1. K'hal Adas Yeshurun Jerusalem records a new choir CD.
A new CD of synagogue music has been recorded by KAYJ's choir. On this CD, you can hear Tzadik Katomor, Veshomru, and many more songs, with musical accompaniment. Also contained on the CD is a brief video with excerpts from the cornerstone-laying. To hear a sample track (Yigdal) from the CD, click on this link.
2. KAYJ's nusach project is moving ahead
As far as the nusach project on our site (www.kayj.org) [www.kayj.net] is concerned, a lot of work has been done. Eliyahu Goldberg has arranged the nusach page in a way that is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. Special thanks to him for that, and for making and hosting the site. Aside from that, many new recordings have been added, and you can now hear Kabbolas Shabbos, Arvis, and Shacharis of Shabbos, with Musaf coming soon. We're also in the process of a cycle-of-the-year project in which every special time of the year, as it arrives, will have some of it's niggunim made available. So far, those for the 17th of Tammuz and 9th of Av are available, and coming soon are those for Elul and Yomim Noro'im. We're also working on all the different Mevorchim HaChodesh. Thanks to Menasheh Steiglitz for all of his work in editing, categorizing, and uploading the recordings.
3. Former KAYJ member co-founds Minhag Ashkenaz minyan in USA
Though Alexander Weil, a member of KAYJ, recently left the friendly confines of Ramot with his family to live in Baltimore closer to relatives, he took part of the shul with him. "Though we had mixed feelings about leaving, I was determined to continue playing a role in the modern-day Ashkenaz revival," said Mr. Weil. "We are attempting to transplant the important work of Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz and K'hal Adas Yeshurun-Jerusalem to chutz l'aretz." Together with R. Shlomo Wiener, a cheder rebbe in Baltimore who grew up in the KAJ-Monsey kehillo, and 18 other yidden, Mr. Weil rekindled the Ashkenaz tradition in a city once known for its palpable yekkish presence, where R. Shimon Schwab zt'l, an ideological supporter of Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz, first served as a Rov in America. The minyan will initially, b'ezras Hashem, meet once a month on leil Shabbos and leil Yom Tov, with the door left open for possible future growth.
4. Rabbi Dr. Jacob Wiener, 90, Holocaust survivor, speaks at KAYJ
Braving scorching heat that kept most ordinary humans indoors, many women of Ramot jammed into K'hal Adas Yeshurun-Jerusalem on Shabbos Nachamu to hear R. Jacob Wiener's English-language shiur "Nechama after the Churban." Rabbi Dr. Wiener, of Silver Spring, MD, and his grandson Yehuda Wiener, a yeshiva bochur in Providence, RI, were touring in Eretz Yisrael and accepted an invitation to spend Shabbos with the seven-year-old Ashkenaz community in Ramot. "The people at the shul were very excited to see us and very welcoming," said Yehuda Wiener of their reception. "It was an amazing experience." Rabbi Wiener was born in Bremen, Germany and fled to Canada six months after Kristallnacht. He eventually arrived at Ner Israel Yeshiva in Baltimore, MD, where he received rabbinical ordination. Later he lived in Washington Heights, NY, where he was part of the Breuer's kehillo. He recounted stories of faith and inspiration and noted the eternality and rebirth of Torah and Minhag Ashkenaz as unfolding before his very eyes at K'hal Adas Yeshurun-Jerusalem. More biographical information about Rabbi Dr. Wiener can be obtained by clicking on the following link: www.ushmm.org/remembrance/survivoraffairs/meet/detail.php?content=wiener. KAYJ will be happy to book relevant speakers in English or Hebrew. Please contact (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ] for more information or to sponsor an event.
5. Mazal Tov
Mazal tov to Menasheh and Avigayil Steiglitz on the birth of a baby girl.