A VERY SPECIAL PURIM
Members of the Shalach Manot Committee from L to R: Malka Seewald, Jenny Rizel, Janice Zarad, Fran Edley, Jody Stone and Taly Kornfeld
Plentiful and Beautiful, The Shalach Manot Basket
Shaloch Manot Baskets: Barbara Bell must be acknowledged; “Yashir Koach” to you Barbara! Barbara coordinated the mailing, organized the orders and prepared the scrolls; oh, and she also helped deliver the baskets. How in the world have you been doing the Shalach Manot (from nuts to bolts) on your own for so many years? I don’t think anyone realized all the time and work that went into coordinating and preparing the Shalach Manot baskets. I would also like to thank the Shalach Manot Basket Committee that worked so tirelessly and were so willing to do whatever was needed for the Mitzvah of Giving. A special thank you to Harris Cutler for his continued support of all UHI endeavors. Thank you to Daphne Hoyt for allowing us to use her very sweet, original sketch of UHI students as a gift card. With the help of Malka Seewald, Janice Zarad, Fran Edley, Jody Stone, Dror Levi, Jenny Rizel, Nora Tillman, Jill Kranson, Molly Rutta, Lydia Lerner, Joan Kleinman, and Sara Pisarz, Shalach Manot was enjoyed by so many. Malka and Janice did so much running around bargain hunting, shopping and seeking donations for Shalach Manot. Malka, Janice, Dror and Sara Seewald then helped put the baskets together and the special wrapping with the special finishing touches were done by Fran Edley and Jody Stone. After they were so beautifully wrapped, Malka and Jody got them ready for delivery by matching the labels with the scrolls. Finally, it was time for the much anticipated delivery. What would we have done without those who made the special deliveries? Thank you to Malka Seewald, Barbara Bell, Kevin Greenberg, AW, Bill Finklestein and Rabbi Lerner for making the deliveries. Thank you to Kathy Roth for handling the finances of this project. We have to remember and thank Mori Bell who was put to work by everyone. I too had the pleasure of making deliveries that day and was able to see the expressions of surprise and appreciation on the faces of the recipients; it warmed my heart! “We did it; the baskets were outstanding, fabulous!” Again, thank you everyone for all that you did to bring happiness to so many!
Purim Seudah: Everyone who entered the room for the Purim Seuhah dinner co-hosted by Bais Menachem and UHI on Tuesday evening was instantly taken aback by the beauty of the decorations, the aroma of delicious food and festive music filled the air. It was a huge success, approximately 200 people enjoyed themselves tremendously. First of all, we would like to thank the JCC for allowing us to hold the Seudah there and to its staff for doing such a great job in setting up the room. A special thank you to Rabbi Pearlman for opening the Seudah with a Kiddush and to Rabbi Nemetsky for his reading of the Megilla. Also, thank you to Malka Seewald for making all of the arrangements for the Seudah including the Megilla bingo, Janice Zarad for decorating the room so beautifully, to Dovid Brownstein for emceeing the event, Mendy Seewald for collecting the reservations and payments, Jenny Rizel for making the lovely flyers and ordering just the right amount of food and to Dror Levi for driving all the way to New Jersey to pick up the Chinese food. Thank you for the monetary donations that helped to defray the cost of the Seudah. A special thank you to Ross Kleinman and Mitchell Pisarz for writing and reading their Dvor Torah and Sara Seewald for filling in for Ben Engel who was under the weather. Also, thank you to all the servers, you did a great job!! Last but not least, thank you to all those who attended the Seudah, there was a great sense of community in the air.
There was such Simcha in the room as the sound of Jewish music filled the room, followed by the lively and spectacular entertainment performed by the Bias Menachem students. The audience, children and adults alike, were in awe of the entertainment. There wasn’t a sound in the audience when watching Mendy, Mendy, Jama, Levi, Dovi, Gavriel, Ari and Zevy who juggled, break danced and unicycled to the sound of festive music. This was the first community event co-hosted by UHI and Bais Menachem with more to come in the future! It also is a day that the children will long remember as a very memorable Purim! Thank you all so very much! Taly Kornfeld, PTA President