Kiddush Thanks

They came from everywhere: California, Mexico, Florida, Chile, Israel, and New Jersey and more. They were in all shapes and sizes- some long and thin; others squat and round. Some with no blemishes and others showed a bit of age. Their colors were like a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue as well as tan, brown , black, and white. Continue reading

KIddush Kudos

Many thanks to Erin Berman for taking total charge of last week’s kiddush including set up and clean up. She was ably helped on Shabbat by volunteers Lou Hammerman, Sharon Harwich and the Gold family – Amanda, Benjamin, and Abigail – who saw a need and offered their help.

We all live with the contemporary saying “If you see something, say something.”

Let’s apply it to kiddush. “If you see a need to help, help out.”

And don’t forget to plan ahead if you can and use Sign Up Genius on the volunteer page.

Welcoming our Newest Member

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

Toda Raba

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

Mesh Cafe Dec 20, 2016

meshFrom Captain Lynne Kurzweil:

Nineteen hungry guests were welcomed to the MESH Cafe at Shomrei this past Tuesday evening.  Chef Arden Epstein prepared a healthy and hearty meal beginning with mixed nuts and grapes as the appetizer.  A green salad with grape tomatoes, cucumbers and Italian dressing preceded a heartwarming beef stew chock full of meat and veggies and crisp baguette.  The meal ended on a sweet note….homemade chocolate bark with almonds and fresh strawberries. Continue reading

Mesh Cafe Dec 6, 2016

IMG_0341From Captain Sarita Eisenberg

Outside it was chill and rainy. Inside 25 guests enjoyed warmth and comfort food.  Chef Melissa Elbaum, assisted by Sarita Eisenberg (and a cameo appearance by Aileen Grossberg), whipped together a 3-course meal: a salad of baby arugula & spinach with artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and corn; a hearty beef stew with potatoes and veggies accompanied by rolls; finished off with fruit salad and rugelach. The meal was a huge hit and there was plenty for seconds of every course.

Continue reading

Mesh Cafe Nov 22, 2016

IMG_0738From Captain Fern Heinig:

On a very cold night we had 18 guests join us for MESH Cafe.

Our volunteers came out in full force.  Risa Bernstein and Kady Chikkappa joined us as new adult volunteers.  Erin Berman, who baked 6 challahs for our guests, and Susan Rosenblatt rounded out our adult volunteers.  Rachel Kanter joined us for a bit while Pacey was practicing for his bar mitzvah in two weeks. Continue reading