About Us
Mission Statement
We strive to build a young, vibrant, and joyous community of egalitarian Jews on the Upper West Side who are yearning for community. We host semi-regular Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv because we believe in the power of being together in person and we believe that there is no better way to build community than singing together and sharing food. This is a community of many people who have experienced strong Jewish communities and now do not know where to find them as well as those discovering what it means to be in meaningful community for the first time. We strive to bring people together who see the value that each person provides and create a space and home for people to be their best selves. We recognize that the world we live in can feel broken so we want to be a source of joy to bring light in with Shabbat; we’ll leave a seat open for you.
Read more about the founding of the minyan in this article by the Jewish Week.
Meet the Team
Avital Katz
Avital Katz is thrilled to be part of this new community of young adults on the Upper West Side. For the past seven years, she has had the privilege of working at the Shefa School, where she focused on teaching students with language-based learning disabilities. Her post-high school educational journey began on Nativ 31, which gave her the opportunity to become more independent and learn how to do grown up things. After returning from Israel, she studied at Binghamton University and helped lead the Conservative services. After college, Avital moved to Manhattan to pursue a masters degree in special education from Bank Street College of Education. While living in Riverdale, Israel, Binghamton, and Manhattan, Avital was part of various Conservative and egalitarian communities. She enjoyed meeting new people and singing with all of them. When she isn’t learning, davening, or teaching, Avital loves to dance and watch football on Sundays. She can’t wait to meet you all as you enter Kabbalat Shabbat and be part of this new community.
Bradley Goldman
Bradley Goldman is a Business Consultant living on the Upper West Side with his wife, Ilana Forchheimer (different Ilana). Bradley has always been extremely passionate about Conservative/ Egalitarian Judaism. He attended Jewish day schools in Rockland and Westchester counties, worked at Ramah Nyack, was involved in METNY USY, went on Nativ 34, and then continued his Jewish education as an Accounting Major at Binghamton University. Throughout all of those experiences, Bradley has played an active role in building community which has allowed his Jewish identity, as well as others, to grow. Bradley is incredibly excited about this minyan as he misses having a comfortable and passionate space to daven with old and new friends! Some of Bradley's other hobbies include all things Disney World, the New York Yankees, and baking new recipes!
Ilana Sandberg
Born and raised in Cambridge, MA, Ilana has now lived in New York City for almost ten years. She moved to the city to attend Barnard and JTS for undergrad and has been here since with the occasional semester spent in Israel. Ilana looks forward to becoming a rabbi in May 2024 and hopes to pursue a career in young adult engagement and education. She has worked and interned in a number of different places over the years--Nativ, Brandeis Hillel, Orangetown Jewish Center, and JTS. She will be serving as the rabbinic intern at Columbia/Barnard Hillel for the year 2023-2024. All the while she has spent many of her summers working at Ramah, both in Nyack and Northern California. When she’s not studying or coordinating this minyan, Ilana can be found in the pottery studio, trying a new recipe, supporting climate justice work, or walking through the park speeding through an audiobook on Libby.
