Shomrei Emunah was honored last week for its 38-year commitment to supporting homeless families at the annual gala of Family Promise of Essex County. The organization began in 1988 as the Interfaith Hospitality Network (or IHN), through which religious congregations housed homeless families with young children who couldn’t find space in the county shelter system. Shomrei was the only synagogue to join the network at the outset, although numerous others joined afterwards. (more…)
Shomrei is receiving very special recognition on the night of Oct. 8, at the annual gala of Family Promise, a longtime provider of services to housing-insecure families with young children in Essex County. For more than 30 years, this nonprofit has sheltered and supported young families who couldn’t find space in the county shelter system.
Shomrei was there from the beginning, the first synagogue in Essex County to host homeless families in what was then known as the Interfaith Hospitality Network. Shirley Grill was one of its first board members, Dale Russakoff is its current board chair, and in the years in between, generations of Shomrei families volunteered to cook for, entertain and provide support to families who stayed in our building for two weeks a year.
The hosting program ended with Covid, but many Shomrei members continue to donate generously so that Family Promise can guide struggling families from shelter to self-sufficiency.
Family Promise will honor Shomrei at its annual gala for its long and ongoing support. Rabbi Julie has been asked to give the keynote address.
The Family Promise Gala draws 200 or more people from across Essex County, and we would love to have as many members as possible be part of this special honor. Link for tickets below. Alternatively, you can contribute in any amount to the purchase of tables by emailing Dale via the Shomrei Office, . A $2500 contribution buys a table for ten.
We hope to share this evening with everyone whose mitzvot have sustained Family Promise over the decades.
Harvesting Hope
An Autumn Evening of Hope & Community
Thursday, October 8, 7:00 – 10:00pm
The Albion Summit
570 Springfiield Ave. Summit, NJ 07901
Tickets $250 per person
more info and tickets
As summer begins to wind down, the Jewish calendar invites us into a different kind of season—one of reflection, renewal, and hope. In our Jewish tradition, Selichot (“forgiveness,” in Hebrew) marks the beginning of that journey, and offers us a meaningful opportunity to prepare our hearts and minds for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The Selichot service is centered around beautiful prayers that encourage us to reflect on the past year, celebrate personal growth, and consider where we’d like to do better in the year ahead. Selichot reminds us that every new year offers the chance to begin again—with intention, compassion, and purpose. (more…)
We joined well over 100 people including Shomrei members Sarah Cortez and Greg Charak, in observing Tisha B’Av services outside Delaney Hall, the Newark prison operated by ICE to detain immigrants—in most cases illegally. The observance was sponsored by synagogues throughout Essex, Bergen, and Hudson Counties. We gathered on a cool summer night to stand for people from other communities who now endure their own tragedy, and are thus prohibited from standing and gathering with their communities and families. (more…)
This past Tuesday evening, twenty-five Shomrei members gathered in the social hall to learn about the national shift in immigration policy and the impact of those policies on the lives of people throughout the nation and in nearby communities. The ad hoc committee responsible for the program felt it was especially timely in light of the upcoming celebration of Passover and the holiday’s focus on freedom and our people’s story of persecution. (more…)
