Special Message
New Member Spotlight
Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be highlighting new AA members in the form of a Q&A. We hope you will learn about and get to know the new members of the AA family!
Introducing Sarah Cohen
What part of Atlanta do you live in and what's your favorite part to visit?
I live in Dunwoody, close to family. My favorite part to visit is Virginia Highlands.
What's your 9–5 and 5–9 life?
9–5: I have a biomedical engineering background in medical device products and work for a company that develops novel treatments for advanced wound care. I've worked with medical devices of all sorts, especially cardiovascular devices. 5–9: I just got married in January to Michael Litzky. We have two dogs that keep us busy. I play viola in a community orchestra. I enjoy walks in the neighborhood and hiking and going for a swim and hanging out with friends and family (especially my nephews).
Is what you're doing now what you always wanted to do growing up?
Yes and no. When I was little I wanted to be a teacher. But once I was in high school and college I really wanted to be doing something in this field (biomedical engineering).
What's one fact about you that people would be surprised to find out?
I play viola in a community orchestra. I lived in Boston for 15 years, but I moved back for family and sort of always felt that Atlanta was home.
Why did you choose AA as your synagogue?
I grew up here, and members of my family belonged here for many generations. I was excited about the direction of bringing more music and singing into the synagogue and service, and I was excited about what was happening with that initiative.
Do you have a favorite charity that you wish people knew more about?
I have always been a supporter of the food banks wherever I am like the Atlanta Community Food Bank. They really are a basic need, and they support people in a time when it's needed the most.
Shabbat Corner
- Czech Torah Happy Hour 🚹: 5:00 p.m.
- Shir Shabbat 🔀: 6:00 p.m.—Zoom
- Candle Lighting: 8:11 p.m.
- Shabbat Morning Service 🔀: 9:30 a.m.—Zoom *Aufruf of Rabbi Sam Blustin and Allison Goldman
- Torah Study 🔀: 10:30 a.m.—Zoom
- Rebbe's Tish 🚹: 12:15 p.m.
- Mincha/Ma'ariv/Havdallah Service ▶️: 8:55 p.m.—Zoom
- Conclusion of Shabbat: 8:50 p.m.
- Torah Parsha (Behar/Bechukotai):
- Annual: Leviticus 25:1 – 27:34
- Triennial: Leviticus 25:1-38
- Haftara: Jeremiah 16:19–17:14
- Parsha Video of the Week: The Schecter Institutes—Parashat Behar-Bechukotai
- Bible Video of the Week: Torah for Children—Behar-Behukotai/Bible Stories for Kids/Sustainable Farming
Feel-Good News
Kiddush Sponors
Your Synagogue Family in honor of the aufruf of Rabbi Sam Blustin and Allison Goldman
Mazal Tov to Rabbi Sam Blustin and Allison Goldman in honor of their upcoming marriage in Minnesota. Celebrate with them on Friday, May 12 during our Czech Torah Happy Hour and Shir Shabbat and on Saturday, May 13 during our Shabbat morning service!
Mazal Tov to Lois Frank who will be awarded the 2023 Lifetime of Achievement Award at the Events
Annual Meeting
For more events, please visit our events calendar.
Other Things Happening at AA
We are looking for nominations for The Marvin C. Goldstein and Rita Goldstein Wolfson Volunteer of the Year Award (presented to a volunteer who has shown outstanding efforts to strengthen our congregation and community) and the Cantor Isaac Goodfriend award for Exemplary Leadership to be presented at the Annual Meeting in June. To submit recommendations, please contact Jackie Nix (jnix@aasynagogue.org; 404.603.5743). Along with names, please include the rationale behind your recommendations. Each recommendation received will be vetted and researched by our clergy, professional staff, and officers for final award determinations.
Overnight summer camp plans? Is your child is heading to an overnight camp this summer? If so, we'd love to hear your plans so we can try to arrange a visit (with local Jewish camps) and/or send a small gift (all camps). Please fill out this brief survey letting us know where your child will be and when.
This year, we would like to include grandchildren in our college and graduate school outreach. In addition to letters and treats around the Jewish holidays, our rabbis will be making visits to schools with more than three Ahavath Achim connected students. Let us know where your grandchildren are studying, and we will make sure they receive something meaningful from you and your spiritual family! If you have a grandchild enrolled in college, please contact Jill Rosner (404.603.5741; jrosner@aasynagogue.org) with the student's name, email, and school housing address.
We feel blessed to have a vibrant community that believes in the power of prayer as a source of comfort, strength and healing. At every service, we take a moment to recite the names of individuals we are holding in our hearts for health and healing. Beginning January 1, 2023, all are welcome to add names to our Misheberach (Healing) Prayer List for 30 days. These names will be recited each morning during prayer regardless of their support's presence at services. At the end of 30 days, we request that names be renewed with our office receptionist, Fern Schorr (fschorr@aasynagogue.org; 404.355.5222). Without renewal, names will be removed from the list with our hope that our prayers were successful in sending strength and wholeness.
Registration for Kesher (youth program) and Nesiah (teen program) is now open!
We are grateful for your continued support, patience, and fortitude as our community, country and world move through one of the most challenging times in modern history. With the guidance of the Center of Disease Control's (CDC) latest guidelines, we are sharing with you our updated protocols which will allow our synagogue building and community to live up to its traditional name, a Beit Knesset (A House of Gathering). Effective today, Friday, March 11, the following changes to our safety protocols will be in effect for our worship, cultural events, adult learning, and business meetings:- Fully vaccinated adults (16 years old and above) and individuals who have fully recovered from a documented COVID-19 infection in the last six months may attend indoor activities with or without a mask.
- If you are not vaccinated or have not recovered from a COVID-19 infection in the last six months (natural immunity), we invite you to use our virtual platform to participate with our community.
- If you are immunocompromised, a high-risk individual, or spend time around others who are, we encourage you to continue the use of masks when attending synagogue functions.
- For programs that share spaces with kids under five years old, including Family Shabbat, Kesher, and holiday celebrations, we will continue to require masks while inside the building for all attendees. We will always strive for outdoor gatherings for these communities whenever the weather cooperates.
We are hopeful that we are in the final stages of this pandemic, and we can continue to go from strength to strength (Hazak, Hazak, vNet'hazek). As we slowly reemerge from these difficult two years, there will be anxiety, concern, and caution. We anticipate some people will continue to wear masks. It is understandable to still be nervous about removing our masks indoors. Whatever choice you make regarding masks, we ask that, in the spirit of the cohesive and empathetic community that we are, you respect the choices that others make, even if you disagree with them. We will be monitoring the CDC recommendations carefully and will continue to adjust as we know more; this might mean that we revert to more stringent protocols if guidance changes. We appreciate your understanding, support, and patience as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times.
Do you know an AA congregant who is in the hospital or infirm? We are concerned about loved ones and friends who are in the hospital or infirm. Although our synagogue office remains closed, we are still working and would like to connect with you, especially in regards to pastoral care. If you have information about friends or family in the hospital or other care facilities, please contact Rabbi Rosenthal (lrosenthal@aasynagogue.org) directly. We always appreciate the opportunity to speak with anyone in need and offer support in any way we can.
Through our membership with the ADL's (Anti-Defamation League) Kulanu Initiaitve, our AA family is creating an antisemitism task force to partner with other communities across the country to collectively fight hate and antisemitism. Membership on the task force will require a year's commitment and involve participation in ADL virtual meetings and community of practice working sessions. Our congregation will also offer special programs, initiatives, and action steps to raise awareness, call out local and national antisemitic incidents, and build relationships with communities susceptible to antisemitic infiltration. To learn more about or to join the task force, please contact Rabbi Rosenthal (lrosenthal@aasynagogue.org).
Help feed the women at Rebecca's Tent, a shelter for homeless women at Congregation Shearith Israel! There are 21 dates to fill during the months of December, January, and March. Volunteering to provide dinner this season is easier than ever; safety concerns limit the number of women served, and the shelter can now accept restaurant meals or your home-cooked specialties. If you're ready to choose your date(s) to volunteer, please fill out the online form (link below). After signing up, we will email you with confirmation of your submission. For more details or questions about volunteering, please contact Ann and Herb Alperin (alperin@mindspring.com; 404.231.2310).
The AAACTS (Awareness and Action to Abolish Child Trafficking for Sex) Committee is working to provide backpacks filled with school supplies to children who have been trafficked and rescued. Please help these children feel confident and cared-for as they start school in the fall. You can help make this possible by making a donation to AAACTS via the donation form below.
Donate
Select Fund>AAACTS
We need your involvement in AA's social action programs! Motivate your family and friends "into action" towards the betterment of our community, and envision our current programs continued for the future. Reach out to your nieces, nephews, friends, and new neighbors for new contacts and ideas to help us increase our pool of volunteers for our wonderful existing and future programs. We need you! Find out how you want to be involved by reviewing the list of social action programs in which our synagogue has been involved for many years. If you'd like to become involved, please email our Social Action Chair: Alan Wexler (alanwexler@databankinfo.com; 404.872.8880).
Are you a warm, friendly, dedicated volunteer who wants to make a difference in a fellow congregant's life through acts of loving kindness? Are you willing to make a personal call or visit to comfort and support a congregant who has lost a loved one or been ill? These caring touches – acts of loving kindness – make all the difference in the world to those receiving them. If you want to be a part of strengthening our community, then AA's new Chesed Initiative is for you! This committee will work with our clergy, staff, and lay leaders to connect members who need help with members who want to do good deeds! Additionally, if you know of a congregant who is facing personal difficulties related to health, loss, or grief, please contact Fern Schorr (fschorr@aasynagogue.org; 404.355.5222) to let us know. Help us reach out to members in need. We welcome your help and time with this important project.
In 1977 a very special Torah came to reside at AA. Czech Torah #1339 was originally written in the 1800s for the community of Plzeň, Czech Republic. The Torah survived the Holocaust, a coup, and 20 years in a basement with 1500 other scrolls before making it's way to London as part of the Memorial Scrolls Trust and eventually Atlanta. Today we are working to restore this piece of history to a usable state and welcome it into our sanctuary ark at our dedication in August. To do that, we need your help. Please consider making a donation to help restore this special Torah so it can be used for generations to come. The Czech Torah is championed by six generations of the Goldstein Family in memory of Betty and Leon Goldstein z"l and their love of Torah and learning.
Donate to the Ukraine Emergency Fund of Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta
We are proud and grateful to formally launch the Marilyn Ginsberg Eckstein Cultural Arts Program Fund. Formerly the Cultural Arts Program, established in 1977, this fund was established by congregant Marilyn Ginsberg Eckstein to perpetuate AA's broad cultural arts program offerings. AA's cultural arts programming currently consists of: the Fran Eizenstat and Eizenstat Family Memorial Lecture Series, the Chamber Concert Series, the Liturgical Music Artist-in-Residency Program, weekly Shabbat and annual High Holiday musical offerings, and jazz, pop, vocal and instrumental concert offerings. The Cultural Arts Program has long been recognized for its breadth of offerings and its excellence. We hope that you will consider making contributions to this fund as the Marilyn Ginsberg Eckstein Cultural Arts Program offerings continue to present world-renowned speakers, dignitaries, artists, and virtuoso musicians.
