Tomchei Shabbos of Middlesex County brought a marquee quality performer to the area when it hosted a benefit concert in Highland Park headlined by Simcha Leiner on Motzei Shabbat, February 1. The sold out concert at Highland Park High School drew a broad cross section of people from the community.
Janet and Fred Rivenson of Edison noted that they come to the Tomchei Shabbos concert each year. Janet added that she loves Jewish music and the lift it provides makes a great start to her week. Milton Erdfarb of Highland Park, who came to the concert with his wife, Debbie, praised all the great work of the organization in helping those who are food insecure and uniting the whole community for a good cause.
Event committee chair Jeff Klein took to the stage to welcome attendees to an “incredible evening of Jewish music” and noted that 100% of ticket sales would go directly to Tomchei Shabbos of Middlesex County because of a generous sponsorship. Opening the concert was singer Danny Palgon, whose first album is due to be released shortly. After warming up the crowd with songs to set the tone for the evening, headliner Simcha Leiner took the stage.
Leiner’s multimedia presentation and special effects were huge crowd pleasers. Video screens on both sides of the stage showed pictures of Israel, videos to support the musical story, interesting graphics and sometimes lyrics to help the audience sing along and participate.
A touching moment mid-concert offered a tribute to the late Yomi Greenstein, one of the founders of Tomchei Shabbos of Middlesex County who dedicated much time to the organization to ensure it would be able to continue its mission as long as there was a need. Greenstein passed away in 2017 and his family continues to raise funds in his memory. A GoFundMe page earned over $7,000 for Tomchei Shabbos by his first yahrzeit.
In addition to singing, Leiner entertained the audience throughout the concert by offering stories and humor. He shared that recently one of his sons asked Alexa to play “Tatty’s song,” and pointed out that the device’s settings had not yet been programmed, so it selected an Indian cultural dance tune to play instead. Leiner then started singing the song that his son had wanted to hear.
At another point, Leiner announced he would present one of his big hits of last year and started singing “Baby Shark” before segueing into a rousing rendition of a popular tune that had the audience standing up, with men dancing in the front of the auditorium and a few women dancing towards the back of the room. More audience participation resulted when Leiner came to sit in the audience and asked some of the attendees to perform on stage.
Leiner’s music ideas came from such varied sources as a Siyum haShas in the Sephardic community and family events. A creative moment at the end of the show incorporated everyday sounds of New York City (subways, garbage trucks, traffic and doors closing) into actual music.
Tomchei Shabbos of Middlesex County’s mission is “helping feed those in need with dignity and discretion.” Its website notes: “Tomchei Shabbos of Middlesex County has been providing Shabbos and Yom Tov food packages to needy families in the Highland Park, Edison and East Brunswick communities since 2009.” They help ensure that, even in difficult times, every family in the community has food to put on their table each Shabbat and Yom Tov.
Tomchei Shabbos’ volunteers gather every Thursday night to assemble a large number of boxes of food, including chicken, fish, challah, grape juice, fruits and vegetables, eggs and more, then drive these food packages to struggling families’ homes where they are discreetly left on their doorstep.
An increasing number of families need help due to economic difficulties. Donation opportunities are listed on their website http://tomcheimc.org/donate/ For additional information call 732-226-7283 or e-mail [email protected]
By Deborah Melman
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