What a magnificent wedding we attended on Sunday, December 12, 2023. The inside of Temple Avodah is…read morevery lovely and allows for a dramatic entrance by the bride. Elegant and fun! The Kombert caterers put out an amazing assortment of delicacies both at the cocktail hour, reception, and then afterwards for dessert. The frozen margaritas at the cocktail hour were delicious. So was the tuna tartare and everything else offered that I tasted. The main course included filet mignon which everyone seemed to love. I enjoyed the salmon! The selection of desserts included chocolate mousse cake, a s'mores bar, a jelly bean cart, "security" walking around offering chocolate cigars and candy cigarettes and so much more. Above all, the wait staff were professional and friendly. Every single one of them! The band was the East Coast Band. They were amazing too. No one wanted to sit when they sang. They just kept on getting us revved up to dance the night away.

5 starz - food 5 starz - service…read more 5 starz - decor Kombert caterers Will make your event beautiful !!

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

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.