(Courtesy of Ohr HaTorah) On a warm sunny afternoon in September, in a small park nestled in Bergenfield’s Lee Place cul-de-sac, members of Congregation Ohr HaTorah gathered at Jacoby Park, known in the neighborhood as the Shabbat Park, for fresh grilled food, games, activities and friendly schmoozing.

The turnout was better than expected––more than 60 families attended.

“More people showed up than had pre-registered,” said Tamar Gross, who oversaw the welcome table and handed out Ohr HaTorah branded water bottles to families as they arrived. “We just kept adding burgers to grill.”

The event, which was planned by Ez and Sorah Shaffren and Noam Salamon of the youth committee, in conjunction with the sisterhood and men’s committee, provided many activities for the kids, including a bounce house, an arts and crafts table and several carnival games where children could earn tickets redeemable for prizes. The youth leaders, supervised by the new youth director, David Kirsch, and the middle school girls youth director, Rivka Barnett, ran carnival games and distributed popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones to attendees. Several families volunteered their grills, prepared the food and helped with setup and clean-up.

“It was a great example of how a simple event with many people taking part can be a great success,” said Rebecca Stein.

“When we moved here 13 years ago, our first introduction to Ohr HaTorah was the family barbeque,” said Michele Moskowitz. “We walked in knowing no one and left with multiple invitations for lunch.

At this year’s barbeque, Ohr HaTorah members welcomed many new families who had moved in during the last year.

“We had families who were new to the neighborhood meeting those who have been here for years,” said Judah Eizikovitz. “It’s great to see that even as we’ve grown, the small community feel that makes Ohr HaTorah unique remains.”

A visit from the mayor and town council representatives and candidates reinforced that the Ohr HaTorah community is significant in Bergenfield. Mayor Norman Schmelz, Council President Ora C. Kornbluth, Councilman Arvin Amatorio, and Wendy Loszynski met several families and experienced a warm welcome from the Ohr HaTorah community.

Congregation Ohr HaTorah thanks everyone who made the event possible, especially the Shaffren, Salamon, Gross, Zachter and Hanauer families as well as the residents of Lee Place for their hospitality.