Kiddush happens every Shabbat morning service as well as after all of our holiday services. We take it for granted. It wasn’t until I met with Aileen Grossberg and Marge that I realized how much is involved in keeping our Kiddush program going. I want to share this information by answering questions that have been asked about the Kiddush program. I’ll start with this very basic question – Why do we even need Kiddush? Can’t people have Shabbat luncheon at home?
This question was asked at a Board of Trustees meeting last spring as we were discussing the budget proposal for the next year. The Kiddush program costs a lot (we were budgeting over $25,000). It also takes a lot of volunteer time – 2-3 people for about 3 hours for an unsponsored Kiddush. Maybe this wasn’t the best use of our limited resources.
So why do we continue to have Kiddush after services? It isn’t about the food. It’s about fellowship.
Kiddush is listed on the calendar as a social event with this description: “Our kiddush luncheon, held at the conclusion of services, provides an opportunity for the community to come together. There is no cost and all are welcome.”
One of our core values is about Community – creating webs of opportunity that connect us to each other. Kiddush does this. It offers an opportunity for the entire Shomrei community to come together. That could be 40-50 people who attend the weekly traditional service. Or it could be over a hundred people, as it was last Shabbat when we had a Hinei Mah Tov service as well. It doesn’t get better than that.
The Board decided that Kiddush was too important to let go.
Thank you to everyone who makes Kiddush possible –Kiddush sponsors, contributors who make donations to the Kiddush program, and our volunteers who prepare Kiddush each week.
Until next time,
Sarita Eisenberg
Vice President for Programming
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