Everyone who enters our building must have noticed the greening and flowering of our outdoor landscape. This beautiful lifecycle fuels itself, with one season of plants providing nourishment for the next as its foliage decomposes. In the meantime, our flowers provide beautiful decorations for kiddush tables on Shabbat, and the compost from vegetables and fruit used in kiddush prep helps enrich the soil for all of our plants. Continue reading
For this last MESH of the year, cook Sarita Eisenberg and her team of Lou Hammerman and Linda Ariel were joined by Risa Bernstein and Carole Rothman. Menu was our usual barbecue chicken legs and roasted potatoes with a side of salad, cookies and fruit cups.
This week, nine Shomrei teens and almost teens, gave up their Monday night, of the last week of school, to prepare, cook, portion, and bag fifty meals for MESH. Continue reading
Chef Linda Wieseneck planned, shopped and prepared a familiar post Memorial Day BBQ feast along with sous chef Lynne Kurzweil. Additional helpers were seasoned volunteers Alex Kent and Carole Rothman.
Report written by Noah Delaney
MESH had a great group today that helped to package 50 meals. Chef Lynne organized the creation of a beautiful meal of panko-crusted flounder, sweet potato fries, coleslaw and a hero roll for any sandwich someone might make. We also made a homemade tartar sauce to top the flounder, and added a chocolate chip cookie and Clementines for any sweets lovers as well as a water bottle for hydration. Continue reading
Hello, Shomrei friends,
I’m writing to tell you about a fundraiser (and fun-raiser) in support of a wonderful organization called Family Promise, which helps families with young children in Essex County who are facing homelessness. (Some of you may remember it by its previous name, the Interfaith Hospitality Network, through which we housed hundreds of homeless families and children at Shomrei for 30 years — before Covid intervened). I’m now president of the board of Family Promise of Essex and have been inspired to watch the organization expand to serve more and more families in the face of an alarming housing crisis that has hobbled young families in particular. Last year we served over 550 families in crisis. With your help, we’ll serve more this year. Continue reading
The sun shone brightly and spirits were high as our energetic volunteers prepared 50 take-away meals for our MESH guests. Working hard on chopping were Rabbi Julie and her sons Ilan and Rafael. Always willing volunteer Susan Rosenblatt filled little cups with tartar sauce while Carole Rothman wrapped Italian rolls. Alex Kent got the main course ready for the oven. Continue reading
Celebrity Chef Joan Zief was at the helm this past Tuesday, ably assisted by a stellar crew of helpers including regular volunteers Lynne Kurzweil, Susan Rosenblatt, Carole Rothman and first time MESH volunteer, Linda Wieseneck.
We had a great group that made preparing and packing 50 meals easy work, not to mention the lively conversation!
Some people hate leftovers. What’s tasty about dried-out day-old meatloaf sitting in a pool of congealed gray gravy? Or is there anything worse than leftover pasta, turning brown at the edges?
On the other hand, that meatloaf can make a hearty sandwich or maybe even be mixed into that day-old pasta and both will have been given a second chance.