From Captain Sarah Kravits:
This past Tuesday evening, 25 guests came in out of the rain and were treated to a warm and tasty meal prepared by chef Stuart Green.
Captain Sarah Kravits, along with adult volunteers Cheryl and Meredith, directed an energetic and experienced crew of young workers including Delia, Lauren, Abby, Hailey, Ashlyn, Elana, Orly, and Gabriel.
The following generous Tributes and Donations were made this past month.
Make a donation or send a tribute online! visit: http://shomrei.org/donate
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Parashat Vayishlah (5780 – 2019)
Genesis 32:4 – 36:43
How did it happen that the sons of Jacob, our founding ancestors, proved to be such miserable specimens?
They deviously perpetrate a bloody massacre against innocent people, ostensibly to defend the honor of their sister, Dinah. And they stubbornly show no remorse, refusing to hear their father’s admonitions. (Gen. 34) The Torah makes it as clear as can be that they were deeply in the wrong. For example, these brothers, so adamant, now, about the imperative of family solidarity, later will betray their own brother, Joseph, when they get the chance.
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While the official Grandparents’ Day is Past, it’s always appropriate to celebrate grandparents.
I hope everyone has as fond memories as I do of their grandparents. I was fortunate enough to live in the same community of both sets of grandparents. In fact, we lived right next door to my mother’s parents and easy walking distance to my father’s parents. I still treasure the after dinner visits I made to my mother’s mother where we talked about almost everything and the drop-in visits after school to my father’s parents where there was always a cookie or legendary sponge cake.
Gabriel scoops tuna salad
From Captain Aileen Grossberg:
On a cold, post snowstorm night, 24 guests including a five year old child, were warmed by the hospitality at the Carol Starr MESH Cafe.
After consulting with co-chair and kiddush planner, Aileen Grossberg, chef Lynne Kurzweil with expert help from sous chef Beryl Hiller, cooked a delicious meal of fresh-yes, FRESH, not canned- tuna salad accompanied by grape leaves, grape tomatoes, cucumber and crackers, baked tilapia with Israeli salad repurposed into a Mediterranean tapenade, rice, roasted broccoli and carrots, roll and butter, and finally a healthy dessert of pineapple and berries served with a chocolate chip cookie.
Our guests applauded the meal, enjoyed seconds, and left barely a scrap on the serving platters. When Captain Aileen went around asking people if they enjoyed their meal, faces beamed. Even our youngest guest loved this decidedly adult meal.
Parashat Vayetze (5780 – 2019)
Genesis 28:10 – 32:3
Jacob has a vision of God and says – “Indeed there is God in this place, and I did not know.” (Gen. 28:16) This declaration is extraordinary and unique. Of all the Biblical figures who have heard or seen God before Jacob – in whatever place or circumstance – not one, until Jacob, has ever said – I did not know that God was in this place. With Jacob we encounter for the first time a crack in the Biblical assurance that it is unremarkable that God can speak or appear to anyone at any time. What is the source of Jacob’s surprise, his expression of previous ignorance and his declaration that now he knows better?
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Wed, Dec 11, 7:30pm
Free, Light Refreshments Served
Shomrei Emunah, 67 Park St. Montclair
Rabbi Nathalie Lastreger, one of the leading voices in Masorti (Traditionial) Judaism, is an activist for religious pluralism and human rights in Israel today. She will speak at Congregation Shomrei Emunah and looks forward to an honest and provocative adult discussion about “The Challenges Facing Israel Today as a Jewish State and a Democratic, Open Society.”
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Parashat Toldot (5780 – 2019)
Genesis 25:19 – 28:9
Our Torah portion picks up some twenty years after last week’s story. Isaac and Rebecca have been married for twenty years, but they are still childless. After Isaac entreats God on his wife’s behalf, she conceives. But Rebecca’s pregnancy is painful, torn by turmoil within. “And she said, ‘If it is thus, then why am I?’ and she went to seek out the Eternal.” (Gen. 25:22) The next verse tells us that God answered her and explained why she felt such strife within her womb.
Rabbi David Greenstein, members of Shomrei’s Park St. Band and some Shomrei congregants attended the Nutley Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on Monday at Vincent United Methodist Church. Photos courtesy Vincent United Methodist Church.
Rabbi Greensteen’s Thanksgiving Speech:
“How good and pleasant it is for all of us to be here together!” (Ps. 133:1)
Shalom – Peace – Welcome!
My name is David Greenstein. I serve as Rabbi of Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Montclair and, over the years, it has been so good and pleasant for me to join with my holy sisters and brothers, the clergy and with Mayor Scarpelli and the leaders of the Nutley community, and with all of you to celebrate this beautiful holiday, conceived and brought forth in this great nation – ever new and ever challenged to continue to grow and renew itself.
From Captain Sarah Kravits:
On Tuesday night the MESH guests enjoyed a pre-Thanksgiving meal courtesy of chef Aileen Grossberg and chef’s assistant Beryl Hiller. After a whirlwind of preparation in the kitchen — directed by Aileen and captain Sarah Kravits and facilitated by volunteer Cheryl and teen helpers Amalia, Jake, Delia, Lauren, and Leah — guests enjoyed a starter of butternut squash soup with ginger followed by a mixed green salad with homemade balsamic dressing, an entree of turkey meatloaf with cranberry chili sauce glaze accompanied by roasted baby potatoes as well as roasted butternut squash with Brussel sprouts and cranberries, plus rolls with margarine and a side of cranberry sauce. The meal finished on a high note with apple pie and non-dairy ice cream. Guests went home with a snack bag of a clementine and trail mix. Everyone was satisfied! Continue reading