Congregation Ahavath Israel - Kingston. NY

09/22/2023

Dear former members and friends of Congregation Ahavath Israel

We would like to let everyone know that this synagogue, Congregation Ahavath Israel, is now closed. Many members have moved on to Temple Beth-El Poughkeepsie (https://www.facebook.com/Tbepok), a progressive Conservative synagogue. We invite you to join us there for scheduled services as well as religious school.

09/24/2021

Dear former members of Congregation Ahavath Israel

Two of the Torah's that belonged to Congregation Ahavath Israel will be welcomed to their new congregations next week. Both of these events will be available through zoom or streaming in case you would like to be a part of the ceremony. In both cases, Bernie King-Smith will be reading from the very end of the Torah on a scroll from the new congregation, followed by members of the new congregations reading from the very beginning of the Torah that we are passing on to them. Here are the details for the two events on Monday and Tuesday nights next week.

Temple Israel - Catskill NY.
220 Spring Street, Catskill, NY 12414

Services will be outdoors so you can attend in-person, but you need to bring your own chair.

Topic: Simchat Torah & B'nai Mitzvah
Time: Sep 27, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84444844378?pwd=d0daTkRaemhma1JEdjN2OE9qZ0VSQT09

Meeting ID: 844 4484 4378
Passcode: 702010
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,84444844378 #,,,,*702010 # US (New York)
+13017158592,,84444844378 #,,,,*702010 # US (Washington DC)

_____________________________________________________________________
Kehillah Lev Shalem - Woodstock Jewish Congregation

Services will be in-person by invitation only to address COVID19 limitations, but you can join via zoom:

Simchat Torah - Welcoming Our New Torah Scroll!
Tuesday, September 28, 6pm

Please join us as we celebrate this generous gift from the Ahavath Israel community.

https://wjcshul.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=edec3e3a5437b5b8ff6df9e0a&id=f87c7266f2&e=bfd60c4380

Meeting ID: 109 382 369
Passcode: WJCshul

Congregation Ahavath Israel wants to thank these congregations for the mitzvah of accepting the responsibility for these Torahs for many years to come.

09/03/2021

It was with sadness that we learned that Amy Kirschner, long time member of Congregation Ahavath Israel, passed away yesterday. Amy along with her husband Lew were very active long term members in our synagogue. Graveside services will be held Monday morning at 11:00 am at Montrepose Cemetery.

May her memory be a blessing for those whose lives she touched.

z"l

08/17/2021

Dear Congregants and Friends of Ahavath Israel,

It was with mixed emotions that we received a signed copy of the judge's order, from the New York State Supreme Court, to close the synagogue. The order was signed on July 27th and we received it two weeks ago. Since then the closing committee has met to start disbursing the various valuable and religious assets as per the courts instructions and also handle the other things we still have.

We still have many memorial plaques and Tree of Life leaves that have not been claimed, and if you are still interested in the ones for your family please contact David Brener. In addition, prior to submitting our petition, we let our members and former members know that if they wanted one copy of the Shabbat or High Holidays prayer book with the synagogues name plate in it, you can ask for one. Please specify which prayer book you prefer. We are working on a place to use them so they may not be available much longer. In addition, if you are in contact with past members, or family members of past members who would like their memorial plaques and Tree of Life leaves, please have them contact David.

We anticipate that it will take several months to complete distributing everything and will update the congregation of any milestones. If you have any other questions or need more information, please contact me at 845-336-6373 or reply to this e-mail.

B'shalom

Bernie King-Smith
President
Congregation Ahavath Israel
Kingston, NY

06/14/2021

As a part of consolidating things in our prayer space, and getting rid of things that need to be dumped, we can use some extra boxes.

If you have any boxes you no longer need, about the size of a copier paper box or larger, we can use them tomorrow night, Monday June 14th. If you will be joining us Monday night from 6:30 - 8:30 pm, please bring them with you. If you are not able to join us, please drop them off at Bernie King-Smith's house before 5:30 pm. He is at:

29 Parkside Drive
Lake Katrine, NY 12449

Please don't drop them off at the building unless it is while we are there. I promise we will not put you to work if you only have time to drop them off.

B'shalom.

Congregation Ahavath Israel

05/31/2021

We want to thank those of you who replied that you would be able to help Congregation Ahavath Israel consolidate the space we use at the building from 3 to 1 room. We are setting up two times when we need help moving and possible sorting/organizing some of what we have into our large room. If you can help us please reply, or contact Bernie King-Smith at his email or phone. The following are the dates and times that we have set up for moving things.

Sunday June 6th - 10:00 am - noon.
Monday June 14th - 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

If you have a 2 wheel hand truck that you can bring it with you on June 6th, that would also be a help. If lifting is a problem,we also have some sorting work to be done if you are able to help us. We do ask that you wear a mask at all times when helping, and we will try and maintain social distance as much as possible. If we need additional time to do what we need to do we will send out e-mail with additional days and times.

If you have any other questions or need more information let us know. If you know of others who may not get this who would be interested, please forward them this information. In anticipation, thank you everyone for your help.

B'shalom.

Bernie King-Smith
President Congregation Ahavath Israel

05/20/2021

As some of you know Congregation Ahavath Israel is in the last stages of closing the synagogue. In the next few weeks we need to consolidate what we have in our temporary space in preparation of our closing. If you have some time and can help move light furniture, or help prepare things for disposal or burial we can use some help.

We are hoping to have a few times where we will move things from a storage area into our main room, and clear out our office. We will also sort out for disposal items that can be recycled or thrown out. If you are available please let us know what days and times. We need to get this work done by the end of June. We ask that masks be worn.

Please contact Bernie King-Smith at his home phone, or email him at [email protected]. If he doesn't answer the phone, please leave a message.

Thank you everyone in advance for helping get this done.

B'shalom

Bernie King-Smith

05/07/2021

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, and with Congregation Ahavath Israel's final petition to close the synagogue, going to the New York State Supreme court next month, we unfortunately have to say goodbye to our wonderful program. It was four years ago this month when we started getting together in the back room at DiBella's Pizza to study with Rabbi Zoe B Zak. We studied many great topics over the years and found many new friends. We do want to thank DiBella's Pizza for allowing us to use their back room, as well as providing great pizza. We were also able to move to zoom when the pandemic hit and want to thank all of you who joined us on zoom.

We want to especially thank Rabbi Zoe for all her teaching over the years. For those who want to continue studying with Rabbi Zoe, she also has a Nosh and Learn that is currently on zoom through her synagogue, Temple Israel in Catskill.

Please join us for one last Slice of Torah Wednesday May 12th at 6:30 pm. Rabbi Zoe will be teaching on "Rosh Chodesh The New Moon ~ A Time For Celebration". We encourage everyone to bring your own "Slice" (dinner). Maybe make it pizza this month to celebrate this great program. Please RSVP if you are interested in joining. It will help us know how many people will be joining.

Thank you to everyone for making this such a great program for the last four years.

Here is the zoom session information:

====================================================
Zoe B Zak is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Slice of Torah with Rabbi Zoe B Zak
Time: May 12, 2021 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84496840674

Meeting ID: 844 9684 0674
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,84496840674 # US (New York)
+13017158592,,84496840674 # US (Washington DC)
====================================================

03/05/2021

It was with sadness that we learned that Cy Gruberg, long time member of Congregation Ahavath Israel, passed away today. Cy was a very active member with a passion for educating future generations.

A funeral will be held at Simpson Hammerl this Friday at 1:00 pm. Rabbi Hecht will be officiating. The funeral home is following distancing and facemask protocols for attendees. More details regarding shiva and donations will be available tomorrow.

May his memory be a blessing for those whose lives he touched.

z"l

01/28/2021

Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet (Christine Kowalenko)

It was with sadness that we learned that former member Christine Kowalenko passed away this morning, January 27th.

Graveside services will be held this Friday January 29th at Montrepose Cemetery at 11:00 am, conducted by Rabbi Zoe B Zak. Graveside services are open to all as long as masks are worn and social distancing maintained.

We extend our condolences to the Christine's families and friends. May her memory be a blessing for all whose lives she touched.

z"l

Congregation Ahavath Israel

05/15/2020

Our next Slice of Torah will be a virtual Slice Wednesday, May 20th at 6:30 pm. Rabbi Zoe B. Zak will be teaching on "How to stay positive while Sheltering in Place". Everyone is responsible to bring their own "Slice" (dinner), to the session. There is no charge for the session. Please RSVP if you are interested in joining. It will help us know how many people will be joining us though we will be limited to 100 attendees on the WebEx.

If you will be using a tablet or smart phone, there is a WebEx app from Cisco that you can download for a better experience. Clicking the link below should launch the WebEx app with the right meeting information. If you are using your computer, enter the link below and you will be able to join through your web browser. Here are the session WebEx particulars:

MEETING: Congregation Ahavath Israel April Slice of Torah
DATE & TIME: May 20, 2020 AT 6:30 PM ET

Here are the links to connect by Computer or Smart Device:

https://meetingsamer2.webex.com/meetingsamer2/j.php?MTID=m32a3c30ef70b35e0443ed07e872d0382

(message this page for password)

Simple, modern video meetings for the global workforce. Join from anywhere, including your desktop, browser, mobile device, or video room device.

03/13/2020

Dear Congregation Members and Friends of Congregation Ahavath Israel,

Due to the recent guidance received for holding public events we are changing Slice of Torah for next week. We will not be holding it at DeBella's; however, we are looking into having a live video education session for everyone to connect to. At this time we do not have all the details and if we can set something up will send out the details by Tuesday night March 17th.

We will try and use a video service like ZOOM or WEBEX which may require downloading an app to your phone or tablet. Some of them also offer a web browser capability to connect. If we do set something up it will not be as long as when we usually meet, but probably about 30 minutes for a trial run.

If you have any other questions or need more information, you can use my personal e-mail or phone numbers.

Bernie King-Smith
President, Congregation Ahavath Israel