If you are looking for an ideal community to call home, and are interested in suburban settings with access to a wealth of amenities, there’s a host of good reasons for you to “Discover East Brunswick,” and no better place to do that than at the Young Israel of East Brunswick (YIEB) Prospective Members Shabbaton on March 7-8.
As the Discover East Brunswick team at YIEB can attest, the shul has a strong sense of community, and is a growing shul of of 215 families with an active youth program and engaging adult programming led by a dynamic rabbi, Rabbi Yehoshua Hess and his wife, Nava Hess. East Brunswick features its own mikvah, a noted Montessori
yeshiva, a Shop Rite with a spacious Kosher Experience section, and a wide range of Torah education opportunities at YIEB.
Residents of East Brunswick are also within easy driving distance of local yeshivot, a large kosher grocery store in nearby Highland Park, and five well-regarded kosher restaurants.
Following last year’s successful shabbaton, which brought nine prospective families to experience YIEB, the Discover East Brunswick team has planned another exciting Shabbat to help introduce young couples and young families throughout the region to the many possibilities of Jewish life in East Brunswick. The shabbaton will feature home hospitality by shul families for lodging and Friday night dinner, a community-wide Friday night oneg, a young families lunch on Shabbat day, and a Saturday night comedy night.
Eliana Guralnik, a member of the Discover East Brunswick team, told The Jewish Link: “Our Friday night community-wide oneg will be an opportunity to hear some words of Torah from three visiting heads of school: Rabbi Michael Ribalt of the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison (RPRY), Rabbi Eliezer Rubin of the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston (JKHA/RKYHS), and Rivky Ross of Yeshivat Netivot Montessori. We are bringing them to join us not only for our visiting families but so our shul members can connect and hear from their children’s heads of school.”
The Saturday young families lunch will allow participating families to meet many other young families in the shul and to appreciate the youthful spirit that pervades the shul. The Saturday night comedy night features Avi Lieberman and Wali Collins, two well-regarded comics who have performed in top ranked comedy clubs in New York City and Los Angeles and have comedy specials on streaming platforms.
Asked what drives her passion for YIEB and East Brunswick, Guralnik (who grew up in East Brunswick) shared: “When my husband and I were looking at communities to raise our own family we kept coming back to East Brunswick. My husband grew up in Teaneck and we really wanted a smaller Jewish community where you know your neighbors and everyone in shul. When you walk into shul everyone knows your name and your children. East Brunswick is a special community in the heart of New Jersey.”
In conjunction with this prospective members weekend and other efforts, the Discover East Brunswick initiative is offering a comprehensive new family incentive package. This package, at a value of over $50,000, includes a major yeshiva tuition discount, shul membership and more.
For more information on Discover East Brunswick and to register for the shabbaton, you can scan the QR code in the ad or see discovereastbrunswick.com.
Harry Glazer is the Middlesex County Editor of The Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected] and he welcomes reader feedback.
