1) The first stage of the building is finished:

We are very happy to inform our friends and supporters, that we have finished building the structure for the first stage of the KAYJ בית אשכנז (see picture attached). You can see the building progress, and the artist rendering of the completed shul at the "building" section of the site.

We would like to thank everyone who donated towards the first stage of the building, and we are looking forward to continue with the second stage as soon as funding is available.

All donations to KAYJ are tax deductible in the USA and in Israel, and can be done via the site (http://www.kayj.net/contributions) or by check.

We request all of our friends and supporters to heed the call and help uplift this house of Hashem! (Dedication opportunities are available in our site).

2) Bar Mitzvah, Rav Hamburger and Prof. Friedman:

On שבת שופטים, Rav Hamburger came to KAYJ, to celebrate the bar mitzvah of Dan Friedman, son of R' and Mrs. Michael Friedman. The choir sung at night and in the morning, the bar mitzvah boy read the פרשה, and his 9 year old brother read the הפטרה.

Rav Hamburger spoke about his feelings regarding the building of the shul and the bar mitzvah. The summary of his speech is as follows:

We have just seen the beginning of the building of the beautiful shul which will be standing in the heights of Jerusalem. This shul was very important for the bar mitzvah boy's great-grandfather, Prof. Friedman, and there is no question that if he would be here with us, and hear the way his great-grandson, Dan, read the פרשה, and the way his little brother, Elazar, read the הפטרה, he would be full of happiness and pride.

Who would believe, that within the holy city of Jerusalem, the old Jewish-German traditions and melodies would be revived!

It is no secret, that the deep love R' Michael Friedman has to the Ashkenaz melodies, came from his grandfather, Prof. Friedman.

Prof. Friedman cared so much about the shul and was excited that his grandson was building a shul in his family's tradition. I cannot forget the happiness he had when he bent down to cast the foundations! (see picture below).

The shul is located in one of the highest places in Jerusalem, and will be seen from far away. We all hope to see the shul built in the close future, בורא עולם בקנין השלם זה הבנין.

3) Davening on צום גדליה:

We will be very happy to welcome visitors to Jerusalem today צום גדליה– please join us for the Davening.

מנחה is at 5:45 and מעריב is at 6:52. (מוצאי צום in Jerusalem is at 6:55).

4) Mazal Tov:

Mazal Tov to R' and Mrs. Eliyahu Lewin on the wedding of their daughter.

Mazal Tov to R' and Mrs. Michael Friedman on the bar mitzvah of their son.

Mazal Tov to R' and Mrs. Shmuel Kaplan on the birth of their granddaughter.

שנה טובה, וחתימה טובה!

1) ט' באב davening:

We welcome visitors to Jerusalem on Tisho B'av – please join us for the Davening.

Ma'ariv is at 8:08, Shacharis is at 7:15, Mincho is at 6:45 and Ma'ariv (מוצאי צום ) is at 7:57.

The location is 73 Nof Ramot (Wallenstein). Please call 052-761-1890 for directions, or click here for a map.

For a detailed timetable, please click here.

2) Building progress:

BH the building is moving ahead! the excavation has been done, the foundations are there (south wing), and we are ready for the first floor (as seen in the pictures here), which should be done tomorrow morning IYH . We are continuing on to the walls, and we intend to have the second floor ready too by the end of the month, IYH.

For more pictures, and for weekly updated data, please see the new section in our site called "Building". For donations, please visit the "Contributions" section.

1) We started to build!

We are so happy to inform our friends and supporters, that at long last, after so many delays, we started (today) to build our new building!

The work on the first stage should take approx. a month and a half (the time of the vacation in the Kindergartens located besides and beneath the shul), and when the school year starts we will pause with the building, and raise the funds for the next stages. See this page for pictures.

Now is the time to thank all of our donors for their support, which helped us get to this happy day. All donations to KAYJ are tax deductible in the USA and in Israel, and can be done via the site (http://www.kayj.net/contributions) or by check.

We request all of our friends and supporters to heed the call and help uplift this house of Hashem! (Dedication opportunities are available in our site).

2) Mazal Tov:

Mazal Tov to Moreinu Harav and Rebetzin Gans on the engagement of their daughter.

Mazal Tov to R' and Mrs. Eliyahu Lewin on the engagement of their daughter.

Mazal Tov to R' and Mrs. Meir Erlanger on the wedding of their daughter.

Mazal Tov to R' and Mrs. Michael Friedman on the birth of their daughter.

1) Final Plans, and Starting to Build:

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, we finally got the building permit.  Until very recently, the contract with the Municipality encouraged us to construct the structure of the building in one stage, by means of a significant penalty if the building is constructed in multiple stages.  However, in the last meeting we had with the Municipality, an option to build in multiple stages without a significant penalty was arranged.  Immediately afterwards, the building committee met with all the relevant specialists in order to finalize the building plans.  It was decided that the actual building will start July 1, in 2 1/2 months, and all preparations will be finished by then.  The specialists assured us that the proposed schedule is reasonable, so we should be able to start by the aforementioned date, IYH.

The entire building will be almost 1200 square meters, and the total cost of the building is approximately two million dollars.  When it is finished, it will be a beautiful and impressive edifice, seen from much of the city of Jerusalem.

We have several dedication opportunities available (Le'ilui Nishmas, etc.) as listed in http://www.kayj.net/contributions. The overall building is still available for dedication, and the donor who contributes the amount requested will have the opportunity to name this beautiful building after whomever he would like to commemorate.  We would be happy to send pictures as the building progresses.

We request all of our friends and supporters to heed the call and help uplift this house of Hashem.

2) Pesach at KAYJ:

We will be very happy to welcome visitors to Jerusalem on Pesach – please join us for Davening on יום טוב or חול המועד.

Shacharis on חול המועד is at 7:45 am.
Mincho is at 6:50 pm, followed by a shiur, and Ma'ariv.

The location is 73 Nof Ramot (Wallenstein).  Please call 052-761-1890 for directions, or click here.
For a detailed timetable, please click on the following link:
http://www.kayj.net/mm/misc/schedule.pdf

Baut Gut!

3) Mazal Tov:

Mazal Tov to Rav Binyomin Shlomo Hamburger on his 60th birthday!

Mazal Tov to R' and Mrs. Michael Kernberg on the birth of 2 granddaughters and a grandson.

Mazal Tov to R' and Mrs. Moshe Yehudah Rosenwasser on the Bar mitzvoh of his grandson.

Mazal Tov to Moreinu R' and Mrs. Don Ison on the birth of a granddaughter.