Society For the Advancement of Judaism

I just recently moved to New York City from Singapore, so over the past few months I’ve been shopping around for a Jewish community that is as warm and friendly as the close-​knit one I left behind in Asia. I’ve only been to SAJ once so far, but the experience was wonderful enough that I already feel confident writing this review.
I went to SAJ tonight for a pre-​Hanukkah party. Even though there were easily more than 100 people in the room (including many, many children under the age of 10), the chazzan, rabbi, and rabbi’s wife all immediately recognized me as a newcomer and came up to chat within my first five minutes in the room. They were all very friendly and easy to talk to – the rabbi’s wife and I even have a mutual friend back in Singapore! I’ve visited a lot of synagogues around the city in the past few weeks, and my visit to SAJ was easily the most welcoming experience I’ve had yet.
After that initial welcome, the rest of my experience at SAJ was equally great. Even though the party was mostly designed for the kids, there was still plenty that would appeal to adults. At one point the rabbi and another man staged a hilarious «latkes vs. hamantaschen» mock debate that addressed, among other things, the question of whether latkes might be partially responsible for climate change due to their relationship with oil. Ha!
I’m going to keep exploring other shuls around the city, but I’ll definitely head back to SAJ for Shabbat as soon as possible. My first visit was wonderful enough to convince me to give this community a second (and third, and forth) look!