At Kane Street, we bring the wisdom and compassion of Jewish traditions to all, regardless of one’s background. Within our community are very traditional Jews and secularists, families and singles, straight and gay. Our members include many Jews-by-choice (converts) as well as interfaith families and Jews who are returning to their roots. We are rightly regarded as a community where any sincere person can find a place.
We’d love to meet you. If you have questions, feel free to contact Rabbi Sam Weintraub, Engagement Director Rabbi Jason Gitlin, Executive Director Mickey Dobbs, or Rabbi Valerie Lieber, our Director of Education and Family Programming.
Click here to learn about what services are like.
Kane Street Kids, our creative, progressive and hands-on preschool, is now accepting applications for the 2020-21 school year. Please contact Rivka Seeman, Director of Kane Street Kids, for more information.
Our stimulating and inspiring Hebrew School is in session from September to June each year. Enrollment is available online for the 2019-20 school year. For more information contact Rabbi Valerie Lieber.
Sing, Pray, Eat on Shabbat Shirah
Friday February 7, 6:30pm
When Shabbat Shirah meets Tu B’Shvat, we have to celebrate! Join us on Friday evening of Shabbat Shirah for a spiritual and musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service led by Cantor Sarah followed by a community potluck dinner. Cantor Sarah will lead post-dinner singing with an environmental theme in honor of Tu B’Shvat. Sign up to bring a potluck dish and click here for food guidelines.
January 2020 marks the 16th anniversary of the Brooklyn Israel Film Festival at Kane Street Synagogue!
The 2020 Festival features four compelling films, which showcase the best and brightest Israeli filmmakers, and takes a deep dive into the many experiences of Israeli life. Mark your calendars for January 23, 25, and 26.
$18 per ticket, or $36 for an advance purchase series pass to see all three films. Series passes and single first night tickets include admission to our Opening Night Reception. $28 Family Night Ticket is for January 26 screenings only, includes admission for 1 adult + 1 child. Click here for more information.
February 8, Community Room following Kiddush (approximately 12:45pm)
Disconnect, and re-connect with family, friends and the spirit of Shabbat. Join us for fun games in the community room after Kiddush during our new Shabbat afternoon game days. Once a month during the winter season, we will be featuring three different categories of game tables (along with plenty of snacks): card and tile games, board games, and a table-wide group fantasy game. Whether you’re a serious gamer or a more leisurely player, come take part and bring your family along. Games suitable for ages 6 and up. Upcoming Shabbat Afternoon Game Dates: January 11, February 8. Contact [email protected] for more information.
January 14, 21 and 28 with Dr. David Kraemer
Sessions begin with dinner at 6:45pm, followed by learning from 7:30-9:00pm. Read more about this course and view the Open Beit Midrash brochure with full course descriptions. For more information, please contact Joy Fallek.
Open Beit Midrash is our pioneering, informal Tuesday night learning academy. We explore Jewish texts and their relevance to contemporary personal and social issues with some of the most talented and sought-after Jewish educators in the country. Open Beit Midrash is for students at all levels, and all texts are studied in English translation.
Sessions are held Tuesday evenings from October to March 6. Each course is three sessions. Class is from 7:30-9:00pm, and we offer dinner (included in the registration fee) from 6:45-7:30pm
“You stood by them in their time of trouble”**
— Chanukah Reflections on Power and Faith
Chanukah celebrates the victory of the courageous Maccabees against the oppressive, imperialistic Greeks. Interestingly, we have more historical records about the origins of this Holiday than of any other Jewish festival. The First and Second Book of Maccabees, (Second Century BCE) as well as the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus (First Century CE), record the history of the Jews in Palestine in the Second Century BCE while under the control of the Greek Seleucid dynasty. In the year 167BCE, King Antiochus Epiphanes issued a decree forcing all the people in his realm to Hellenize. He outlawed Jewish rituals such as the Shabbat and circumcision, and worship of Greek gods and sacrifice of pigs replaced Jewish worship in the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem.
Some Jews Hellenized but others were enraged by all of this. One group, led by Mattatias, an elderly priest, formed a guerilla band which retreated to the mountains and fought the Greeks and their Jewish allies. Through extraordinary bravery, and military savvy, the Maccabees defeated the Seleucid forces, liberated Jerusalem and reclaimed the Temple from pagan defilement.
Rabbi Weintraub’s Reflections on Social Issues
T’shuva and its Processes: As the Jew Turns
After El Paso and Dayton: A service of Remembrance, Reflection and Re-commitment
Confronting American Anti-Semitism
Jacob’s Ladder and the Decline of Conservative Judaism
Solidarity Shabbat sermon following the Pittsburgh Synagogue attack
Response to the Attack on the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue
Listening around Rosh Hashanah
Restoring a Moral Agenda to America: The Poor People’s Campaign
Me’avdut L’cherut – From Slavery to Freedom
“To Work and to Preserve” Judaism and the Environment
Spirituality and Politics, Social Change, and my Trip to Israel
Michael Brown and Eric Garner – A Jewish Perspective
Torah text, the Tribe of Dan, Ferguson and Baltimore
