about Am Haskalah
Link to JRF web site Affiliated with
the Jewish
Reconstructionist
Federation


Rabbi

Melissa Klein

President

David Smith

Vice President

Madeleine Langman

Vice President

Bronek Drozdowicz

Treasurer

Izzy Studzienko

Recording Secretary

Barbara Katz

Corresponding Secretary

Anita Goldman

Past President

Cary Oshins

Board Members

Gwen Greenberg
Janet Glassman
Julie Mackey
Leslie Collins
Lisa Schnell
Mark Stein
Sharon Minnick
Sylvia Sussman
Rochelle Topolsky

Voice Mail

610-435-3775
Leave a message and we will return your call (we may pick up only once or twice a week, please be patient)

JCC Front Desk

610-435-3571
Talk to Gail or Norma, who have a schedule of our events.

Email

http://listserv.shamash.org/
archives/ahpa.html
. Click on AHPA, then click on "Join or leave the list." You will receive email updates of upcoming events.

Donations

Please mail all donations to
Am Haskalah c/o
Ignacy Studzienko
Treasurer
911 Hawthorn Road
Allentown, PA 18103-4677

about our Rabbi

Rabbi Melissa Klein has been with Am Haskalah since joining us as a student rabbi in 2002. Melissa graduated from Harvard College in 1993 with a degree in chemistry and physics and then studied for two years in Israel. She completed her studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in June 2004. Am Haskalah is fortunate to have Melissa and her partner Neysa Nevins as part of our community.

Am Haskalah is a safe place to let down your hair. It is a place for creativity. The music, the drumming, bring out new ideas. It is a group that has found each other and appreciates each other. (Rabbi Klein)


about Am Haskalah

Congregation Am Haskalah offers a creative, participatory approach to Judaism, blending tradition with innovation. We believe the past has a vote but not a veto.

I knew from my first service that this is where we belonged — that here was a group of Jews who cared deeply about their religion and about each other. (Cary Oshins)

Am Haskalah welcomes members from diverse life situations, backgrounds, political and religious perspectives. Each person brings to the community unique talents and needs. Individuals choose levels of involvement with which they feel comfortable.

For me, Am Haskalah is wonderfully diverse, creative and traditional — all at the same time. (Gale Maleskey)

Members of Am Haskalah are not mere observers, but have the opportunity to participate actively at the very center of Jewish communal life. Reconstructionism, based on the ideas of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is for both intellectuals and mysticists and for both those who see Judaism as a religious community or a community that goes beyond religion. Kaplan understood Judaism to be an "evolving religious civilization."

It's a gift to feel so connected to Jewish tradition and learning while at the same time be firmly committed to diversity. (Jenni Levy)

Our services and activities • are generally held at the Allentown Jewish Community Center, 722 North 22nd St in Allentown. Please check our updated calendar for room locations for various events.

about Reconstructionism

Reconstructionists define Judaism as more than a religion. For us it is a civilization encompassing history, literature, art and music, land and language.

Our religious tradition is the reflection of our ancestors' search for meaning, purpose and value. In our own search, we are egalitarian, participatory, and open to varying viewpoints.

Belonging to the Jewish people comes before behaving or believing; through our shared past and through our communal experience of worship, study and celebration, we affirm our sense of belonging.

We are respectful of traditional Jewish practice but also open to new interpretation and forms of religious expression; tradition has "a vote but not a veto."

Our diverse views of God share an emphasis on godliness rather than the supernatural. We value that power in the universe which infuses all creation with a sense of transcendence and impels us to improve the world and ourselves.

We believe we are involved in the evolution of Judaism right now, and are responsible for shaping the spiritual and cultural legacy we will leave to future generations.

Perhaps you are a Reconstructionist — and just don't know it.

Check out the Reconstructionist Movement's web site at www.jrf.org for more information!