Beyt K'nesset - A Place to Gather & To Help Others
SJCC
Bnai Aaron offers many
social, cultural, and social action tikkun olam activities that provide
opportunities for camaraderie and helping others.
Youth
Groups—
Because children
are our future, we are strongly committed to their involvement in
informal
youth activities with other members of the shul and the Jewish
community.
Children in Grades 4-7 are invited to participate in Kadima. Children
in Grades
8-12 are invited to participate in United Synagogue Youth (USY) at the
chapter,
regional, and national levels. Under the leadership of our Education
Director
and our pre-teen and teenage lay leaders, children in Kadima and USY
are
encouraged to participate in educational, social, religious, and social
action
tikkun olam activities. Activities include Shabbatons, leadership
training,
youth conventions, dances, bowling, skating, and community service
projects.
Our active USY chapter hosts its own website at www.freewebs.com/sjccbausy.
Sisterhood
& Men’s Club— Our
Sisterhood activities include monthly meetings, guest speakers, Bingo,
book
discussions, educational programs, community service, an annual fashion
show,
and Sisterhood Shabbat. There are also opportunities to become involved
by
volunteering to cook for Sisterhood Catering, by baking hamentashen for
Shalach
Manot, by chairing committees, and by working in our gift shop. Our
Sisterhood
also participates in the local branch of the Women’s League for
Conservative
Judaism. The Men’s Club offers many opportunities for
involvement, including
Sunday morning breakfast programs, Men’s Club Shabbat, the Worldwide
Wrap, the
distribution of Yom HaShoah candles, the wine shop, and the Men’s Club
softball
team, which participates in a local league with members of other
synagogues in
the area.
Shabbos
meals—Much
of the
communal socializing at SJCC Bnai Aaron is centered around Shabbos
meals that
feature home-cooked lunches and dinners prepared by our fabulous
Sisterhood
Catering volunteers, followed by communal singing, toasting “L’Chaims,”
and
benching (reciting Grace After Meals). We take the mitzvah of
“hachnassat
orchim” (“welcoming guests”) very seriously. So, in addition to these
communal
Shabbat meals at the shul, we also open our homes to you. If you would
like to
be hosted for a Shabbos or holiday meal after services, just let us
know!
Social
Action Tikkun Olam (SATO)—We are
engaged
in a variety of community service projects and ongoing “deeds of loving
kindness” (“gemilut chasadim”), serving our needy congregants, as well
as those
outside of our immediate synagogue community. The most recent
SATO/Chesed
project we have undertaken is the formation of a community-wide Chevra
Kaddisha; we are proud that our synagogue’s lay-leaders and Rabbi are
spearheading this initiative. We are also proud that we are able to
provide
meals for members of our shul during times of need, such as after the
death of
a family member, during or after hospitalization, and after the birth
of a new
baby. In cooperation with Rabbi Malik, our lay leaders also coordinate
shiva
minyans during the 7-day period following a funeral. Since 2008,
our SATO
Committee has been active in the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN).
Along
with several churches in our area, SJCC Bnai Aaron serves as a host
site for
families with children who are temporarily homeless.
SJCC Bnai Aaron serves all of the communities of the Main Line
Philadelphia suburbs and Delaware County, including Wynnewood, Ardmore,
Havertown, Haverford, Newtown Square, Broomall, Radnor, Upper Darby,
Springfield, Bala Cynwyd, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Villanova, St. David’s,
Wayne, Devon, Berwyn, Media, Wallingford and Swarthmore.