Congregation Aish Kodesh

Congregation Aish Kodesh (Hebrew: קהילת אש קודש‎, "Congregation Holy Fire") is an Orthodox synagogue in Woodmere, New York. Led since its founding in 1992 by Rabbi Moshe Weinberger, the synagogue was named after the Piaseczna Rav, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, known by the name of his last work, Aish Kodesh, who was a leading Polish Hasidic rabbi in prewar Europe. By injecting Hasidic elements into the prayer services, social events, and daily classes, Aish Kodesh has been called a "phenomenon" and a "revolution" in the religious community of Long Island.[1][2]

Congregation Aish Kodesh
קהילת אש קודש
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism
RegionLong Island
RiteHasidic
LeadershipRabbi Moshe Weinberger
StatusActive
Location
Location894 Woodmere Place
Woodmere, New York
StateNew York
CountryUnited States
Website
aishkodesh.org

History
The Piaseczna Rav, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, known as the Aish Kodesh
Rabbi Moshe Weinberger

Aish Kodesh was founded in December 1992[3] by a group led by Rabbi Moshe Weinberger, a native of Queens, New York, who received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS).[4] Raised in a Modern Orthodox home, Weinberger earned master's degrees in Jewish philosophy from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, and in educational administration from Columbia University Teachers College, and taught in Jewish day schools for two decades before becoming the rabbi of Aish Kodesh.[5]

Weinberger named the synagogue after the Piaseczna Rav, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, known by the name of his last work, Aish Kodesh (Holy Fire), who was a leading Polish Hasidic rabbi in prewar Europe.[6][3][7] He explained his choice in a 1999 article in Jewish Action:

The Rebbe was truly a holy fire sent to warm the hearts and illuminate the minds of a broken generation. In the depth of the darkness, he remained steadfast in his unshakable faith in the immortality of Knesses Yisrael [the Congregation of Israel]. Our generation has been resurrected from the ashes of Auschwitz and Treblinka, yet we have fallen into a state of spiritual numbness, a life of cold prayers, empty mitzvos, rote learning, and an overall sense of spiritual alienation . . . Thus our experiment began with the Aish Kodesh as our role model for spiritual renewal and the Shulchan Aruch as our guide to uncompromising halachic observance.[6]

Weinberger introduced Hasidic practices and teachings into the congregation to forge connection and meaning in Jewish observance.[5] These practices include leading the congregation in song and dance after prayer services,[8] as well as accompanying congregants on tours of kivrei tzaddikim (graves of the righteous) in the Ukraine and Israel. Weinberger teaches the works of the Piaseczna Rav in weekly lectures at the synagogue and since 2000 has conducted an annual hillula celebration on the yahrtzeit of the Piaseczna Rav as well as on Lag BaOmer, the hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, which each attract more than 1,000 attendees.[5][9] In 2015 a collection of Weinberger's Torah discourses delivered at the annual hillula for the Piaseczna Rav was published under the title Warmed by the Fire of the Aish Kodesh.[5]

Weinberger's lectures and the daily[10] schedule of classes for men and women draw on a wide variety of Hasidic sources, including the Baal Shem Tov, Ramchal, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, the Baal HaTanya, and Izbica, as well as the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Tzadok Hakohen, and Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook among many others.[6][1][11] Modern-day Hasidic works by Rabbi Sholom Noach Berezovsky, the previous Slonimer Rebbe of Jerusalem, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, and Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter of Breslov are also studied.[6]

Building design

The synagogue building is modeled after a Polish Hasidic shtiebel.[12] The front doors are replicas of the doors fronting the Rema synagogue in Kraków.[5] A huge mural depicting the Warsaw Ghetto appears inside the entrance.[5] Israeli artist Ofra Friedland was commissioned to produce "murals, ceramics, paintings, bronze sculpture, stained glass windows, woodwork and stone artwork" throughout the synagogue.[13] In the main sanctuary, the 6-foot (1.8 m) high mechitza separating the men's and women's sections contains one-way glass so that women can observe the proceedings.[6]

In 2015 the synagogue received $75,000 in federal funding from the United States Department of Homeland Security toward the installation of security enhancements such as "forced-entry-resistant technology, security-modified doors, alarm systems and surveillance cameras".[14][15]

Rabbinic leadership

References
  1. Besser, Yisroel. "Breslov Revisited". Mishpacha, May 12, 2010, pp. 30-40.
  2. Ferber, Elisha (18 June 2009). "Wedding of Daughter of Rav Moshe Weinberger". matzav.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  3. "About". Congregation Aish Kodesh. 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  4. Cohen, Dovid M. (13 June 2013). "My Rebbe's Rebbe". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 23 June 2006.
  5. Frankfurter, Rabbi Yitzchok (May 25, 2016). "Igniting Jewish Souls with Sparks of Emunah: A conversation with Rabbi Moshe Weinberger of Aish Kodesh". Ami: 56–66.
  6. Weinberger 1999.
  7. Wolf, Binyomin (2014). "New Aish Kodesh Publication Honors Warsaw-Ghetto Rebbe". Five Towns Jewish Times. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  8. Ehrenkranz, Binyamin (1 December 2014). "Embracing Chassidus: Q. & A. with Rabbi Moshe Weinberger". Jewish Action. Orthodox Union. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  9. Wolf, Binyomin (14 October 2015). "Illuminated by the Aish Kodesh of Piaseczna" (PDF). Hamodia Magazine. pp. 14–16.
  10. "Daily Shiurim At Aish Kodesh In Woodmere". Five Towns Jewish Times. 2014.
  11. Kratz, Elizabeth (19 February 2015). "Rabbi Moshe Weinberger to Give Inspirational Shiur at Bnai Yeshurun". Jewish Link of New Jersey. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  12. Ferziger 2015, p. 266.
  13. "About Ofra". Ofra Friedland. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  14. "Rep. Rice Announces $150,000 in Federal Funding for Security Enhancements at Two Local Jewish Community Organizations (press release)". United States Department of Homeland Security. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  15. Bessen, Jeff (24 February 2016). "Awareness of security is up in the Five Towns" (PDF). Five Towns Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2016.

Sources

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