We look forward to seeing you at our meaningful Shabbat service in the Sanctuary.
If you would prefer to join us virtually, click here to livestream the service.
REMINDER: to enhance security, a password is now required to view our livestream. The password and instructions to log in to the livestream will be sent to you in a separate email. If you have any questions, call the temple office at 516.621.6800.
Sinai Shabbat Saturdays
New Ways to Experience Shabbat at Temple Sinai*
Saturday, February 15, 2025 at 9:00am
Saturday Morning Minyan*K with Rabbi Ilana Schachter only via ZOOM
Shabbat is a time for reflection, gratitude, and enrichment.
All are welcome to Saturday Morning Minyan, where we blend ancient traditions and modern interpretations.
*Temple Sinai will always hold space for you to remember your loved one and say Kaddish for them. Please note that Kaddish will be recited during any program marked with *K.
Co-Chaired by
Carol & James Rotenberg and Lauren & David Borkon
The notion of Jewish Peoplehood encompasses Judaism as a civilization with a collective story, religion, culture, language, ethical tradition, and dedication to community. Our goal in presenting this series is to strengthen the connection between Jews around the world.
our
next program
in the series:
Friday, March 7 • 6:30pm during our Shabbat Service
Guest Speaker: Rabbi Alexander Kovtun
Born in 1991 in Krivoy Rog, USSR (now Ukraine), Alexander Kovtun studied law at both the National University Odesa Law Academy and the Kyiv Institute of Intellectual Property. He worked as a lawyer and was politically active both in Ukraine and across Europe. For many years he was the madrich for a number of Jewish organizations including Hillel, Jewish Agency, and Netzer. His Jewish involvement in post-Soviet Union territories spurred his decision to become a rabbi, studying at the Machon program, where he completed his rabbinical study at the Institute for Modern Jewish Study. Alex continued his rabbinical studies at both Conservative Yeshivah, in Jerusalem and Abraham Geiger College, and he studied Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam. In December, 2022, Alex was ordained as a rabbi in Berlin, at the Rikelstrasse Synagogue. He began his rabbinical career at the Liberal Jewish Congregation of Hanover Etz Chaim. He also serves as rabbi of the Netzer Germany youth movement and works with the Tamar Germany and Keshet movements.
Wine Tasting for an Important Cause:
Support Israeli soldiers and displaced families at Temple Sinai!
February 13 is the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat, which celebrates the potential rebirth of spring after a dormant winter. Even though the ground is still frozen, we have faith that the seeds we planted are growing just beneath the surface. It is a holiday of optimism and hope.
That is why this Tu B’Shevat, Temple Sinai is planting seeds of hope in Israel, that we hope will take root and flourish. In partnership with It’s a Date, an initiative that supports the wellbeing of Israeli soldiers and displaced families by selling Israeli wine, we will be hosting a Tu B’Shevat celebration and wine tasting. Throughout this festive, casual evening, we will taste delicious wines from Israel and learn about those we can help with each wine purchase.
Schedule - Thursday, February 13, 2025:
7:00-7:30pm – Cocktails and mingling
7:30-8:30pm – Wine tasting and presentation by It’s a Date and Rabbi Schachter
Suggested Donation: $18/person (includes wine tasting and light refreshments) Register at mysinai.org/tubshevatwinetasting
To learn more about the “It’s a Date” initiative, click here
Saturday, March 15 • 7:00pm
Watch this space for more details!
Jewish Family History
with genealogist Jessica Goldstein
Tuesday, February 27 7:00-9:00pm in the Simcha Room
Don’t miss the exciting opporunity to explore Jewish genealogy with Jessica Goldstein!
Jessica, daughter of Temple Sinai congregant Ruth Klein, will share ways to create a research plan, and use organizational tools, archival research, and so much more, to find out who we are and where we came to be!
Please bring a laptop or tablet for the hands-on portion of the program!
Register at: mysinai.org/jewishgenealogy
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
All are welcome to join Brotherhood for a vs.
SUPER BOWL PARTY
:
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9 AT 6 00PM
IN THE SIMCHA
ROOM
Stay for a quarter or from start-to-finish! Or, just come for the halftime show and the commercials!!
We’ll watch the game on the big screen, enjoy food and beverages courtesy of Brotherhood, and share good company.
Please RSVP to brotherhood@mysinai.org so we can properly prepare for the event.
Wednesday, February 12 • 7:30pm in the Library
Friday, March 7 • 9:30am in the Library
Wednesday, March 5 • 7:30pm in the Library
We are excited to invite you to our upcoming evening business networking meeting, where you can meet potential customers, discover new ways to expand your business, explore potential collaborations, create relationships with others in the community.
By helping one another improve our businesses, we are helping to improve the well-being of our Temple Sinai community.
Everyone in welcome! We hope you will join us!
Questions? Contact Richard Blatt by clicking here.
Our February Collection
This month, we are focusing on our furry best friends!
Pet Shelters are in need of so much. YOU can help by donating these items and putting them into the bins in the temple lobby:
New or Used:
• flat sheets
• blankets
• towels
• dog and cat toys
• Pedigree wet food
You will helping three local shelters:
• Little Shelter in Huntington
https://www.littleshelter.org/
• Waldo’s Rescue
https://www.waldosrescue.org/
• North Hempstead Animal Shelter
https://northhempsteadny.gov/AnimalShelter
And remember shelters when you are thinking of adding a new member to your family!
All Congregants Welcome to Join Our Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Class Guest Speakers Series
Every year, our sixth grade students and their parents engage in a special unit of study on the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance. The class is led by Ellen Widawsky, a fantastic educatior who has traveled to Germany and Poland with the HAJRTP, studied at Yad Vaschem at the Echoes and Reflections Advanced Teachers Seminar, participated in the Belfer Conference at the USHMM, the Charlotte and Jacques Wolf Educators Conference on Echoes and Reflections in New York City, and traveled with the Sousa Mendes Foundation on their Footsteps to Freedom trip.
Ellen is graciously opening up specific sessions of her class to the entire congregation.
The congregation is welcome to attend these classes, each featuring a different guest speaker:
February 10: Temple Sinai member Jonathan Rothschild, a 2G, will speak to our students about how his parents escaped to Palestine from Europe. 2G is a second-generation Holocaust survivor.
February 24: Temple Sinai member Stan Saretsky will speak about his cousin, whose mother’s life was saved by Chiune Sugihara; the first Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania. Chiune Sugihara wrote approximately 2,000 visas for transit through Japan from July 18-August 28, 1940, allowing Jews to escape Europe.
March 10: Alison Widawsky, a 3G, will tell the story of her zayde, Sam Widawsky, a Holocaust survivor from Poland. 3G is a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor. Widawsky survived the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, Kaufering, and other labor camps.
March 17: Joan Arnay Halperin, author of the book My Sister’s Eyes: A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II, will talk about her family connection to Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul General based in France, who signed false visas enabling thousands of Jews (and others) to leave Europe through Portugal. Sousa Mendes and Chiunie Sugihara are both Righteous Among the Nations.
RSVP is required; please email Debra Hollander by clicking here.
