About Us
History
Founded in 1927, the Van Cortlandt Jewish Center (VCJC) initially was housed in a street level room of an apartment building. In 1947, the Center moved into a converted mansion at 3997 Gouverneur Avenue, where it remained for 18 years. In 1965, VCJC moved into its own newly constructed building at 3880 Sedgwick Avenue, its current home.
Religious Aspects
Affiliations
The VCJC is a modern Orthodox synagogue affiliated with the Orthodox Union (OU)
It is part of the worldwide orthodox minyan database, Go Daven! It runs many programs sponsored by the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP)
Religious Practices
The VCJC is a modern Orthodox synagogue that welcomes congregants at all levels of observance. We offer daily morning services, both weekdays and Shabbat. Because of weather, work schedules and other considerations, evening services are held only on some evenings.
Serving the Broader Community
The second and third floors are being used by Mosholu Montefiore Community Center for a preschool for children. (For more information go to …).
The VCJC has an active Sisterhood, which engages in a variety of social and fundraising activities. Monthly meetings are held and new members are welcome – For more information go here.
Up until several years ago, the Center had also been the home of the Van Cortlandt Maccabean Post #107 of the Jewish War Veterans. Also up until a few years ago the National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY hosted a youth group for Middle and High School students here (two of our attendees won a trip to Israel through this program!)
In the recent past, the VCJC had initiated several successful programs. Once a week during the school year Beginners Hebrew Reading and Jewish History courses were offered, sponsored by the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP.) We hope to offer these, plus other programs in the future, and welcome comments and suggestions.
Sponsored by NJOP and enjoyed by many are our annual Shabbat Across America and Passover Across America programs. We also offer hot lunches and dinners in our beautifully decorated Succah during the Fall High Holiday season, Israeli Independence Shabbas lunch, and free Chanukah and Purim parties.
We have six lectures a year, usually January to June of various topics of interest to the community. In addition to topics on Judaism, recent lectures have included an update on the Jerome Park Reservoir project and Senator Jeff Klein talking about his trip to Cuba with Governor Cuomo.
We run an annual High School Essay contest for Holocaust Memorial Day, awarding cash prizes to our top three winners. This year (2015) we received 50 essays to review! We host a commemorative evening with a guest lecturer, survivor candle-lighting ceremony and the reading of the winning essays by their authors.
The VCJC building serves as host to many community service meetings and is available for rental for (Kosher catered) events.
