Englewood—A true community event, Project Ezrah’s annual dinner will be held on Saturday evening, December 17 at Ahavath Torah in Englewood. While scotch and sushi bars, artisanal beers, fleishig and dessert buffets and more await attendees, Susan Alpert, Development Director, said that the goal of the dinner is much larger. While she admitted that it has become a truly must-attend event for many of Bergen County’s couples, the point is to bring people together for an enjoyable evening while raising much-needed funds for the organization’s unique blend of employment services, financial-management assistance and lifestyle guidance programs. “We want people to have a good time and know that all the money made raised from the dinner goes directly to client services,” she said.
Project Ezrah was launched 15 years ago by Rabbi Yossi Stern, z”l, to help Bergen County neighbors in financial stress. Project Ezrah started out by reorganizing and improving clients’ financial outlooks with meaningful monetary assistance and budget management and guidance. Today, while staying true to its initial goals, many other types of private assistance are organized by Project Ezrah for their clients; many community members (doctors, lawyers, tutors and dentists, for example) provide meaningful pro-bono services as needed. The most current figures for 2016 show that Project Ezrah is helping almost 70 families with basic living expenses and budgeting techniques, and adding an average of two families per month.
Moshe Kinderlehrer, co-publisher of The Jewish Link of New Jersey, and his wife, Dena, are among six couples named Ezrah Awardees at this year’s dinner. “I always felt close to Project Ezrah,” Kinderlehrer said. “We announced that we were starting the paper at the Project Ezrah dinner four years ago. The year before, we were at the dinner with well over 1,000 people, and there was no coverage in the local media. That lack, that gap, struck me and I thought more seriously about starting the paper. Now as publisher of The Link, I work closely with local businesses, and I have a stronger sense than the average person of the important work Project Ezrah does and the people they are helping. People sitting next to you in shul have been helped, though you may not be aware of it.” Also being honored for their support of Project Ezrah are Tova and Shai Gerson, Nancy and David Siegel, Divsha and Martin Tollinsky, Kellita and Daniel Weber and Adina and Arthur Weinstein.
The rabbis of Bergen County synagogues are on the front lines of knowing who needs help in their communities. This year, Project Ezrah is honoring Rabbi Ari Zahtz, Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun of Teaneck, and his wife, Michal, with the Rabbinic Leadership Award at this year’s dinner. Rabbi Zahtz said Project Ezrah fills a critical void in the community. “The reality is that there are always people who are in need. Project Ezrah is dedicated to helping and guiding them, and getting them to stand on their own two feet.”
Rabbi Zahtz said he works in partnership with Project Ezrah; they handle the financial picture so he can concentrate on the family’s other needs. When people in the community want to allocate tzedakah, he encourages them to support Project Ezrah, and come to the dinner. “Attending the dinner shows support to the staff of Project Ezrah and the people they have helped; it gives them the strength to continue,” said Rabbi Zahtz. “Another aspect of attending the dinner is to learn how else you can be involved, not just financially but with services you can donate or any other way you can use your unique talents to help those in need.”
A new honor, the Chesed Initiative Award, will go to 9-year-old Nava Siegler of Englewood, who raised money last year to purchase 27 Purim costumes for the children of Project Ezrah’s clients. Nava designed a Purim card that she sold in packages. Recipients were encouraged to purchase and send their own, increasing funds for the effort. “It was a lot of work to get the cards done, but it was fun,” the fourth-grade student at The Moriah School said. “It was exciting to get and open the checks.” After getting an anonymous list of the children’s costume requests, Nava purchased the costumes with help from her parents, Debbie and Steve Siegler, and brought them to the office for distribution. “I’m doing it again this year,” Nava said. “I’m happy to do the mitzvah.” Nava is looking forward to going to the Project Ezrah dinner with her family.
Serving as a community resource for job searches has become another core function of the organization. Project Ezrah’s Director of Employment, Jeff Mendelson, helps men and women who are ready to assume positions in many industries and professions, whether they are seeking entry-level roles or to join a company’s leadership team, through referrals, connections, a job board and a LinkedIn community, which now boasts 1,120 members. Mendelson has developed relationships with 100 new employers to widen the prospects for Project Ezrah’s job candidates. Project Ezrah sends an average of 125 job leads to candidates each week and has placed almost 200 people from January through November, an increase of almost 70 percent over last year. Mendelson also helps older workers update their technology skills with periodic seminars and referrals to classes, based on the individual’s proficiency.
An emerging project focus for Project Ezrah is helping young adults develop the skills necessary to succeed in work and life. “We see that many young people leave college and feel like a fish out of water,” said Executive Director Robert Hoenig. “We’re starting to create Office 101, a program to teach basics like what office casual means—clean Dockers and tucked in shirts—and the right attitude, like saying to your supervisor, ‘I’m leaving, anything else you want me to do?’”
A game night at Teaneck’s Congregation Ahavat Shalom, also known as “The Apartments Minyan,” for 150 young families that mixed fun activities with financial advice, has led to a new program called “The Aisle: A Path Toward Financial Fidelity.” The program is geared to teaching engaged and newly married young couples about financial planning at the beginning of their lives together, in the hope that they can prevent some of the problems Project Ezrah sees down the road.
“How to get along financially and be on the same page is equally as important as making and keeping to an appropriate financial plan (budget),” Alpert explained. “The new program will be about how to realize that mine + yours = ours; the creation of Mr. and Mrs. (your name here), Inc.” Alpert said both The Aisle and Office 101 are open to the entire community.
To make your reservation to attend the Project Ezrah dinner or to learn more about its programs, visit www.ezrah.org, or call 201-569-9047.
By Bracha Schwartz
