Shul Spiel: What's Happening at Local West Orange Synagogues

The past month has been an extremely busy one here at Congregation AABJ&D. We have had many exciting and educational programs for everyone to enjoy.

Our Youth department continues to be super busy, ensuring that all the children have a great time. There are constantly new and exciting programs and outings for the children to partake in.

Over Pesach, the youth department arranged groups and special activities to get the children in the holiday spirit. The children joined in for a community-wide walk to Daughters of Israel.

They were given the opportunity to visit with the residents, making the holiday special for everyone who participated!

The youth department is working very hard on their big fundraiser. Their annual raffle has fantastic prizes, this year. If you are interested in purchasing a ticket or finding out more about it, please contact the Shul office at cong.aabjd@verizon.net. Thank you to all our local businesses for their ongoing support.

Evening for Women
The Lauren Elise Early Childhood, here at Congregation AABJ&D teamed up with the nursery school at Suburban Torah for an unforgettable and inspirational night. An ‘Evening for Women’ featuring Slovie Jungreis Wolff, speaking on ‘Raising a Child with Soul.’

This cross-generational event was attended by more than 200 women. The mothers worked very hard baking, setting up and promoting the event to ensure it was a successful evening. A great time had by all who attended.

Together on Tuesday
Together on Tuesday, our seniors program continues to meet on a weekly basis. The programs are social, intellectual and educational. Knowledgeable speakers on Judaism, current events, politics and the arts are invited. One needn't be a member of the congregation in order to participate. For more information, contact Seniors Coordinator, Debbie Druce at (973) 736-1407 x240 or email her.

Scholar in residence
In March, we were extremely fortunate to welcome a scholar in residence, Rabbi Meir Y. Soloveichik. Rabbi Soloveichik is an American Orthodox rabbi and writer. The son of Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, he is a grandson of Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, the brother of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik the late leader of American Modern Orthodox Judaism.

A graduated of Yeshiva College in New York City, Soloveichik received his rabbinic ordination (semicha) at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and studied philosophy of religion at Yale University Divinity School. He is the Associate Rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York and has a Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University. He is also director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University.

During the course of Shabbat, congregants were able to hear Rabbi Soloveichik speak about, “The Iron Lady's Rabbi: Margaret Thatcher and Lord Jakobovits,”
“The Talmudic Marriage of Henry VIII” and “Tim Tebow and Tefilla."

We also had the opportunity to welcome Rav Hershel Schachter, who came to speak before Pesach. We had an “Ask the Rav" session where our congregants were able to prepare and bring any questions in regarding Pesach or any other subject, which really set the tone for Pesach for all of our members.

Dead Sea Scrolls Trip
Many of our members enjoyed our exciting and educational shul trip to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at Discovery Times Square. The exhibition received rave reviews and our participants couldn’t agree more. The exhibition contained many important artifacts on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Dvar Torah
If you ever find yourself with some free time and want to learn a little Torah, please feel free to listen to Rabbi Zwickler’s Web Dvar, which can be found on the homepage of our website, aabjd.org, just click on the Web Dvar banner to access. Please feel free to browse our website for any upcoming events that may spark your interest.