Shul group tours historical Jewish Newark
The ACES (Adults Connecting Experiencing Socializing) group from Millburn’s Congregation B’nai Israel went to Newark on March 17. The group visited Congregation Ahavas Shalom, the only remaining synagogue in the formerly Jewish neighborhoods of Newark. Roberta Rabin, Art Fredman, and Cantor Lorna Wallach chaired the program.
Eric Freedman, president and co-founder of Ahavas Shalom, said, “As the oldest continuously operating synagogue in Newark, Ahavas Sholom is egalitarian Conservative with a traditional weekly Shabbat service for all Jews, fulfilling their spiritual needs, and providing educational and cultural experiences.”
He talked about the pride he and his family feel about the neighborhood and the history and future of this legendary synagogue; the last in a city that was home to about 60,000 Jews before 1970. “The synagogue’s mission states that Ahavas Sholom is passionately committed to the pursuit of tikkun olam and tzedakah,” Mr. Freedman said. “We therefore consider support for the conservation of open space, the creation of both passive and active recreation in Newark, and among communities within its metropolitan area to be part of our mission.” Mr. Freedman has established partnerships with local organizations, theater groups, schools, and Rutgers University.
The ACES group joined Congregation B’nai Israel’s Cantor Lorna Wallach in several Hebrew songs. The Millburn guests had lunch with Mr. Freedman in the synagogue’s kosher dining room, which it shares with the Jewish Museum of New Jersey.
Then the group went to the Philip Roth Personal Library Collection, which the Newark Public Library preserves in the writer’s memory. Joshua Prager, an author, former senior writer for the Wall Street Journal, and Pulitzer Prize-winning finalist, is the library’s Roth specialist. He led the group on a tour of the library.