Made a bat mitzvah for my daughter at Temple Hillel last night. Hands down, this was the best…read morehostess experience I have ever had. Spencer Katz throws a wonderful party. The room was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the staff was amazing. I so appreciated the personalized approach to my daughter's requests -- down to a surprise dessert! They made everything so easy for me and I am very grateful for that. I hope to celebrate here many times in the future!

This is the resting place for Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, OBM. Menachem Mendel…read moreSchneerson, known to many as the Rebbe, was a Russian-born American Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, and the last Lubavitcher Rebbe. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. There is a certain love for the Rebbe that you just can't describe. I think the most important thing was his incredibly positive attitude and the desire to see everyone do good. He is credited with sending Rabbis all over the world to start "Chabad Houses" to spread this good news and help those in the community. I remember him back in the 80's giving out dollar bills and blessings. THe dollar bills were to be used for doing good. He afforded everyone the opportunity to 'pay it forward.' This place is centrally located in Queens not far off the (Cross Island) Parkway. If you come during the week there re no lines and you can get right into his resting place. During the holidays is another story. please visit the website for code of conduct and procedure to show your respect for the Rebbe and surrounding area. There are many gravesites here around the Rebbe... his mother, wife and close family members. There are free refreshments and the staff here are welcoming and friendly to all people. KUDOs to the amazing team who guide you through the "visiting process."

Amazing spiritual place of rest for the Rebbe. I do not agree with the person who criticized the…read moreodor. There was not any odor. It was clean and well maintained. It is not supposed to be a place for fun and games. It is a place to pray and honor the Rebbe. One of the great tzadik s of our times. It is an honor to be there. They provide prayer books. They provide refreshments for the traveler. I felt totally uplifted and close to a community that is welcoming and non judgmental. Our people need to be close.

Conservative and egalitarian synagogue in Nassau county. It was also one of the first conservative…read moresynagogues to embrace women being included in every part of the service. This can be attributed to Rabbi Emeritus (who also passed) Stanley Platek who was a trailblazer for egalitarianism in conservative synagogues. Three stars are given only because lay leadership need to provide the extra hook to showcase the synagogue for what it is. They need to take more risks in mobilizing congregation as well as the community. IMO there is more talking and less doing.

I am very disappointed in the Temple's policy regarding Kaddish services during Yom Kippur! I have…read morebeen a member of this congregation since 1984 and in all that time during Rabbi Platek and Nacham Plotnik's leadership (May the both Rest In Peace) the Temple always opened their doors to non-members to come at 3:00 or 5:00 to allow them into the small sanctuary to pray for their beloved family members who have passed away, to allow us to remember and honor them. We were not allowed this tradition this year since someone or some committee didn't think it was important enough to allow this wonderful tradition to continue, a practice which had always been done this way through the years. I also used to bring my grandchldren to the end of the service where they gave Israeli Flags to the children and listened while the Shofar was blown again to signify the end of Yom Kippur, this again was denied for non-members. At a time when the world is in such turmoil and religion is so important since we weren't allowed to pray at the Synagogue for over 2 years due to the Covid Virus and were only allowed to participate through Zoom! Yet another tradition was lost! For years I would end my fast with my children and grandchildren at Nacham's apartment with his family. What are we if not our traditions which teach us to love our G-d and remember our faith in the most honorable way to respect our beloved family members that are no longer with us! I can't begin to tell you how I feel I think it was terrible to exclude Jewish families who cannot afford to pay for a ticket to not be able to show reverence and honor to their families. I'm sure many other families felt as I did since the sanctuary was always filled each year! If not for tradition than what is a Jew? I have left a message for the Rabbi to call me back to discuss this matter. I will see if he does but the damage is already done! Yom Kippur has passed hopefully they will return to their original policy to let all who wish to attend Kaddish prayers in the little sanctuary for non-members during Yom Kippur be allowed to next year and in the future! Thank you, Anita

Strikingly beautiful wedding venue! The ground are lovely and well kept and the interior spaces…read moreare lush and fancy, yet completely comfortable! The wedding musicians were incredible! There was a harp/violin duo that was out of this world, and a most excellent Hora band that really got the crowd on their feet!

This building is 57 yrs old and is kept of immaculately! The landscaping is as pretty as the…read morebuilding.

I accompanied my Grandma to Am Echad for Yom Kippur this year. Grandma LOVES Am Echad. She's always…read moreraving (to anybody that will listen) about how nice all the people are, how beautiful the services are, and how much fun she has going to temple. I can see why she feels that way. From what I could tell, Temple Am Echad is like heaven for a Jewish senior citizen -- without the whole "being dead" thing. I found myself surrounded by such apty-named octogenarians as "Seymour," "Ethel," and "Harold." And unfortunately, each elder lady tried to out-perfume the others, filling my nostrils with the most powerful old-lady smell one could imagine. It's not easy to breathe out of your mouth for two hours straight. Truth be told, Grandma was right about the people. They really were all very nice, having nice things to say about Grandma and how she had been talking up my Yom Kippur visit for weeks. Good ole Grandma. As for the temple itself, it was a nice enough building, if not particularly beautiful. The Rabbi cracked a couple of jokes, one or two of which actually wasn't horrible. The Cantor was good, though I was expecting a bit more theatrics after Grandma's assessment that he could easily hold a lead role on Broadway. Not sure about that one... And the service was pretty standard, as far as Reform High Holiday observances go. That is, until we reached the Torah service and things completely fell apart. The Torah readers could not find the proper starting place, leaving the congregation waiting some 5 minutes as they searched the scroll. Then some of the readers were painfully slow and obviously unprepared. One old lady reader said she was too short to see the words well, though I happened to agree with the guy behind me who loudly whispered, "I don't think she studied very hard." Ha. Temple Am Echad seems to be making efforts to modernize and appeal to a younger generation, though it's definitely still ruled by the old guard. The temple President made her remarks and asked for donations to help keep alive the special services that Am Echad offers during the year, including a special Jazz Shabbat and their patented Peter, Paul, & Mary service. As I looked around, I got the feeling most of the people in attendance, although Jewish, would have a better chance of knowing Peter, Paul, and Mary from the New Testament than the folk band from the '60s. I don't mean to make Am Echad sound too terrible, though. My overall experience was not bad, though I would imagine there are better options for younger people in other places. But if this review comes across as too harsh, let me now say that I am sorry. And I suppose I can always return next year to repent on Yom Kippur.