MESH Report May 23, 2023

It’s sad to say that in recent weeks the request for meals from MESH which supples meals to the food insecure population off Montclair has risen from 30 to 50 per week.

Today’s team of Co-chairs Aileen Grossberg and Lynne Kurzweil, ably assisted by faithful volunteer Susan Rosenblatt, valiantly produced 50 tasty, filling meals. Our wonderful custodian Carlos helped us leave the kitchen as spotless as it was when we began.

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New Social Group at Shomrei

A new social group called Boomers has been formed at Shomrei Emunah whose purpose is to encourage social, supportive and informational opportunities for Shomrei Community Boomer members and their friends. Activities will be aimed at the Baby Boomer generation, and, while membership is intended for fellow Baby Boomers, participation in activities will be fluid and open to all. Subgroups and activities might consist of groups for hiking, lectures, meet-and-greets, theater, and widows/widowers, as well as opportunities to connect/reconnect with people and events at Shomrei. Activities will be determined by the group. Continue reading

It Takes a Minyan

Nick Levitin

In life, there are certain things that cannot be done alone. In Judaism, there are certain prayers that cannot be said alone. Kaddish is one of them – it takes a minyan. At Shomrei there are currently three regularly scheduled opportunities to say Kaddish: the services we have Friday night, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning.

To ensure that we always have ten people for the Sunday Morning Minyan, Linda Ariel will begin collecting names of those who would like to be called upon, or scheduled, to attend the Sunday morning minyan. Continue reading

Project Isaiah Food Drive a Success!

Thank you to everyone who donated to this year’s High Holiday food drive. With your support, we were able to provide food to Family Promise, Toni’s KItchen and the Human Needs Food Pantry. We were also able to set aside some of the food to help keep for our LIttle Pantry stocked.

Thank you to Ehud Klinger for reminding us that it was time to start the food drive. Thank you to Shirley Grill for organizing the food drive and to Linda Ariel for assisting with the food delivery. Thank you also to Carlos Alegre and Ehud for helping to load up our cars. Continue reading

Enveloped In Love – Our Kiddush Experience

On Feb 26, 2022, my family hosted the kiddush for Brian’s 10th  birthday party – first time double digits is an exciting chapter! The moment we entered synagogue, congregants wished Brian a happy birthday. Rabbinic Intern, Lily Lucy, welcomed us into the Hinei Ma Tov JLC event, by wishing Brian a good birthday and pointing out to the other students that the birthday table covers, balloons and food items were all set up so that the congregation could celebrate Brian entering his double-digit birthday. It made Brian feel so special. Continue reading

Happy Birthday Kiddush

The building was teeming with people this past Shabbat with JLC, the Henei Mah Tov service, Tot Shabbat, and the regular service in the sanctuary. The social hall was party-like with birthday balloons and colorful tableware.

What a pleasure to have so many young kids and their parents sharing the space and a very special kiddush lunch.

That first double digit birthday is a big deal for any kid. We were able to be a part of Brian Singh’s entry into “tweenhood.” Continue reading

It’s Kiddish Time

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