of the Institute of Jewish Spirituality. She has been teaching and working with Jewish communities around the world. Her publications include A River Flows from Eden: The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar (Stanford University Press, 2009) and her new book "Seekers of…
Find out more »September 2018
Communal Davening and Potluck Kiddush
Please join us for communal davening this Shabbat, after which we will join together for a communal potluck kiddush! We invite you to bring food to contribute: If your last name begins with A through D, please bring a fruit or dessert. If your last name begins with E through N, please bring a salad. If your last name begins with O through Z, please bring a side dish.
Find out more »November 2018
Tamar Manasseh: A Mom On A Mission
Tamar Manasseh is the founder of MASK (Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killings). The organization, established in Chicago in 2015, as a way to put eyes on the streets, interrupt violence & crime, and teach children to grow up as friends rather than enemies. A group of caring individuals in the community began to simply hang out on the block, cook food, and emanate love.
Find out more »August 2019
Tisha B’Av Service
Join us for evening Eicha reading. The fast starts at 8:00pm, Shabbat Ends at 8:46pm, and Maariv and Eicha will begin at 8:40pm.
Find out more »September 2019
Erev Rosh HaShanah: Minyan M’at
Holidays at Ansche Chesed are filled with prayer, learning and other opportunities for members to come together as a strong community. Join us.
Find out more »November 2019
The Wide Horizon of American Jewry: Chabad “Beyond Black and White”
Chabad attracts friends, followers, and supporters worldwide yet is not without controversy. What attracts Jews to this spiritual/practical path? How did it become such a global brand? Rabbi Joe Kanofsky grew up in a liberal community and earned a PhD in Literature under Elie Wiesel. He also met the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1989 as part of an undergraduate course on Hasidism, and has been engaged with this path ever since. Rabbi Kanofsky is an excellent interpreter who can help our…
Find out more »December 2019
Shabbat In Harmony with The Western Wind
Join Ansche Chesed’s Shirei Chesed Community Chorus in spirited congregational singing of beloved prayer melodies enhanced by the rich harmonies of our special guests, the internationally acclaimed Western Wind vocal ensemble. Join us for a Shabbat Dinner and a special musical program to follow. Kabbalat Shabbat Services begin at 5:30pm, followed by dinner and the program.
Find out more »
Back to the (Hasidic) Sources: A Reading of Parashat Va-Yetze Potluck
Join us as we welcome Rabbi Art Green for a potluck Shabbat lunch after davening as a prelude to the Neo-Hasidic Symposium and Festival on Sunday, December 8. The figure of Father Jacob exercised great fascination for the early Hasidic preachers. Journeying into new realms and discovering God's presence where you had never expected it were perfect descriptions of their own project. Today we will glimpse into the Me'or 'Eynayim, the best-written of all the Hasidic classics, to read and…
Find out more »January 2020
Safety Shabbat
After synagogue attacks in Germany over the High Holidays, last week's deadly attack in Jersey City, and swastikas defacing LA synagogues and schools (including the American Jewish University, affiliated with our Conservative movement), Jews all over are appropriately anxious about security in sacred places. For the second consecutive year, we at AC would love to convene for a Safety Shabbat, on January 11, parshat vayechi. This year's session will NOT include an evacuation drill, but will include lunch. Please join us!…
Find out more »February 2020
Shabbat in Love and Harmony – Annual Dinner with Zemirot
This Friday night, coinciding with the secular holiday celebrating romantic love, we will sing many of the love songs our tradition associates with the welcoming of Shabbat. Join Hazzan Natasha Hirschhorn in spirited congregational singing of the beloved Friday night service melodies enhanced by the rich harmonies provided by the Shirei Chesed Community Chorus at Ansche Chesed. Stay for dinner with friends and raise the roof with soulful and rousing sounds of Zemirot and Niggunim, celebrating love and Shabbat! With sufficient registration of…
Find out more »
Shabbat in Love and Harmony – Annual Dinner with Zemirot
This Friday night, coinciding with the secular holiday celebrating romantic love, we will sing many of the love songs our tradition associates with the welcoming of Shabbat. Join Hazzan Natasha Hirschhorn in spirited congregational singing of the beloved Friday night service melodies enhanced by the rich harmonies provided by the Shirei Chesed Community Chorus at Ansche Chesed. Stay for dinner with friends and raise the roof with soulful and rousing sounds of Zemirot and Niggunim, celebrating love and Shabbat! With…
Find out more »
The Ancient Law: A Cine-Concert, with Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin
As part of our weekend focusing on the American Jewish Theater experience, please join us for The Ancient Law: A Cine-Concert, with Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin With an original live score composed and performed by renowned klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals and silent film music legend, pianist Donald Sosin. Director E.A. DuPont’s 1923 silent film, The Ancient Law (Das Alte Gesetz) is about a rabbi’s son who runs away to become an actor and is disowned by his father. Digitally restored in 2017, it paints…
Find out more »September 2021
Minyan M’at: First Night Rosh HaShanah Services
Join Minyan M’at for Fist Night Rosh HaShanah services. Attendance at this service requires tickets. Please DO NOT come to the service if you have not received a ticket for this service as space is limited. The Zoom link for this service is here The Minyan M'at Services will take place in Ansche Chesed’s Hirsch Hall. Ansche Chesed has arranged for a digital version of the Mahzor Lev Shalem to be available for use during the services. The mahzor can be accessed…
Find out more »Minyan M’at Simchat Torah Services
Join the Ansche Chesed community for our Simchat Torah services. The Sanctuary and Minyan M'at will davven together outdoors on the roof. We will continue into shared hakafot, with singing and dancing under the same conditions as the night before. Each year the 7th and final hakafa is a special moment in Minyan M'at, and the wider shul will be privileged to share that with them and their traditions. Members can bring their own food and drink, and we will provide…
Find out more »January 2023
Daughter of Auschwitz: Special Invitation for 6th & 7th Grade Families
With the youngest Shoah survivors growing older, we are the final generation who will hear their stories first-hand. Tova Friedman, mother of AC member Gadi Friedman, is one of the very youngest Auschwitz survivors, having entered that prison before her 6th birthday. Tova will join Ansche Chesed on Shabbat, January 21, to share the remarkable story she recounts in her new book The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope. Please join us to think about the horror…
Find out more »February 2023
Sylvia Ortiz Farewell Kiddush
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…
Find out more »April 2023
Community Second Seder: Breaking Matza and Breaking Free
Join us for a night of breaking matza and breaking free. Our seder will be led by our clergy Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Rabbi Yael Hammerman, and Hazzan Natasha Hirschhorn. Help us fill Hirsch Hall with ruach, friendship, stories and song! "Let all who are hungry come and eat." -- Our seder is open to AC members and non-members, adults and children. Click here to register!
Find out more »Rav Chesed Hanukat Habayit Kiddush
Join us for a special hanukat habayit / communal dedication to celebrate our momentous achievement, and to express gratitude to all who helped reach our $8 million goal. A festive Kiddush Lunch in our new Hirsch Hall and Annex will follow communal davening in the Sanctuary at 9:45 am, and a compelling Dvar Torah by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky.
Find out more »June 2023
Tribute Gala 2023
Please join us for an evening of celebration and gratitude for our honorees: Bena Medjuck-Bruckner & Gustavo Bruckner, Deb & Mosh Mowshowitz, and Elaine Morris, Elisheva Urbas & David Morris. We will dine in our newly renovated Hirsch Hall and adjacent spaces and toast to the many, many, many years of their generous support and remarkable leadership. Delight in our garden-themed cocktail reception, passed hors d'oeuvres, and delectable food stations adorned with greens and herbs fit to take home. Mingle…
Find out more »December 2023
Glow in the Dark Family Chanukah Party
Experience the GLOW during a communal Chanukah candle lighting. Eat, sing and enjoy 'glow in the dark' activities! Geared at ages 5-11 and their families. Pizza and Latkes will be served. Registration preferred, walk-ins welcome.
Find out more »February 2024
Christian Nationalism in America Today: Shul-Wide Kiddush and Conversation
All are welcome to join us for shul-wide Kiddush after services to hear AC member Prof. Marcia Pally, author of the new book White Evangelicals and Right-Wing Populism: How Did We Get Here? Going beyond headlines and polling, we'll discuss the big picture and the deep picture: why is right-wing populism so forceful in America? Are white evangelicals in Trump's "base" voting against their best interests? Why do they think Trump is in their best interests? We'll provide a light lunch,…
Find out more »March 2024
Potluck Kiddush
Join us immediately after services for a potluck kiddush. We’ll provide a warm chickpea/vegetable stew and rice, you bring salads (green, vegetable, grain or bean), side dishes or dessert. Please consult AC’s kashrut policy.
Find out more »ACHS Purim Carnival
Join us for a festive Purim celebration - fun for all ages! Kids and adults are encouraged to come in costume, and are invited to join our exciting Costume Parade at 11:50am! All are welcome! Register online to purchase all-access wristbands at a reduced price. Each wristband includes 1 Open Gym session and unlimited games. $30 online, $35 at the door. Gym session spaces are limited - RSVP now. The Purim Carnival is the annual fundraiser for the Ansche Chesed…
Find out more »Minyan M’at Erev Purim Megillah Reading
Join with the Minyan M'at community to celebrate Purim and hear a full reading of megillat Esther. In addition to megillah reading & sumptuous refreshments, the event will feature a musical "send-up" of the megillah featuring a dozen beloved Broadway tunes, with a heavy dose of Sondheim, all written and performed by "our very own" Ron Meyers with support from a talented cast of minyanites. Get ready to "knock back" a Shushan Shpritzer and have a laugh!
Find out more »April 2024
Community Second Seder
Join us for an engaging participatory intergenerational Seder celebration. Rich in songs in many languages, rooted in tradition, highlighting and weaving together unique stories and experiences of everyone around the table. No one leaves a stranger! RSVP online, open to members and non-members of all ages
Find out more »May 2024
What’s Left for Progressive Jews: A Panel Discussion with Minyan M’at
Minyan M’at, an egalitarian kahal at Ansche Chesed, is thrilled to sponsor a series of panels devoted to exploring issues that affect our community after the horrors of October 7 and Israel’s response. Outstanding Jewish thinkers will come together to talk about Jewish communal responses to October 7, the role of Zionism for Diaspora Jewry, the role of “Jewish Progressives”, and how we should think about prayer in a time of war. All events are free and open to the…
Find out more »Jewish Prayer in a Time of War: For Who and Why?: A Panel Discussion with Minyan M’at
Minyan M’at, an egalitarian kahal at Ansche Chesed, is thrilled to sponsor a series of panels devoted to exploring issues that affect our community after the horrors of October 7 and Israel’s response. Outstanding Jewish thinkers will come together to talk about Jewish communal responses to October 7, the role of Zionism for Diaspora Jewry, the role of “Jewish Progressives”, and how we should think about prayer in a time of war. All events are free and open to the…
Find out more »‘Meet Your Neighbor’ Mother’s Day Brunch
Register here for Moms, Children and Volunteers - Limited spaces available Ansche Chesed is thrilled to partner with Knock Knock Give a Sock (KKGS) this Mother's Day! KKGS works to humanize homelessness one sock at a time. One of the ways KKGS works to end the stigma of homelessness is through creating 'Meet Your Neighbor Meals,' an experience that brings together communities living in houses and those who are experiencing homelessness -- side by side. Through brunch, shared experiences of…
Find out more »June 2024
Annual Membership Meeting 2024
All members in good standing are encouraged to attend our Annual Membership Meeting. To request remote access, where you will be able to observe the meeting but not vote on any action items, please contact the office. If you cannot attend the meeting, please fill out the Proxy Form and submit it by email to president@anschechesed.org before the meeting. At the meeting, we’ll: 1) elect the slate of trustees and officers as recommended by the Nominating Committee; 2) vote on Rabbi Hammerman and Hazzan Hirschhorn’s…
Find out more »August 2024
Tisha B’Av: Evening Service and Eikha Reading
Join the Ansche Chesed community for Ma'ariv and the reading of Megillat Eikha.
Find out more »September 2024
Community Shabbat Dinner + “Who Knows One?” Live!
"Who Knows One?" is a hilarious live show that became a cultural hit in the Jewish community over the course of the pandemic, reuniting old friends and creating new ones with an innovative game that combines Six Degrees of Separation and Jewish Geography. This September, Micah Hart, the creator of "Who Knows One?" is bringing the experience to Ansche Chesed, over Shabbat dinner, with a new live, interactive version of the show. Come see how we're all connected to each other and share…
Find out more »October 2024
Minyan M’at First Day Rosh HaShanah Service
Join Minyan M’at for their Rosh HaShanah Services. Note: attendance at this service requires tickets. Learn more about Minyan M'at
Find out more »Minyan M’at Second Day Rosh HaShanah Services
Join Minyan M’at for their Rosh HaShanah Services. Note: attendance at this service requires tickets. Learn more about Minyan M'at
Find out more »Minyan M’at Kol Nidre Service
Join Minyan M’at for their Kol Nidre Service. Note: attendance at this service requires tickets, arranged with the office in advance. Learn more about Minyan M'at
Find out more »Minyan M’at Yom Kippur Morning Service
Join Minyan M’at for their Yom Kippur services. Note: attendance at this service requires tickets, arranged with the office in advance. Learn more about Minyan M'at
Find out more »Minyan M’at Yom Kippur Minha/Ne’ila Services
Join Minyan M’at for their Minha and Ne'ila services. Note: attendance at this service requires tickets, arranged with the office in advance. Learn more about Minyan M'at
Find out more »Family Simchat Torah Celebration
Join us for a FREE light dairy dinner followed by our annual Torah Unroll, dancing and Hakafot with the rest of the AC Community. Stick around for ice cream and popsicles after the second Hakafa! No RSVP necessary, walk-ins welcome.
Find out more »Simchat Torah Evening Services
Come celebrate the Torah with singing, dancing, and hakafot (circling)! Join us beforehand for ma'ariv at 6:45pm in the Mayer Cavalier Chapel.
Find out more »