ACROSS THE JERSEY SHORE
LORI SHAFRIR
ADAR IS KNOWN AS THE MONTH OF CELEBRATION AND HAPPINESS. THE TALMUD SAYS, “WHEN THE MONTH OF ADAR ARRIVES, WE INCREASE IN JOY” TO WELCOME A SEASON OF MIRACLES. AT THE SBH TAWIL FAMILY JERSEY BRANCH, WE TAKE THE MEANING OF THE MONTH ADAR — OR INCREASING JOY — VERY SERIOUSLY!
For starters, our seniors celebrated Purim throughout the month! The joint SBH and Hillel program “Better Together” kicked off the month of celebrations. Hillel’s 8th grade girls planned a wonderful Purim program, where they danced along with their senior partners, and painted beautiful ceramic clowns and masks together to fun, lively music. There were smiles galore!
And the joy only increased from there! SBH’s joint Purim party with DSN brought together nearly 100 seniors to celebrate with live music, dance, a delicious lunch and of course hamentashen aplenty. The afternoon was made even more special with the girls from both Ilan and Hillel High Schools in attendance. Their infectious energy and joyfulness left a lasting impression on our seniors.
Our homebound seniors were not left out of the celebrations, thanks to our community’s wonderful volunteers who are truly the lifeline of SBH! Homebound seniors delighted in listening to the megillah in the privacy of their own homes, fulfilling the mitzvah of hearing the words of the megillah. They reveled in being acknowledged and honored.
For our New Jersey families, SBH orchestrated an amazing Purim carnival spearheaded by lead volunteer Marsha Tobias and family. This fun-filled afternoon had close to 1,000 people enjoying the festivities, which included inflatable rides, carnival games and prizes. While children were enjoying themselves in their colorful costumes and everyone was celebrating, the needs of our community members were not forgotten. Hesed opportunities for the young and old were available, including hesed booths for making hamentashen and mishloach manot for the SBH Sarah Sutton A”H Food Pantry. What a special way to celebrate Purim and create fond memories for children, parents and grandparents!
As in the story of Esther, many things are hidden only to be unmasked to reveal good. The Client Services Division of SBH respects the confidentiality and the personal struggles that some of our community members contend with. Various people face food insecurity and financial struggles. In that light, honoring the mitzvah of matanot laevyonim, or giving money to the poor, generous donations from near and far were contributed to help the needy in our area. This Purim, SBH NJ spearheaded a beautiful initiative that raised over $200k that was directly distributed to close to 250 families in NY and NJ. In addition, our NJ client families were given a beautiful mishloach manot graciously donated by the Michael Kameo A”H foundation. Families with children were also provided with gift cards to purchase costumes.
Increasing the joy to those in need is not limited to the month of Adar but it is one of the essential pillars of the SBH mission: to imbue families and individuals with a sense of pride and dignity. We run beautiful programming throughout the year that serves both those seeking our help and those looking to give back. To learn more about the SBH Tawil Jersey Branch, follow @sbh_jersey on Instagram or email info@sbhonline.org to be added to the email list. We look forward to many more times of joy together.
Lori Shafrir is the Senior Division Coordinator of the SBH Tawil Family Jersey Branch.
