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Congregant-led Torah Study
Sat, Jun 25 • 9:00 AM
COME IN PERSON OR JOIN VIA PHONE
IN PERSON: No registration is required. Proof of vaccination or a CRS Vaccine Precheck Card is required to enter, and everyone will need to remain masked while inside the building.
ZOOM: Register for the Zoom link
“Turn it and turn it, for everything is in it.” (Pirkei Avot 5:26)
In its many years of existence, our Torah study group has found this teaching to be true. Each week brings a conversation about history, culture, theology, and more.
New participants are always welcome!
To expedite entry you can show us proof of your vaccine status in advance. Click here to learn how to gain precheck status
New York bassist Roger Wagner enjoys a long and diverse career. As soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral bassist, Mr. Wagner has appeared on many of the world’s great concert stages.
Margaret Kampmeier, 
Praised by the New York Times as “irresistible in both music and performance.” flutist, 
Leonard Bernstein described 
Sarah Adams 
Michael Roth
Yafit Shafer-Sull is the Operations and Streetscape Manager at Fifth Avenue Association, a business improvement district for the most iconic street in the world. She received her Masters Degree of Urban Planning at Hunter College. As the pandemic brought a collective appreciation of open space, Yafit brought her passion and expertise to connecting people and their urban space. To encourage people to enjoy Fifth Avenue as a destination, she works on art installations, events, technology, and walkability, collaborating with architects, traffic engineers, and other experts to make the strip more pedestrian- and public transit-friendly. Since 2020, Shafer-Sull has managed the Fifth Avenue holiday displays project, collecting decor proposals, working with creative teams, tracking project spending, and consulting on concept and thematic development to create a more exciting and engaging experience. Her background in research and development relating to environmental science, as well as her sustainable urban development and community-based planning efforts earned her an honor in the Commercial Observer’s 2021 List of Young Professionals. Her parents, Dr. Jacalyn Shafer and Catherine Sull are longtime active members of CRS since 1997. Yafit is a Bat Mitzvah and Confirmand of CRS. She and her brother Ben Ami are both Rodeph Sholom School graduates and Ben Ami is also a Bar Mitzvah of CRS.
Rachel Schragis, an artist and cultural organizer who works in support of protest movements for collective liberation, she is the co-founder of 
Andrea Kretchmer is a Founding Principal of Xenolith Partners LLC, a developer of affordable and supportive housing and mixed-use projects in New York and Connecticut. Since 2006, Andrea has developed more than 700 affordable apartments and has more than 200 currently under construction. Xenolith’s projects include joint ventures with for-profit and non-profit partners such as JASA, the Women’s Prison Association, the LGBT Network, Community Preservation Corporation, and the YWCA of Northeastern NY. Community facilities and supportive services are an important part of Andrea’s work and include a full-service YMCA, housing and services for formerly incarcerated women and their families, housing and services for seniors to age with purpose and dignity, and a recording studio and after-school programming for young people. Andrea’s projects feature purpose-driven architecture and sustainable design. She developed one of the first residential Passive House projects in Connecticut and her firm was recently awarded a Buildings of Excellence grant from New York State to augment the Passive House, urban agriculture and electrification of a project in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Andrea graduated from Colgate University and earned her Master’s Degree in Geology from UCLA. She serves on the board of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing and is a Fellow at the Urban Design Forum. Andrea and her family joined Congregation Rodeph Sholom in 1991. Her son Charles Lutvak attended RSS and Charles, Spencer, and Penelope Lutvak are B’nai Mitzvah, Confirmands, and High School graduates of CRS.
Our initiative for young children and their grown-ups provides a slate of offerings including Shabbat and holiday celebrations, music, classroom readiness programs, and new parent experiences. During the pandemic, we have leaned on $1m of seed funding for Sholom Sprouts established through this campaign as we offer age-appropriate virtual programs for our families with young children, who are the future of our community. We look forward to welcoming our littlest members and their grown-ups back to our new fifth floor, as well as hiring a Program Assistant to increase the capacity of Sholom Sprouts to grow. This program provides a crucial entry-point to the congregation and membership for young families.
