A place of Jewish worship...learning...and assembly.
Our focus is to cultivate a caring, inclusive community
in the spirit of liberal Judaism.
Our next zoom service will be Friday, March 29 at 7 PM! Join us for wine, candle lighting, conversation, and learning!
For a zoom invitation call
Cathy Duke at 914 450 4188.
We are delighted to offer you an opportunity to be “together” over zoom. Join Rabbi Helaine for a Friday shabbat at 7 PM. Bring your wine/grape juice, candlesticks, and share in the camaraderie. Let us know how you are. Hear some thought provoking readings and share your thoughts. Fridays at 7 PM: March 29, April 19, May 17, and June 28.
What is PRS offering you this April, May and June?
It is as a caring community that PRS welcomes you with support and love. Our Friday evening zoom services are a wonderful and convenient way to get to know us. They begin at 7 PM and are led by our Rabbi Helaine Ettinger. Why not get to know us from the convenience of your home? If you are joining for the first time kindly send your name, email, and phone number to Cathy Duke (cathye95@aol.com), PRS’ president, at least 2 days prior to the service.
Would you like to make matzahs with your small kids or grandkids? If so, you are welcome to contact Cathy to join her and Paul on April 6 at 1 pm. What a great way to introduce your kids to Passover? Please let her know as soon as possible.
Join us at our Shabbat service Saturday, April 13 at 10:30. We meet at the parish hall of St. Mary’s Church at Rte 9D/Rte 301. And we are having another Shabbat service on Saturday June 15 at 10:30. Get to know us!
Our special Yom Ha Shoah program will be held on Sunday, May 5th at the Fish Library. The time will be announced soon. and we are joining Rabbi Helaine at the corner of 9D and 301 for the Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 31 at 9 AM. We are proud to have a Jewish presence recognized in Philipstown.
What does PRS do to help our Philipstown community?
PRS has an active role in our town. We are honored to help an Afghan family — mom, dad, and two little ones — as they adjust to life in the US. This past month we threw them a baby shower for their newest addition (who is being born as I write this) . It turns out that it is also a custom in Afghanistan to throw a party for couples expecting a new baby. We are currently looking for a car that can accommodate 3 carseats at 2 adults.
PRS participates in an ongoing program to help families at Haldane, our local school, who are food insecure. Through the backpack program in conjunction with Haldane School we provide nutritious food that can be prepared by the young students themselves.on weekends. School holidays, and summer.
PRS is proud to be an integral part of Philipstown’s Community Thanksgiving along with the Catholic Church, Our Lady of Loretto, and the Episcopalian Church, St. Mary’s. Anyone in our community, whether for reasons of limited mobility, age, illness, or finances who could not make a Thanksgiving dinner was welcomed to avail themselves of a complete Thanksgiving dinner without exception. We provided over 200 beautiful dinners this Thanksgiving.
How is PRS supporting our community in the face of war?
These are challenging days for the Jewish community with many of us glued to the news of the war, hoping that the hostages will return home safely, hoping that the many displaced people will find safety and comfort, and hoping that the many Israelis that are fighting will help bring about a lasting peace. And we are torn in our feelings toward Gaza: hoping that this war will weaken if not eliminate Hamas while feeling sad at the loss of civilian life.
PRS has been fortunate in Rabbi Helaine’s leadership in these difficult times. Prior to the war she shared with us the tremendous months long outpouring of opposition to Netanhayu’s attempt to reduce the power of the judiciary, with demonstrations in the streets of Israeli cities to protect democracy she saw on her trip there. And more recently following her travel to Israel this November with other reform and conservative rabbis on a mission to offer comfort, she shared with us some heartbreaking stories from a kibbutz near Gaza that had been attacked. She gave all of us at our recent Hanukkah observance an opportunity to be together as a community, to share our thoughts and emotions, and to comfort one another.
Rabbi Helaine Ettinger
If you would like to make a donation to help us in our efforts, please send a
check to the following:
Philipstown Reform Synagogue
PO Box 94
Cold Spring, NY 10516.
All funds donated to PRS are tax
deductible to the fullest extent under the law.
