Bergenfield—If you knew one of your neighbors didn’t have food for Shabbos, you would run out and buy them some, right? Most people would if they could. That’s exactly what Tomchei Shabbos of Bergen County has done every single week for the past 24 years. Completely independent of any other organization, the group’s locally-based volunteers brave all kinds of weather to pack 135 to 140 boxes of Shabbos food every Tuesday to send to Teaneck-area neighbors and 60 to 65 boxes for those in Fair Lawn. Volunteer drivers deliver the food even during the winter’s coldest and snowiest Wednesday evenings.
“There are individuals in our community who unfortunately cannot put bread on the table. They cannot afford dignified Shabbat meals. Tomchei Shabbos of Bergen County has provided this with incredible dignity, with incredible sensitivity,” said Rabbi Yosef Adler, mara d’asra of Teaneck’s Congregation Rinat Yisrael.
Tomchei Shabbos is gomel chasadim tovim. They don’t simply deliver meals to needy families, to shut-ins, or to poor individuals. They deliver to people that don’t have the resources or the capability to go out and buy food,” said Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, mara d’asra of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn.
The boxes contain family basics; fruit such as apples, oranges and bananas, vegetables such as onions, carrots, celery, cucumbers and squash, wine or grape juice, challah, eggs and enough chicken sufficient to feed as many members of the family as necessary.
Recently, Tomchei Shabbos of Bergen County rented a bright, airy warehouse at 13 Foster Street in Bergenfield, which will serve as one of the county’s two central locations where packers can report to volunteer and items can also be picked up by recipients, though boxes are also dropped off to recipients or delivered in a myriad of ways to ensure confidentiality and anonymity. The second location, in Fair Lawn, is run by Bernie Thau with the support of many Fair Lawn residents in the Fair Lawn Jewish Center, which has room for storage and some inventory.
Previously, the Teaneck boxes were packed in a basement room next to the social hall at Congregation B’nai Yeshurun in Teaneck, with no room for storage or inventory. The new warehouse has lots of space for storage, and also has room for an office, which will need to be furnished.
Levi Goldberg, part-time on-site facility manager will join longtime manager Boris Tulman. Together they will work to welcome volunteers, manage inventory, and streamline the packing and delivery process.
Providing a basic need to those in our community who, for whatever reason, have fallen upon difficult times, Tomchei Shabbos of Bergen County has, since 1990, been quietly filling boxes and delivering them to families, without insisting on uncovering details that might be uncomfortable to recipients. The need for help is simply brought to the group’s attention and then confirmed through local organizations and/or rabbis. “Our drivers are carefully selected for each route to ensure anonymity, and there are many ways to obtain a package anonymously,” said Sara Walzman, a Tomchei Shabbos board member and volunteer. “This is literally giving food to our neighbors, maybe even down the street, who need it,” said Walzman.
The needs are so basic and the work is so clearly laid out, that many parents bring their young children to volunteer on packing evenings. In the Teaneck, Bergenfield, and Englewood communities, shuls take turns for providing volunteers each week. In Fair Lawn, the same people often perform the same activities from week to week. “The same women come each week to make up every box for us,” said Bernie Thau, who runs the packing operation there.
Currently, the food is all purchased wholesale by Tomchei Shabbos, but the organization is actively interested in developing corporate or organizational sponsors who may be able to help with this burden. The boxes themselves are donated. The packages in total each cost between $35 and $50, with costs rising into the hundreds for yom tov deliveries, especially Pesach.
Tomchei Shabbos is dependent on donations, but as the community’s needs increase, so does the need for more funding. “Even if its $5 a year, this organization needs to be on every Jewish Bergen County resident’s Tzedakah list,” said Walzman. “We’d love to increase volunteer and donor participation from all community members in Englewood, Teaneck, Bergenfield, Paramus, Fort Lee, and New Milford. These are all places where we deliver, so please be in touch with us to involve Tomchei Shabbos in your chesed and fundraising projects,” Walzman said.
Walzman explained that the organization’s new website, http://www.tomcheishabbosofbergencounty.org, has an option for people to make a recurring donation with their credit card, and she asked that people remember Tomchei Shabbos in their annual giving.
Walzman also noted that Purim cards from Tomchei Shabbos will soon available at many area stores, and the website has all that information available. Interested parties are also invited to email [email protected].
By Elizabeth Kratz
