Weekly Newsletter

All women are invited to participate in our Women's Tefilah and Torah reading for Parashat Chayei Sarah, THIS Shabbat morning, November 26.

Services will begin at 9:30am and will take place downstairs in the beit midrash.

If you have questions or would like to get involved in future women's tefilah services, send an email to stantonstreetwomen@gmail.com.

 #GivingTuesday is coming up on November 29, and this year, thanks to a generous donor, we are holding a special matching gift campaign to say thanks for our remarkable StantonKIDS programming. 

Although we are a small shul with limited resources, we are proud to provide a professionally run children's program. In addition to making the Shabbos experience truly memorable and meaningful for the children and families who attend, StantonKIDS has attracted new families, strengthened the bond among shul parents, and brought smiles to all our faces as we see the kids joyfully parading into shul to lead us in Adon Olam.
A generous donor has offered to match donations made between now and November 29 toward the StantonKIDS program, up to $3,000. Please make a generous contribution to enable more great programming from StantonKIDS. Consider sponsoring a Shabbat morning program, or make a general contribution of any amount you are able toward our matching gift campaign.

Click here and choose "StantonKIDS" from the dropdown menu between now and Tuesday, November 29, to take part in our #GivingTuesday matching gift campaign!

(StantonKIDS program sponsorships are available at different levels, beginning at $180. For more information, email kids@stantonstshul.com.)

Join us for a special guest speaker on Shabbat of December 17!

Coinciding with Parashat Vayishlach, when Joseph is imprisoned in Egypt, Rabbi Andrew Scheer will speak on his experience working as a Jewish Chaplain for New York City's Department of Corrections. He will provide a broad overview of the conditions on Rikers Island as well as the borough facilities in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Rabbi Scheer will speak after kiddush, before mincha, and will present vignettes of different inmates to offer a better glimpse into what Joseph could have been feeling as he sat in jail.

JOFA has offered discounted admission to their upcoming conference for friends of Stanton who sign up by November 27!

The JOFA Conference, held every three years, is the premier destination for over 1,000 supporters of Orthodox feminism to explore the intersection of feminist ideals with critical facets of our halakhic and religious lives. Conference sessions will focus on a range of topics, including halakha, race, sexuality, family, and political structures. This year’s theme, “Charting Your Course,” empowers individuals and communities to navigate paths that will achieve  real progress. The Ninth International JOFA Conference will be taking place on January 14th and 15th at Columbia University in NYC. Get an extra 10% off the Early Bird price with discount code STANTON today! Early Bird ends November 27th.

Visit http://jofa.org/Conference2017 or email conference@jofa.org for more information.

Our Evening to Benefit the Historic Stanton Street Shul was a fantastic success. We had over 170 people in attendance at the amazing Angel Orensanz Center, and raised a significant sum for the Stanton Street Shul Building Fund (final net tally still pending as additional donations come in).

The evening featured fantastic klezmer music by world-renowned musician Alicia Svigals; a program honoring Tikkun Olam Award recipients April Stewart Klausner and Paul Klausner and Nachshon Young Leadership Award recipients Wendy Chin and David Tuchman; Lower East Side themed refreshments, including old-time sodas and pareve egg creams from The Seltzer Guys and a buffet inspired by classic L.E.S. restaurants like Schmulka Bernstein's and Ratner's; and an after-party with a champagne toast, tour of the Shul, and more music.

It was an incredible event, and we thank everyone who attended and contributed to the Building Fund. Thank you also to our honorees for working so hard to ensure the benefit was a success and to everyone who volunteered their time and talents to bring it all together: our benefit co-chairs, Sonia Gardner and Julia Wolfe; our benefit committee, Billy Bergman, Dory Bergman, Aliza Deutsch, Rivky Friedman, Risa Gerstein, Michael Gordon, Judy Josephs, Jeff Katz, Malka Percal, Elana Reich, Mayer Sinensky, and Sam Weisblatt; and a huge thanks to Elissa Sampson for leading the tour, contributing to the slideshow, and helping in many other ways. Thank you also to David Deutsch, Sam Deutsch, David Friedman, Yael Gordon, Eric Reich, and Laura Weisblatt, who helped variously with coat check, clean-up, and general/moral support; and to Rabbi Bodner for all of his help and for speaking so beautifully.

We also thank Angel Orensanz and everyone at the Angel Orensanz Center for hosting us so graciously and generously; our incredible caterers, Bruce and Ava Soffer of Chef's Table, who went above and beyond the call of duty; Kaufman Bros. Printing who did such a great job printing our invitations (designed by April Stewart Klausner) and benefit journal (designed by Rivky Friedman); our event photographer Andrew Einhorn; and Ami and Larissa Nahari of The River who provided the wine.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Stanton Street Shul Building Fund to help repair and restore our historic building. (You can still click here to make a contribution.)

If you have questions, email benefit@stantonstshul.com.

One of the many strengths of our shul is the variety and multiple talents and abilities of our congregants. It takes a lot to run our shul and our programming, and we can probably use your help. Are you a tech guru, web design aficionado, or social media wiz? A master event planner, fundraiser, or program coordinator? An accountant, lawyer, or investment professional? A trained carpenter, electrician, or contractor? If you have any of these or other skills, professional or amateur, that you'd like to contribute to Stanton, speak to Rabbi Bodner, Rivky Friedman, or another member of the board and let's think about how we can help make Stanton flourish together.

Looking for a way to give back to Stanton, not right now, but maybe at some point in the future? Consider planning a long-term gift to the shul. We encourage anyone interested in discussing various ways to plan a gift now that will be given in the future to contact Board members Michael Gordon or Rivky Friedman, or Rabbi Bodner. There are many ways to go about planned giving and we are happy to discuss the various options that might work for you.