A Night with Paul Shaffer and Martin Short in White Plains, Saturday Night February 6

27 Jan 2010

What does an Orthodox synagogue in Upper Westchester have in common with late night television? Well, they both share a well known music personality by the name of Paul Shaffer.

The historic Mount Kisco Hebrew Congregation has over one hundred families in its growing community (among them Paul Shaffer, the bandleader for the David Letterman Show). It was not long ago that it appeared that the little shul would not continue to exist as it dwindled to less than ten families in the 1980’s. But with the heroism of a few of its committed families, they worked together to reinvigorate the congregation.

Today the synagogue is a hub of activity from regular minyanim to shiurim given by Rabbi and Rebbetzin Goldscheider, a Hebrew School, an award-winning NCSY chapter, and an Eruv to be up and running within weeks.

The shul was awarded an outreach grant from the Orthodox Union, funded in part by the UJA Federation of New York. This has been a great help in expanding resources and tools to educate and provide programming to the larger community and attract new people to the shul. With the teamwork of Frank Buchweitz, OU National Director of Community Services and Special Projects and grant administrator; Baruch Lehrfeld, grant coordinator; and Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider, spiritual leader of Mount Kisco Hebrew Congregation, they have implemented and coordinated cutting edge programming such as Sukkot in the Park, Parenting Workshop, and its latest outreach effort, “A Night with Paul Shaffer and Martin Short” on Wednesday, February 6 in White Plains Performing Arts Center, a 400-seat theater in White Plains. Rabbi Goldscheider said, “We hope to attract many new faces to get a taste of our community. We offer many portals of entry to give every Jew an opportunity to connect with their Judaism and enrich their lives.”