MESH CoChairs Aileen Grossberg and Lynne Kurzweil worked their magic with leftovers from the Selichot dinner. The tuna and egg salad filling was supplemented with more tuna, celery and onion and transformed into a hearty tuna/egg salad placed on fresh buns and pita with lettuce and tomato. Turkey sandwiches were also prepared to bring us to 30 servings which is our current weekly number of meals provided.
Can you match the SOUPERSPREADER with the delicious soup he/she/they made? Continue reading
Shana Tova! I hope you are greeting 5782 with a resounding “Hineni!”- here I am, ready to take on the New Year with enthusiasm and commitment.
In that spirit, I am writing about the future of the Wednesday Night Minyan. Because of my pandemic work schedule, (teaching on Zoom Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday from 7:30-9:30 PM) I am no longer available to lead the Wednesday night minyan. (Even if we changed Wednesday to another night of the week, all this Zoom time would not be good for my mental health!) Continue reading
Our monthly Wednesday evening minyan wrapped up another successful year. That’s 13 years – not bad for a minyan that was supposed to last only one month. We will take a summer break and resume in some form after the High Holidays.
It was quite a year: a Presidential election, a pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, an insurrection on our Capitol where we added the Prayer for Our Country to our regular evening service and a war in Israel. More than ever, we needed to be together and to feel a sense of community. The Zoom minyan gave us that opportunity.
Thanks to all the participants who made the virtual minyan possible. Special thanks to Rabbi Greenstein, Lisa Z., Geoff, Michael Finck, John Lasiter and Andy Silver for their hard work, often behind the scenes.
I know we have not fasted yet, nor have we built our Sukkot. But we can definitely use some extra joy these days so why not fast forward to Simchat Torah?
This year Shomrei will be celebrating the holiday virtually on Sunday, October 11 at 7:30 PM. As we mark the completion AND the beginning of reading the Torah, we would like to fill the occasion with live music.
Our monthly Wednesday night minyan will resume on October 14, 2020. Thereafter, it will be on the first Wednesday of the month. This year, however, we are making one change. Like everything else during the pandemic, we will be Zooming “Maariv” into your homes.
For those of you who are new to Shomrei, or have never attended this casual, ½ hour evening service, Andy and I welcome and encourage you to join us. And for those of us who have been physically attending this service in our living room, on the deck, or in our Sukkah for the past 12 years, thank you for keeping this intimate service flourishing. Continue reading
Celebrate Beautiful Nature on Shavuot!
A Message From Rabbi Greenstein:
There is a wonderful custom of decorating synagogues and homes with flowers and leaves and pictures of nature on the holiday of Shavuot, the festival celebrating our receiving the Torah. While we are still not able to celebrate within the walls of our synagogue, we can create a wall of photos and images of nature’s beauty to enhance our joy.
Thank you to photographers in our community, Judith Antelman, Bruce Baff, Nancy Breslin, Aimee Brooks, Sarita Eisenberg, Aileen Grossberg, Rabbi Richard Hammerman, Laura Monka and Merrill Silver who have submitted their images in honor of Shavuot.
What a beautiful way to welcome our holiday! May we always take to heart the world’s great beauty!
It is always a pleasure to thank the Purim Band for its contribution to our community celebration. So a huge heartfelt “Yasher Koach” to:
Shomrei Emunah was bursting with happiness and fun as we welcomed Hanukkah a little early this year. The Hanukkah Band, performing for the 9th year in a row, outdid itself. So many musicians ages 7-75+ and such good music! Not only are we multi-generational, but we had two families of musicians that were multi-generational. French horn player (and
shofar blower extraorinaire) Elana was joined by her son, Natan on violin. Merrill’s son, Dan, came from NYC to play tenor sax with his mother at the piano.
From Captain Lynne Kurzweil:
This past Tuesday on a balmy late summer eve, we welcomed 24 grateful guests to the Carol Starr MESH Cafe at Shomrei. We provided one takeaway meal and accommodated one vegetarian. Chef Stuart Green whipped up a hearty and delicious feast starting with homemade guacamole, baby carrots and tortilla chips. A green salad with Italian dressing preceded the main course of turkey chili served over rice with a side of yummy sautéed baby peppers. Guests mopped up the gravy with toasty Italian bread. Continue reading