What’s sweeter than a new baby? Shomrei welcomed 4 day old Esther Hirsch to the congregation with an in-house catered kiddush on Shabbat, November 19.
Babies come when they are ready so the kiddush volunteers didn’t find out about Esther’s birth until late Wednesday afternoon. We did a quick pivot, abandoning the planned kiddush menu, and substituting a custom menu requested by Esther’s parents, Josh Hirsch and Jenny Leon. Continue reading
Thank you to everyone who helped with the Sukkot kiddushes. The special Shabbat kiddush was a huge success with well over 100 people sharing a scrumptious meal together in our lovely sukkah on a perfect fall afternoon.
Kudos to Dale Russakoff who spearheaded the effort and to Suzanna Grobman and Katie Teladano who made it all work along with a superb crew of volunteer sous chefs who chatted and chopped from Thursday ‘til Saturday. Continue reading
Thank you to the outstanding help in preparing and cleaning up last Shabbat’s special kiddush honoring Rabbi Julie.
Led by Aileen Grossberg kudos go to food preparers Barbara Gollob, Beryl Hiller, Carol Katzman, Zen Lucey, and Lindsay Sag.
The clean up crew included Andy Ely, Rachel Kanter, and Rabbi Julie ably helped by our wonderful custodian Javier.
A special THANK YOU to Michael and Lindsey Sag, Andy Ely and Rachel Kanter, Matt Purdy and Dale Russakoff for sponsoring this kiddush. Continue reading
I had just dropped off groceries for this week’s Shabbat kiddush when I saw a brown rabbit sitting on the lawn as if waiting. I’ve seen this rabbit before but never so close.
I wonder if the rabbit was waiting for kiddush, having heard about all the great salads we serve. Continue reading
We are about to start a new year. We have a new rabbi, new congregants, new students and most of the COVID-19 restrictions have been loosened. We are almost back to normal.
That means that kiddushes will be almost like they used to be except for two things: Beryl and me.
Beryl has a full time job and I will have recently moved and anticipate being overwhelmed by all that has to be done in a new home as well as my other responsibilities as a professional librarian. Neither of us can coordinate kiddush every week as we did pre-COVID. Beryl and I will still coordinate special events like bnai mitzvot celebrations, yahrtzeits, and the like.
So we are asking for some of you to step up and join us as coordinators. Continue reading
Holly and her mother-in-law stopping in to say thank you
A sincere thanks to those who volunteered to help prepare and set-up Olyvia Hahn’s bat mitzvah kiddush. Continue reading
Do you remember the folktale about the shoemaker and the elves who secretly helped out the shoemaker or the stories of Elijah who provided beautifully set tables for poor, but righteous folk?
We have our own not-so-secret elves at Shomrei who on this past Saturday were out in full force at Teddy Goldman’s bar mitzvah as the social hall morphed from sanctuary to banquet hall in less than twenty minutes. Continue reading
The sounds of prayer were complemented by the buzz of conversation as Shomrei celebrated the upcoming wedding of Jared Hurwich and Perrin Shapiro at the first indoor kiddush in almost two years.
The kiddush crew was out in full force prepping for this kiddush which was just a bit different from what they used to do. Instead of artfully arranged platters, there were trays of individual containers to grab and take to the tables. Cookies were snuggled into a foil pan with a see through tops so that the contents could be seen and labels abounded to identify the foods on display. Continue reading
When I was a kid growing up in Lowell, Massachusetts (when winters were really cold and the snowdrifts were over my head), we had a summer cottage on a very small lake about 15 minutes from home. In the winter, we’d bundle up, get our skates and drive out to the lake and go ice skating.
After the cold got to be too much, we’d sit on shore, rosy cheeked, and sip hot cocoa from an old fashioned thermos.
Funny how it’s the little things that make the most indelible memories. Continue reading
As the weather warms, we look for food that takes little effort and is light to counteract the heaviness of a summer day.
Soup is always a good starter. There’s gazpacho (Fit for the Fourth, 5/5/17), cucumber soup (Cool as a …, 8/1/19) , cucumber gazpacho (Summertime and the Cooking is Easy, 7/26/18) and cucumber pineapple soup (Cool Food for a Hot Day, 6/17/17), of course. But even easier is this versatile gluten and dairy free zucchini soup discovered by Beryl Hiller on the Allrecipes website. Continue reading