Congregation Adas Emuno

This Week at Adas Emuno

April 10, 2025 9:15 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

April 10, 2025

Dear Friends,
What does it mean to celebrate Passover in these troubled times?
I'll reflect on this question at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).
It's also our annual Poetry Shabbat- our service will be leavened with a beautiful selection of poems tied to themes in our liturgy, thanks to our Poetry Garden group.

Our second night Congregational Seder will be held on Sunday (5:00 PM- fully subscribed).
A special thanks to Virginia Gitter, who is coming all the way from Portland, to organize it!

Both Torah Study and Religious School are on break for the holiday.

We wish you a joyful and liberating Pesach with family and friends.

Shabbat shalom and Hag Sameach,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

April 03, 2025 8:47 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

April 3, 2025

Dear Friends,
The Book of Leviticus is such a strange and archaic book.
At our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM), featuring our new monthly Torah reading, we'll read from the opening lines, and try to explain what is going on.

We're coming down the home stretch of this year's Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM), and will fast forward to the Civil Rights Era, which heavily involved Jews, but was not free of antisemitic undercurrents.

This Sunday features our monthly Tot program, Confirmation class, a special "Chocolate seder" pre-Pesach program, and our trip to the Tenement Museum!

And then on Monday the second meeting of our new, bi-monthly Adas Emuno Film Club (7:30 via zoom), featuring a provocative discussion of A Real Pain (it won an Oscar), which some of us liked and others did not!

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno—Early Start Time for Shabbat Service

March 27, 2025 8:04 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Mar. 27, 2025

Dear Friends,
Our Shabbat Evening Family Service (7:00 PM- note earlier time) will feature the combined classes of K-3. Our youngest students have worked hard on their prayers and presentations, and we look forward to joining them.

Our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM) will cover the very painful period when American Jews had to worry about the Nazis abroad, and anti-Jewish agitation domestically.

If you haven't been to the Tenement Museum in NY, join us for our congregation trip there on Sunday, April 5 (1:00 PM). It's a fascinating glimpse into the life of so many of our forebears. The rabbi's fund will cover your admission (a $30 savings!)- contact Marshall or me for details.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

March 06, 2025 9:24 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Mar. 6, 2025

Dear Friends,
You might not have heard of the Parker Solar Probe, unless you are a space buff like me.
But it recently achieved something spectacular, which I wanted to talk about back at Hanukkah when it happened. However, this week is apt, given both the Torah portion and the changing of the clocks- which I'll explain at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:00 PM).

"America First" is not a new slogan or political philosophy, and at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM) we will examine its damaging origins for Jews fleeing the Nazis.

Our bi-monthly Book Club meets via zoom on Monday (7:30 PM), and promises to be an interesting discussion of one man's journey away from his ultra-orthodox upbringing.

Mark you calendar for Purim! Our celebration will take place Sunday morning, Mar. 16 (10:00 AM). More details to follow next week.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno—How to Assist Leonia Fire Victims

February 27, 2025 10:14 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Feb. 27, 2025

Dear Friends,
Last month we began a monthly reading from the Torah at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM) that was well received, and our second such reading will take place this week, from the weekly portion in Exodus.

A century ago, three high profile Americans did enormous damage with their antisemitic rhetoric. Having told the story of Henry Ford, we will now learn about Father Charles Coughlin and Charles Lindbergh, at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study. (10:00 AM).

As you may know, a terrible fire in Leonia last week displaced 10 families, including 15 children.
Community Chest of Leonia, a 501c3 organization, is collecting funds this week to help the families.
All funds received by 3/1 will be distributed to the families during the first week in March,
Donations can be made online at COMMUNITYCHESTOFLEONIA.ORG,, or by check to Community Chest of Leonia, PO Box 68, Leonia NJ 07605.
Checks can also be given to our member Sally Seymour, who is Secretary of Community Chest.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

February 20, 2025 8:32 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Feb. 20, 2025

Dear Friends,
"Do not oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" is a refrain that repeats itself over and over again in the Book of Exodus.
The Hebrew word for stranger is the same for migrant.
What does our Reform Jewish movement say about what is happening to migrants at this moment?
Quite a lot, which we will consider at ourShabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

Nativism is nothing new in American history, and it led to tragic antisemitism in the 1930's, just as Jews were trying to escape the Nazis, which we will encounter in our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM).

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

February 13, 2025 9:24 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Feb. 13, 2025

Dear Friends,
After our big weekend last week, a quiet Presidents' weekend coming up.

Rabbi Max (and Cantor Suzy) will lead our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM), and will speak about "Leadership Lessons from Moses for the 21st Century".

Both Torah Study and Religious School are on break.

As we honor the memory of Washington and Lincoln, we reflect on the legacy of leaders who put country over cult of personality, and democracy over demagoguery.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

February 06, 2025 8:51 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Feb. 6, 2025
Dear Friends,
We have a big weekend ahead.
Our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM) is a triple header: its Volunteer Shabbat, Social Justice Shabbat, and Shabbat Shirah. The music will be extra special (with guest musicians), and we honor all those who give of their time and skills to keep our congregation going.

In honor of the approaching new year of trees, at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM) we will host our annual Seder Tu Bishvat, a delightful hour-long celebration of the land of Israel and the cycle of the seasons. I have a new "Trees of the Bible" quiz all ready, to supplement the array of fruits and juices and nature songs.

Tu Bishvat will also be creatively celebrated during school on Sunday (when we also tally our "souper-bowl" collection), and at our Tot Program that morning.

The debut of our new bi-monthly Adas Emuno Film Club takes place via zoom on Monday (7:30 PM). We're going to talk about the Netflix hit "Nobody Wants This". Since it involves a young rabbi, I volunteered to lead the discussion!

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

January 30, 2025 8:43 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Jan. 30, 2025

Dear Friends,
When the Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, challenged the president sitting in front of her, she was following in the long line of "prophetic preaching" that stretches all the way back to Moses.
Let's look at Moses' pioneering example, at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

Moses also inspired the social justice activism of Jews who challenged the oligarchs of the early 20th century (like Henry Ford), as we will observe at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM).

Confirmation and Youth Group meet this Sunday.

Reminder- next week we honor our own social justice and other volunteers with a dinner and a special Shabbat Shirah musical service, and the next day celebrate Tu Bishvat with a creative mini-seder that takes place during Torah study.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

January 23, 2025 8:30 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Jan. 23, 2025

Dear Friends,
The inauguration; the ceasefire; the wildfires...there is never a shortage of news, and things are always changing.
But the timeless tales of Torah do not (though their interpretation does).
At our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM) we will try out a new practice of reading from the Torah on a once per month basis (in place of the sermon).
We are doing so since we do not have this regular opportunity and our scrolls are feeling neglected!
I'll be reading and translating verse by verse (as my rabbi did when I was growing up), and we'll see how we like it.

You probably know the name Louis Brandeis. But do you know the name Aaron Sapiro? Both are critical to the fight for equality in America, and we will tell their stories at our Shabbat Morning Torah Study (10:00 AM).

Just two weeks left to drop off your canned soup donation for our Souper Bowl- let's go for the score!

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz