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TheSchmerl123:Draft of B'nai Avraham, Brooklyn Heights, article
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[edit]Congregation B'nai Avraham' is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located in Brooklyn Heights, New York; its spiritual leader is Rabbi Aaron Raskin.
History
[edit]LOREM IPSUM ETC ETC. at end: Congregation B'nai Avraham also serves as the site of the Chabad organization's presence in Brooklyn Heights, and is, de facto, also a Chabad House. Its staff is largely the same, but varies on the points/its staff differs only in that tktkt. Born to Benzion
Number of congregants/families/constituency
[edit]HOW MANY PEOPLE ATTEND, WHAT IS THEIR MAKEUPBack in the United States, and the shliach of the Rebbe to Downtown Brooklyn, at the young age of 21, Raskin founded Congregation B'nai Avraham in Brooklyn Heights.[1][2][3] What began as a handful of local families has today grown into a congregation of more than 150 family members, with an additional 150 families attending its pre-school and other educational programs.
B'nai Abraham was in the news a couple of times in 2007 and 2008 after its premises was defaced with swastikas.[4][5]
The surrounding community
[edit]links to brooklyn heights orgnzizations, lawyers, Brooklyn Borough Hall and the flavor that the lawyers and courts give
Programs: both secular and nonsecular
[edit]Raskin authored Letters of Light[6] and co-authored The Rabbi & the Ceo.[7] He also has over two hundred hours of multimedia of classes on various subjects, including kabbalah. He is currently working on another two books. The first of these books investigates striking or otherwise anomalous Hebrew letters as they appear in the weekly Torah portion, analyzing them for deeper meanings, and often tabulating their Gematria (numerical valuation). The second book tackles two of Raskin's favorite subjects, the Mitzvah ("commandment") for Jews to place a Mezuzah on their doorpost; and the mitzvah incumbent upon Jewish males to don Tefillin (phylacteries) daily.
Religious Services
[edit]Conversion of Non-Jews and Baalei Teshuvah
[edit]The congregation counts among its members a number of converts to Judaism, as well as Baal Teshuvahs—Jews who have returned to their faith with greater religious commitment. While Rabbi Raskin was deeply involved at one time in conversions to Judaism. He is no longer as active in the actual conversion process, but offers classes and instruction on a wide range of issues, including dietary laws, mitzvot, and lifecycles which are attended by many potential and recent converts. [8]
Spiritual Leader
[edit]The congregation's spiritual leader is Rabbi Aaron L. Raskin, age tk, who, along with his wife, Shternie Raskin, oversees all the rituals of this lay-led congregation.
Contribution to Jewish life in Downtown Brooklyn
[edit]A charismatic and indefatigable public speaker, the Rabbi holds regular weekly classes and "learning" sessions for Jews in the local community for free on a walk-in basis. These classes, which vary in popularity (some crowded, some not) have established a sense of fixed regularity to Jewish life into the otherwise secular environs of Downtown Brooklyn, an area dominated by the many court, government, and professional offices surrounding historical Brooklyn Borough Hall. These classes include: a Monday evening lecture series devoted to topics ranging from Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers") to kabbalah; a Wednesday morning women's Weekly Torah portion class; a Wednesday afternoon class geared toward male professionals (housed, not at B'nai Avraham, but in private offices near Borough Hall), as well as short lecture sessions in Tanya (an 18th-century book of Hasidic philosophy and mysticism), Rambam (Maimonedes), and Talmud held in the early morning and late afternoon of every Jewish Sabbath (their exact times subject to the seasons of the Jewish Calendar).
Every Hannukah, Raskin oversees the placement of a giant, 25-foot Menorah in front of Brooklyn's Supreme Court building on Cadman Plaza, and lights it for the general public, reciting the traditional blessings. Local energy provider ConEd provides a cherry picker for the nightly lighting ceremony.[9][10] The menorah has since been designated Brooklyn's Official Menorah by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Raskin was recently listed as top "rising" rabbi in the USA (and fourth globally).[11]
The Mei Menachem Mikvah
[edit]The basement level of B'nai Avraham houses the only mikvah (a Jewish ritual bath) in the greater Downtown Brooklyn/Borough Hall area, and is frequented by men and women at alternating times (Schedule). Based on the Lubavitcher Rebbe's philosophy that mikvahs should be aesthetically pleasing, [12]
Kiddie Korner Preschool
[edit]Shternie Raskin is the director of Kiddie Korner Preschool, located at B'nai Avraham, as well as a Kiddie Korner daycare center located around the corner on Clinton and Montague, which opened its doors in September 2009.
References
[edit]- ^ http://www.bnaiavrahambrooklynheights.com/
- ^ http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/tag/rabbi-aaron-raskin
- ^ http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/kiruv.htm
- ^ http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/swastikas-painted-on-2-brooklyn-synagogues/
- ^ http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/38/30_38swastikas.html
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Light-Mystical-Journey-Alphabet/dp/1881400743/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243427355&sr=1-2
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Rabbi-CEO-Commandments-Century-Leaders/dp/1590791509/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243427319&sr=1-1
- ^ http://www.bnaiavrahambrooklynheights.com/aboutus.html
- ^ http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/50/31_50_eg_menorah.html
- ^ http://www.brooklyn-usa.org/Press/2005/dec28.htm
- ^ See http://www.TopGlobalRabbis.com, listing under "rising stars."
- ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/ny_local/2001/02/01/2001-02-01_marriage_of_old__new_modern_.html