Congregation Darchei Noam of Toronto will be celebrating and dedicating its new home on Sunday, January 27. The events will include a processional to carry the five sifrei Torah from the community’s present (rented) location to its beautiful new building at 864 Sheppard Avenue West, followed by a ceremony of dedication. On the following weekend, the community will celebrate its first Shabbaton with a Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday, Feb. 1, and Shabbat services the next morning with Rabbi Tina Grimberg.
Mitzvah Day at Kehilat Hanahar. In photo, from left: Michael Rothblat of New Hope, Brett Ackerman of Doylestown and Nell Sweeney of PenningtonKehilat HaNahar of New Hope, PA, held a successful Mitzvah Day on Oct. 21. That day, the community:
• Packed 500 lunches for a Trenton-area soup kitchen
• Cooked 65 meals for the Aid for Friends organization
• Sent care packages to 61 members of the New Jersey Air National Guard 108th Air Refueling Wing, stationed in the Middle East
• Signed people up to assist with HOPE (Helping People Every Day) and NOVA (Network of Victims Assistance)
• Enrolled people in the CROP walk in Lambertville
The activities were funded through a grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
Temple Beth Sholom in Salem, Oregon, celebrated its 60th year as a congregation on October 27. Festivities included hors d'ouvres, wine, dessert and a Havdalah service. The featured speaker was Jordan Schnitzer, art collector and namesake of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon.
B’nai Abraham congregation of Bordentown City, PA is celebrating 90 years in its historic home. In an article in The Register News, Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein shared the rich tradition of the synagogue he leads and the specialness of its Reconstructionist community: “For one thing, we have a membership that cares and supports one another. Reconstructionism really fits in with that, people taking responsibility for Judaism. It’s the idea that each generation needs to reconstruct (the faith) according to the past, but also keeping in mind their experience of the present.”