Warmth, Music Cheer NJ Victims

By COLlive Staff

Lubavitch Center of Orange County, NJ along with Congregations AABJ&D and Ohr Torah invited families without power to a hot dinner buffet.

The event was held at Cong Ohr Torah in West Orange on Sunday evening, and included a local Jewish band called B’nai Jazz.

“We understand how stressful it is for so many during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy,” said Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz of Chabad-Lubavitch of Essex County, one of the event’s organizers. “The message and goal was to provide a warm and friendly atmosphere to help lift the spirits of all who were able to attend.”

Kasowitz explained that the event was not about feeding those that were hungry, saying most of the 150 attendees were not starving, and that many had been staying with family or friends. The event was about lifting the spirits of those that had been displaced or were living without power.

“Everyone was encouraged to come, relax and enjoy a hot meal together,” he said.

Along with Rabbi Kasowitz, the event was organized by Rabbi Marc Spivak of Congregation Ohr Torah and Rabbi Eliezer Zwicker of Congregation Ahawas Achim.

“We know how frustrating it is living in the dark. We got power back on Shabbos, thank G-d, but I understand what those people were going through,” said Rabbi Kasowitz, “On her way out, one of the guests told me what a difference this made to her and her family. She mentioned how much the music helped lift her mood, especially watching her kids dancing. We are humbled and honored to be able to provide this for the community.”

Another attendee emailed:
“A big thank you to the community Rabbis, the generous anonymous donors, organizers, caterers, B’nai Jazz and numerous volunteers for the beautiful dinner on Sunday at Ohr Torah for the benefit of the community members that were affected by the power outage.

We appreciated the “warmth” of the evening not only in terms of room temperature, but the extra efforts made to make it more “simcha” rather than “soup kitchen” by providing musical entertainment and wonderful food.

Gratefully, The Singerman Family – West Orange”