When a member of the community struggles with a difficult illness, there are a number of possible reactions that people can take.
At Cong. Anshe Chesed in Linden, the shul leaders decided that a positive community building event, imbued with prayer and challah baking, was just the sort of thing needed to lift people’s spirits. Roughly 100 women came out to participate. The challah bake was held on Nov. 14 and was dedicated in the merit of shul member Jojo, Yosef Eliezer ben Aviva Chana Eidel, who is battling a rare type of cancer. The event also drew attention to the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza and the continuing threats to Jews in Israel.
As Anshe Chesed’s Rebbetzin Emma Katz described, “Our goal was to create a space where women can come together to have a fun and meaningful experience. We wanted everyone to pray for our dear congregant, Jojo, and our brothers and sisters in Israel, but also, to have a good time, meet new people and create unity around this special mitzvah.”
The event was packed with talks by Rebbetzin Katz, Instagram influencer Deena Friedman (@fun.in.the.BC), and Aviva Feldman, who shared details of her son’s medical journey, as well as icebreaker activities, a short trivia game and a raffle drawing for a $180 gift card for Linden’s new fine dining kosher dairy restaurant Pappardello.
The evening was also filled with many brachot and, of course, a lot of baking. Each participant took home five pounds of challah and a large dose of inspiration. Every attendee also received a coupon for the Corner Slice, Linden’s new kosher pizza shop.
As Rebbetzin Katz shared with The Jewish Link, she’s received a few heartwarming messages from participants praising the event: “I wanted to share how inspiring tonight’s challah bake was! Starting with your most amazing words to the dynamic speaker! The actual hands-on challah experience was so amazing, fun and holy at the same time! It was a true sensation! Thank you.”
“I just wanted to thank you again for tonight’s program and really express my hakarat hatov. It was so meaningful to have local events like this that bring the communities together. The challah bake was not only enjoyable but truly memorable. I really appreciate all the effort that went into organizing this event and it’s a wonderful way to connect and daven together!”
“Can’t wait to do this next year, iy”H, and we can celebrate a complete refuah for JoJo and the release of all the hostages.”
Anshe Chesed thanked the planning committee that made the event possible: Rebbetzin Katz, Rivka Gross, Leah Kaufman, Chani Penzias and Mindy Schaper.
Harry Glazer is The Middlesex Community Editor of The Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected] and he welcomes reader feedback. When he’s really fortunate, he gets to report on some of the exciting activities at Cong. Anshe Chesed in Linden.
