Marilyn
Silverstein
Jewish Exponent staff
As the sun sets on Friday, April 28, Jews across Center City Philadelphia
will usher in a
particularly joyous communal Shabbat.
At Society Hill Synagogue, an independent Conservative congregation at 418
Spruce St.,
members and guests will gather before Kabbalat Shabbat services
for a simple Shabbat
supper and remarks by Rabbi Ivan Caine.
Uptown, at Reform Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad St., members of
the
Mendelssohn Club will lift their voices in song at the Roberta Lee and
D. Arthur Magaziner
Music Memorial Concert.
The centerpiece of the free concert will be Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester
Psalms.”
The evening will end with a festive Oneg Shabbat.
And, on Saturday morning, at Congregation B’nai Abraham, an Orthodox
synagogue at
521-527 Lombard St., Shabbat services will be followed by a
free study session
titled “Coffee, Cake & Kabbalah” to be led by Rabbi
Yochonon Goldman.
All three events will highlight the inaugural “Shabbat Across Center City”
— a celebration
of the region’s multifaceted Jewish life — sponsored by the
11 congregations comprising
the Center City Kehillah, which was founded by
a grant from the Jewish Federation.
Bringing Jews together
“We’re trying to bring the Center City
Jewish community together — regardless of
denomination,” said Mitchell
Bach, acting president of the Kehillah and treasurer of
Society Hill
Synagogue.
In addition, he said, “We’re trying to introduce people who are not
affiliated to the various
options they have.
“My main objective for the [Kehillah] is to bring people together, despite
whatever differences
may exist in their beliefs or practices.”
In a way, Bach said, the program is already a success.
“A lot of people have ex-pressed interest, and synagogues have been very
supportive of it,
and we’re very excited about it,” he said.
To learn more about the event, call the Kehillah at 215-446-3023.
