Congregation Aish Kodesh

{{Short description|Orthodox Jewish synagogue in New York}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Congregation Aish Kodesh | native_name = {{langx|he|קהילת אש קודש}} | native_name_lang = | image = Aish Kodesh Synagogue.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = | religious_affiliation = [[Chasidic Judaism]] | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] | festival =  | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]] | ownership = | governing_body = | leadership = <nowiki>Rabbi </nowiki>[[Moshe Weinberger]] - Morah d'Asrah <nowiki>Rabbi Yehoshua Rubenstein - Mashpia</nowiki> <nowiki>Rabbi Yirmy Ginsburg - Assistant Rabbi</nowiki>

<nowiki>Howie Hershkovits - President</nowiki> <nowiki>Yaakov Zoldan - Vice President</nowiki> | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = 894 Woodmere Place, [[Woodmere, New York|Woodmere]], [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]], [[Long Island]], [[New York (state)|New York]] | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United States | map_type = USA New York Long Island | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location on [[Long Island]], [[New York (state)|New York]] | grid_name = | grid_position = | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coord|40.633034|-73.713875|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY|format=dms|display=it}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = Reuben Gross | architecture_type = ''[[Shtiebel]]'' | architecture_style = | founded_by = Rabbi [[Moshe Weinberger]] | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = 1992 {{small|(as a congregation)}} | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 2002 | construction_cost = | date_demolished =  | facade_direction = | capacity = 400 worshipers | length = | width = | width_nave = | interior_area = {{convert|16000|sqft|m2}} | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | site_area = | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = {{URL|aishkodesh.org}} | module =  | footnotes = }} '''Congregation Aish Kodesh''' ({{langx|he|קהילת אש קודש||Congregation Holy Fire}}) is an [[Chasidic Judaism|Chasidic]] [[Jewish]] congregation and [[synagogue]], located in [[Woodmere, New York|Woodmere]], [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]], on [[Long Island]], [[New York (state)|New York]], in the United States.

Led since its founding in 1992 by Rabbi [[Moshe Weinberger]], the synagogue was named after the [[Piaseczno|Piaseczna]] Rav, Rabbi [[Kalonymus Kalman Shapira]], known by the name of his last work, ''Aish Kodesh'', who was a leading Polish Hasidic rabbi in prewar Europe. By injecting [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] elements into the prayer services, social events, and daily classes, Aish Kodesh has been called a "phenomenon" and a "revolution" in the religious community of Long Island.<ref name=besser>Besser, Yisroel. "Breslov Revisited". ''[[Mishpacha]]'', May 12, 2010, pp. 30-40.</ref><ref name=wedding>{{cite web|url=http://dev.1on1dev.com/matzav/wedding-of-daughter-of-rav-moshe-weinberger/|title=Wedding of Daughter of Rav Moshe Weinberger|first=Elisha|last=Ferber|publisher=matzav.com|date=18 June 2009|access-date=21 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812233519/http://dev.1on1dev.com/matzav/wedding-of-daughter-of-rav-moshe-weinberger/|archive-date=12 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History== [[File:Piesesne.jpg|180px|right|thumb|The [[Piaseczno|Piaseczna]] Rav, Rabbi [[Kalonymus Kalman Shapira]], known as the Aish Kodesh]] [[File:Moshe Weinberger.png|180px|right|thumb|Rabbi [[Moshe Weinberger]]]] Aish Kodesh was founded in December 1992<ref name=about>{{cite web |url=http://www.aishkodesh.org/about.html|title=About|publisher=Congregation Aish Kodesh|year=2016|access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> by a group led by Rabbi [[Moshe Weinberger]], a native of [[Queens]], New York, who received [[Semikhah|rabbinic ordination]] from [[Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary]] (RIETS).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/my-rebbes-rebbe/2013/06/13/0/?print|title=My Rebbe's Rebbe|first=Dovid M.|last=Cohen|date=13 June 2013|access-date=23 June 2006|work=[[The Jewish Press]]}}</ref> Raised in a Modern Orthodox home, Weinberger earned master's degrees in [[Jewish philosophy]] from the [[Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies]] at [[Yeshiva University]], and in [[educational administration]] from [[Teachers College, Columbia University|Columbia University Teachers College]], and taught in [[Jewish day school]]s for two decades before becoming the rabbi of Aish Kodesh.<ref name=ami/>

Weinberger named the synagogue after the [[Piaseczno|Piaseczna]] Rav, Rabbi [[Kalonymus Kalman Shapira]], known by the name of his last work, ''Aish Kodesh'' (Holy Fire), who was a leading Polish Hasidic rabbi in prewar Europe.{{sfn|Weinberger|1999}}<ref name=about/><ref name=five>{{cite web |url= http://5tjt.com/new-aish-kodesh-publication-honors-warsaw-ghetto-rebbe/|title= New Aish Kodesh Publication Honors Warsaw-Ghetto Rebbe|first=Binyomin|last=Wolf|year=2014|access-date=23 June 2016|work=[[Five Towns Jewish Times]]}}</ref> He explained his choice in a 1999 article in ''[[Jewish Action]]'': <blockquote> The Rebbe was truly a holy fire sent to warm the hearts and illuminate the minds of a broken generation. In the depth of the darkness, he remained steadfast in his unshakable faith in the immortality of Knesses Yisrael [the Congregation of Israel]. Our generation has been resurrected from the ashes of [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] and [[Treblinka extermination camp|Treblinka]], yet we have fallen into a state of spiritual numbness, a life of cold prayers, empty [[mitzvah|mitzvos]], rote [[Torah study|learning]], and an overall sense of spiritual alienation . . . Thus our experiment began with the Aish Kodesh as our role model for spiritual renewal and the [[Shulchan Aruch]] as our guide to uncompromising halachic observance.{{sfn|Weinberger|1999}}</blockquote>

Weinberger introduced Hasidic practices and teachings into the congregation to forge connection and meaning in Jewish observance.<ref name=ami/> These practices include leading the congregation in song and dance after prayer services,<ref name=ben>{{cite journal |url=https://www.ou.org/jewish_action/12/2014/embracing-chassidus-q-rabbi-moshe-weinberger/|title= Embracing Chassidus: Q. & A. with Rabbi Moshe Weinberger|date=1 December 2014|access-date=23 June 2016|journal=Jewish Action|publisher=Orthodox Union|first= Binyamin |last=Ehrenkranz}}</ref> as well as accompanying congregants on tours of ''kivrei tzaddikim'' (graves of the righteous) in Ukraine and Israel. Weinberger teaches the works of the Piaseczna Rav in weekly lectures at the synagogue and since 2000 has conducted an annual [[Yom Hillula|hillula]] celebration on the [[Yahrzeit|yahrtzeit]] of the Piaseczna Rav as well as on [[Lag BaOmer]], the hillula of Rabbi [[Simeon bar Yohai|Shimon bar Yochai]], which each attract more than 1,000 attendees.<ref name=ami>{{cite journal|title=Igniting Jewish Souls with Sparks of Emunah: A conversation with Rabbi Moshe Weinberger of Aish Kodesh|first=Rabbi Yitzchok|last=Frankfurter|journal=[[Ami (magazine)|Ami]]|date=May 25, 2016|pages=56–66}}</ref><ref name=hamodia>{{cite web |url=http://www.dywritingservices.com/samples/at-home-with-inyan.pdf|title=Illuminated by the Aish Kodesh of Piaseczna|first=Binyomin|last=Wolf|publisher=[[Hamodia]] Magazine|date=14 October 2015|pages=14–16}}</ref> In 2015 a collection of Weinberger's [[Torah]] discourses delivered at the annual hillula for the Piaseczna Rav was published under the title ''Warmed by the Fire of the Aish Kodesh''.<ref name=ami/>

Weinberger's lectures and the daily<ref>{{cite web |url= http://5tjt.com/daily-shiurim-at-aish-kodesh-in-woodmere/|title= Daily Shiurim At Aish Kodesh In Woodmere|year=2014|work=Five Towns Jewish Times}}</ref> schedule of classes for men and women draw on a wide variety of Hasidic sources, including the [[Baal Shem Tov]], [[Moshe Chaim Luzzatto|Ramchal]], Rebbe [[Nachman of Breslov]], the [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi|Baal HaTanya]], and [[Mordechai Yosef Leiner|Izbica]], as well as the [[Vilna Gaon]], Rabbi Tzadok Hakohen, and Rabbi [[Avraham Yitzchak Kook]] among many others.{{sfn|Weinberger|1999}}<ref name=besser/><ref name=nj>{{cite web |url= http://jewishlinknj.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=6993:rabbi-moshe-weinberger-to-give-inspirational-shiur-at-bnai-yeshurun&Itemid=584|title= Rabbi Moshe Weinberger to Give Inspirational Shiur at Bnai Yeshurun|date=19 February 2015|access-date=23 June 2016|first=Elizabeth|last=Kratz|publisher=Jewish Link of New Jersey}}</ref> Modern-day Hasidic works by Rabbi [[Sholom Noach Berezovsky]], the previous [[Slonim (Hasidic dynasty)|Slonimer]] [[Rebbe]] of Jerusalem, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, and Rabbi [[Yaakov Meir Shechter]] of [[Breslov (Hasidic group)|Breslov]] are also studied.{{sfn|Weinberger|1999}}

==Building design== The synagogue building is modeled after a Polish Hasidic ''[[shtiebel]]''.{{sfn|Ferziger|2015|p=266}} Completed in 2002, the front doors are replicas of the doors fronting the [[Moses Isserles|Rema]] synagogue in [[Kraków]].<ref name=ami/> A huge mural depicting the [[Warsaw Ghetto]] appears inside the entrance.<ref name=ami/> Israeli artist Ofra Friedland was commissioned to produce "murals, ceramics, paintings, bronze sculpture, stained glass windows, woodwork and stone artwork" throughout the synagogue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ofrafriedland.co.il/About.php?pind=4|title=About Ofra|publisher=Ofra Friedland|access-date=22 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801022307/http://www.ofrafriedland.co.il/About.php?pind=4|archive-date=1 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the main sanctuary, the {{convert|6|ft|adj=on}} high [[mechitza]] separating the men's and women's sections contains one-way glass so that women can observe the proceedings.{{sfn|Weinberger|1999}} Designed by Reuben Gross, the synagogue has capacity for 400 people in its {{convert|16000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} [[sanctuary]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rgtect.net/institutional |title=Institutional: Congregation Aish Kodesh, Woodmere, NY |work=Reuben Gross Architect |date=2020 |access-date=January 31, 2024 }}</ref>

In 2015 the synagogue received $75,000 in federal funding from the [[United States Department of Homeland Security]] toward the installation of security enhancements such as "forced-entry-resistant technology, security-modified doors, alarm systems and surveillance cameras".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kathleenrice.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=209|title= Rep. Rice Announces $150,000 in Federal Funding for Security Enhancements at Two Local Jewish Community Organizations (press release)|date=27 August 2015|access-date=22 July 2016|publisher=[[United States Department of Homeland Security]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.jcrcny.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/security-awarenes-up-5-Towns-Herald-2.24.16.pdf|title= Awareness of security is up in the Five Towns|first=Jeff|last=Bessen|date=24 February 2016|access-date=22 July 2016|work=Five Towns Herald}}</ref>

==Rabbinic leadership== * Rabbi [[Moshe Weinberger]], Founder & Morah d'Asrah (Head Rabbi) * Rabbi Yehoshua Rubenstein, Mashpia * Rabbi Yirmy Ginsburg, Assistant Rabbi

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

===Sources=== *{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1RQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA266 |title= Beyond Sectarianism: The Realignment of American Orthodox Judaism|first=Adam S.|last=Ferziger|year=2015|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn= 978-0814339541}} *{{cite journal|url=http://ou.org.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/ja/5760fall/chaddisus%201st%20article.pdf|title= A Modern Experiment in Chassidus: A Long Island congregation fashions its own foray into Chassidism|first=Moshe|last=Weinberger|year=1999|journal=[[Jewish Action]]|publisher=[[Orthodox Union|Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America]]}}

==External links== * {{oweb|http://www.aishkodesh.org/}} * [http://matzav.com/video-the-story-of-rav-moshe-weinberger-and-aish-kodesh/ "Video: The Story of Rav Moshe Weinberger and Aish Kodesh"] March 1, 2016 * [https://www.ou.org/jewish_action/12/2014/rekindling-flame-neo-chassidus-brings-inner-light-torah-modern-orthodoxy/ "Rekindling the Flame: Neo-Chassidus Brings the Inner Light of Torah to Modern Orthodoxy"] ''[[Jewish Action]]'', December 1, 2014

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aish Kodesh}} [[Category:1992 establishments in New York (state)]] [[Category:21st-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Hasidic Judaism in New York (state)]] [[Category:Hasidic synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1992]] [[Category:Orthodox synagogues in New York (state)]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 2002]] [[Category:Synagogues in Nassau County, New York]]