What's Happening in Local West Orange Synagogues

The past month has been a fun filled, educational and busy one here at Congregation AABJ&D.

It has been a very busy spring for our Youth department! Our Shabbat morning groups are a huge success and continue to get better and better each week.

There have been Onegs every other week, which include fun activities for the children to take part in. The children also enjoyed partaking in the Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations.

Our Youth Department looks forward to a packed Shavuot filled with learning, a community visit to Daughters of Israel, ice cream sundae party and a game of Family Feud.

On Monday, May 14 we had our Youth Raffle drawing, which we were all so anxiously awaiting. Congratulations to all of our winners, thank you to everyone who participated and a big thank you to all our local businesses for their ongoing support.  

Our Mother’s Day Gardening Event was a huge success. The children who attended helped out in the planting of our very own AABJ&D vegetable garden. The children not only planted but also learned about all of the important factors that go into successfully planting and maintaining a garden. The children planted strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, beets, cabbage, broccoli, peas, beans, cucumbers and basil. Thank you to all who came out to make this a successful event.

The Lauren Elise Early Childhood has been extremely busy this last month, preparing for Shavuot and the end of the year. The children enjoyed celebrating Israel’s 64^th birthday with an imaginary trip to Israel. The children learned all about Israel and enjoyed delicious birthday cake. As we count up toward Shavuot we are also counting down the days we have left here at school. Before you know it the children will be enjoying the warm summer days here at Camp Shemesh.

Congregation AABJ&D teamed up with Ohr Torah for a Men's Club & Sisterhood Book Club Event. On May 6, the community enjoyed an evening with Ted Sherman & Josh Margolin, Authors of "The Jersey Sting", moderated by Dr. Ed Shapiro. Both Sherman and Margolin spoke about the saga of New Jersey’s political and money laundering scandals all tied together by an unlikely FBI informant. This event was enjoyed by all who attended. 

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 at srstot@gmail.com.

If you missed out on our last blood drive, which had an overwhelming amount of people who came out, make sure to give the gift of life- Donate blood at our next blood drive, here at Congregation AABJ&D on Sunday, July 1, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

In just a few weeks we look forward to host Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin, who will come as our Scholar in Residence. Rabbi Riskin will share stories and deliver Divrei Torah to our community. We are all looking forward to that Shabbat.

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, www.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.

We are busy gearing up and preparing for a busy Shavuot, filled with many classes and programs! Looking forward to a relaxing, spiritual and fun filled Yom Tov shared with family, friends and the entire community.