"Synagogue-of-the-Month"Our Featured Member synagogue for May 2008 is Congregation Agudat Achim, a Conservative congregation in Leominster. We are pleased to recognize the synagogue in celebration of its 85th anniversary, and in honor of Rabbi Alan Alpert's 10th anniversary with the shul. In 1923, twenty-eight families founded Congregation Agudat Achim (literally, an assembly of brothers and sisters) and committed to building a synagogue in Leominster and engaging a fulltime Rabbi. This month, Agudat Achim marks its 85th anniversary as well as the tenth year of leadership by Rabbi Alan M. Alpert with a gala celebration. Rabbi Alpert is an accepting and down-to-earth spiritual leader, a hard worker and dedicated teacher, a warm and caring person, and a friend, who quotes Hillel: "Al Tifrosh min ha-tzibur: Do not separate yourself from the community." Rabbi Alpert leads this diverse community by teaching: "Our ideals are based on tradition and change, understanding that Jewish tradition holds within itself the seeds for growth and renewal." He and wife Meryl Alpert, Director of the Rosenshine Nursery School at Temple Reyim in Newton, are very much a part of our community, and help congregants of all backgrounds to feel at home here. Agudat Achim is a welcoming, egalitarian and participatory Conservative congregation, drawing members from north Worcester and Middlesex Counties and southern New Hampshire. We're proud of our fair-share dues policy and tuition-free Hebrew School. We enjoy dancing with Mashke on Simchat Torah, we kvell at Tot Shabbat, and we look forward to socializing at the Passover Wine and Chocolate Tasting. But it's not only about enjoying each other's company: Agudat Achim is a sacred community, a congregation by virtue of our commitment to follow God's will in making ourselves better people and the world a better place. We do that by teaching our children that when our friends are working, we ask how we can help. We do that by welcoming old friends and new, by sharing our table and our family with them at times of simcha and times of mourning. We do it by learning and praying together. Judaism celebrates all of life, and Congregation Agudat Achim is where and how we celebrate. For more information about Congregation Agudat Achim or the May 18th gala, email [email protected] or find us at www.agudat-achim.org, Better still, call our delightful office manager Debbie at 978-534-6121.
268 Washington Street
|