Editor’s Note: Gerry delivered this eulogy at Toby’s funeral on Sunday, February 4. The photograph of Toby was taken by Nick Levitin.
Toby asked me several years ago to speak at her funeral, and since then she told me a number of stories about her life. Unfortunately, I never wrote them down, but I’d like to share a brief overview of her life, as I recall it. If I get something wrong, or I’m missing something, feel free to shout out a correction. Continue reading
Gilda Gatov Schwartz was born in Jersey City in 1923 where she grew up. She was the daughter of Molly Berman Gatov and William Gatov. She attended NYU part-time and earned an education degree. Her first teaching job was in a one-room schoolhouse in Hunterdon County where she lived with her husband, Joe Schwartz, who she married in 1950. Continue reading
Shomrei Emunah took one of its first steps toward becoming a greener community earlier this year, when four small metal compost buckets were purchased for the Shomrei kitchen (See The Greening of Shomrei Part 1). The compost buckets are used as waste containers for vegetable and fruit scraps resulting from Kiddush and MESH meal preparation. Initially, when the metal buckets were full, they were emptied at the outdoor compost bins maintained by Linda Ariel and me on our respective properties. Continue reading
photo by Nick Levitin
Andy and I were on vacation in Portugal when we received the sad e-mail about Josie’s death; we missed the funeral. We returned home with Covid; we missed the Shiva.
So how can we pay our respects? We can share a few memories. It occurred to me that other congregants might also like to share some thoughts about Josie. After all, she was such an integral part of the Shomrei community. Continue reading
We are pleased to share that Tal Sagi has joined the Shomrei staff as full time administrator and Assistant Program Director for the JLC , with Marjorie Steffe transitioning from the front office to head teacher of the young 2s during preschool hours. Continue reading
This summer, July 1, marked my seventh anniversary of working at Shomrei. As most of you know, Shomrei has become not just a place of work, but a spiritual home for me and for my family. The connection I have to this congregation is deeper than I could have ever imagined. While I sometimes struggle with the importance of titles and prefer to think that I’m just me, sharing this sacred space with you, I am excited about my new title for this year and was encouraged by Rabbi Julie to offer an explanation of why this title was chosen and what Shaliach Tzibbur (“messenger of the community”) means, literally, figuratively, and personally. Continue reading
Dear Friends,
I am thrilled to announce that Fern Heinig will be honored this year at Art Mazel Tov!, an annual event which celebrates Shomrei’s Preschool community combined this year with an honors celebration of Shomrei’s past-president, the wonderful Fern Heinig. Our Ad Journal will be dedicated to Fern, this year’s honoree, for all she brings to our congregation.
Each year we honor a congregant who has had a significant impact on our community and there is no one I can think of that has contributed to our community like Fern.
It was great to be making Latkes for the Shomrei Hanukkah Party again! We hadn’t made them since the “before times” (2019). We had a great crew of volunteers and together we made about 600, which was a good thing because they were all eaten!
Shomrei welcomes Marjorie as the new Office Assistant.
Marjorie P. Steffe
Originally from Florida, I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, where I met Greg, my husband of over 33 years. After job-related moves took us from North Carolina to Kansas City to Baltimore to Atlanta, we finally settled in Montclair in 1998 & joyfully raised our 3 children (ages 27, 25, & 19) in this lovely town! Continue reading
