MESH Report December 10, 2024
Chef Joan Zief organized a hearty and tasty meal for our MESH guests with the able assistance of sous chefs/packers Lynne Kurzweil, Susan Rosenblatt, Risa Bernstein and Carole Rothman. Continue reading
Happy Jewish Book Month!
Begun in 1924 as Jewish Book Week by a Jewish librarian who worked at the Boston Public Library, it has stretched to the entire month before Hanukkah. Jewish Book Month is a time to highlight and celebrate libraries, books and Jewish writers.
Jewish books have been around for a very long time: even if not everyone was literate, each person knew the value of the Torah and the highest aspiration was to be a scholar of Jewish books. Continue reading
Lost and Found
Talmud Tuesday is a gift to Shomrei from our rabbinic intern, Jacob Lipkin. From 5:30 to 6:30 pm, on alternating Tuesdays, Jacob leads a study session micro-focused on one or two paragraphs of Talmud. The class is open to all congregants, from the most knowledgeable to those who never had gazed at a page of Talmud before (that would be me).
When I arrived at last Tuesday’s session, I knew only that the Talmud applied the wisdom of our sages to parse – often excruciatingly – the ethical issues of daily Jewish life in ancient times. I assumed I’d learn a bit of what it was like to study Talmud, but I hardly expected to find relevance to my daily life in 21st Century Montclair.
How wrong I was. Continue reading
MESH Report Nov 26, 2024 (Teen MESH)
We had an enthusiastic and dedicated Teen MESH crew cook a hearty meal this week. Collin set the tone for Teen MESH by spending his Sunday, baking cookies and bagging them for the dessert. Monday afternoon, Team Leader Jordan, brought five of her friends from Montclair High to prep and cook the dinner for 50 guests who would be served at the Office on Tuesday. The teens prepared 18 lbs of Fern’s Hot and Sweet meatballs, 10 lbs of white rice, and 10 lbs of fresh green bean salad mixed with halved cherry tomatoes and red onions.
Tribute to Sam Lampert and the Lampert Library
Aileen Grossberg shared this tribute at the Shabbat service on November 23, 2024. Additional comments were made by Katherine Delaney.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Jewish Book Month which begins tomorrow and has been going strong for 99 years.
It’s so appropriate that today when we celebrate the many years that the Lampert family has supported the library and made books available to the Shomrei community, we also celebrate the 60th anniversary of Judy Wildman’s bat mitzvah. As Jews, as People of the Book, we hold both bound books and the Torah scroll in high esteem. Continue reading
Thank You for Your Donations for the Children’s Clothing Drive
26 large bags of donated children’s winter clothes are ready to go to the Human Needs Food Pantry and Montclair.
My gratitude to all those who donated clothes over the past weeks and to the Shomrei staff who assisted me in storing the bags of clothes and then loading them into my car.
Parashat Vayera – Redeeming Sodom
Help a Refugee Help Themselves
Do you need an occasional babysitter? Someone to rake leaves or shovel snow? An extra set of hands to move boxes or furniture? A seamstress to alter clothing or create decorative pillows? Someone to help set up for, and clean up after, a dinner or party for family or friends?
All of those services (and more) can be provided by the people that Shomrei’s Refugee Assistance Group has been assisting in recent years. It can be a win-win situation for all involved: you get the services you need, and you do a mitzvah by providing crucial additional income to the refugee families. Continue reading
Parashat Lech Lecha – Post-Election: Ten Tests Ahead
Rabbi Julie’s sermon for Parshat Lech Lecha, November 9, 2024
When I first decided to speak about the 2024 presidential election this Shabbat, I wasn’t sure we would know the final outcome of the election. I am grateful that there will be a peaceful transition of power. I know we have a variety of feelings about the election, ranging from despair and numbness to jubilation and optimism. Though we are not a true ‘purple’ congregation, because we lean heavily towards the Democratic party, there are a significant number of Republicans at Shomrei and our votes were cast both for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. So I will endeavor this morning to give an apolitical speech about one of the most important presidential elections in the history of the United States of America. Given how radically different, even mutually exclusive, the narratives are about the candidates and the significance of this election, I’m not sure it’s possible to successfully thread the needle. But I will try, and I hope when you judge my words, you will consider not only what I am saying, but also what I am refraining from saying. Continue reading