Annapolis synagogue celebrates Jewish holiday of Purim with a food drivehttps://www.capitalgazette.com/maryland/annapolis/ac-cn-kneseth-israel-food-drive-20220317-20220317-pku6yszjorherk6wpjai3qcjoa-story.html
By BROOKS DUBOSE
CAPITAL GAZETTE |
MAR 17, 2022 AT 5:21 PM
While some Annapolis residents celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, members of the city’s Jewish synagogue rang in a different holiday known for merriment and festive costumes by donating hundreds of pounds of food to a local food bank.
Members of Congregation Kneseth Israel hauled 425 pounds of food into the Anne Arundel County Food Bank in Crownsville on Thursday in celebration of Purim, a Jewish holiday marked by food sharing and other acts of altruism. Among them was Glenn Carr, who came up with the idea for the food drive.
“I wanted to engage our congregation with some community outreach, and putting this in the spirit of the holiday is a perfect opportunity for that to happen,” said Carr, who has attended the synagogue on Spa Road for more than 30 years.
Purim is celebrated annually to commemorate the saving of the Jewish people from genocide in Persia in the fifth century B.C. as told in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. The story goes that Haman, the right-hand man of Persian King Ahasuerus, decided to kill all of the Jews in Persia. But thanks to the advocacy of Esther, a Jewish orphan and the king’s new wife, Haman’s plan was foiled and the Jews of the kingdom were saved.
Over two days during the Hebrew month of Adar, Jews gather for feasts and carnivals, often masquerading in costumes and masks. There are four mitzvot, or commandments, on the holiday: listening to a reading of the Book of Esther, eating a festive meal, sending food gifts to friends and giving charity to the poor.
The congregation took a few liberties with the interpretation of the holiday by combining the latter two commandments, said Rabbi David Sislen, who has led the synagogue since August.
“It totally encapsulates the imperative of the holiday,” Sislen said of the food drive. “Judaism puts a premium on doing commandments that help other people. Doing tzedakah, or voluntary acts of righteousness, that don’t benefit themselves at all, they’re doing it only to help the beneficiaries of this project.”
The food arrives at a critical time for the Anne Arundel food bank as the number of donations tends to wane after the new year, said Susan Thomas, the food bank’s executive director.
“This is a huge help right now. It’s definitely the time of year when donations are down,” Thomas said. “But what we’ve also seen recently is stores are struggling to keep food on the shelves, and so our retail rescue donations are significantly decreased, which makes food drives like this even more important.”
While Kneseth Israel has participated in food drives before, tying one to Purim was a novel and “wonderful” idea, said Michael Synder, who along with two other members, Walt Beckerman and Eliot Cohen, stacked cereal, jars of tomato sauce and other dried goods on the food bank’s loading dock.
Sislen said he was proud of the congregation of 100 or so members for rising to the occasion. Some even made special trips to the grocery store to buy highly sought-after items, like breakfast bars and nutritional shakes, he said.
The initiative has raised morale in the congregation and showed that future food drives could be possible, Carr said.
“I think we should always reach out to those who are less fortunate, in general,” he said. “It’s the first time we’re doing this and you don’t know what the response is gonna be, whether you have less than a box [of food] or what, but the response has been tremendous and overwhelming.”
ture, and as part of their purpose. Their questions are an expression of their innate desire to know and understand, and by helping them find answers, our own understanding grows along with th
By BROOKS DUBOSE
CAPITAL GAZETTE |
MAR 17, 2022 AT 5:21 PM
While some Annapolis residents celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, members of the city’s Jewish synagogue rang in a different holiday known for merriment and festive costumes by donating hundreds of pounds of food to a local food bank.
Members of Congregation Kneseth Israel hauled 425 pounds of food into the Anne Arundel County Food Bank in Crownsville on Thursday in celebration of Purim, a Jewish holiday marked by food sharing and other acts of altruism. Among them was Glenn Carr, who came up with the idea for the food drive.
“I wanted to engage our congregation with some community outreach, and putting this in the spirit of the holiday is a perfect opportunity for that to happen,” said Carr, who has attended the synagogue on Spa Road for more than 30 years.
Purim is celebrated annually to commemorate the saving of the Jewish people from genocide in Persia in the fifth century B.C. as told in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. The story goes that Haman, the right-hand man of Persian King Ahasuerus, decided to kill all of the Jews in Persia. But thanks to the advocacy of Esther, a Jewish orphan and the king’s new wife, Haman’s plan was foiled and the Jews of the kingdom were saved.
Over two days during the Hebrew month of Adar, Jews gather for feasts and carnivals, often masquerading in costumes and masks. There are four mitzvot, or commandments, on the holiday: listening to a reading of the Book of Esther, eating a festive meal, sending food gifts to friends and giving charity to the poor.
The congregation took a few liberties with the interpretation of the holiday by combining the latter two commandments, said Rabbi David Sislen, who has led the synagogue since August.
“It totally encapsulates the imperative of the holiday,” Sislen said of the food drive. “Judaism puts a premium on doing commandments that help other people. Doing tzedakah, or voluntary acts of righteousness, that don’t benefit themselves at all, they’re doing it only to help the beneficiaries of this project.”
The food arrives at a critical time for the Anne Arundel food bank as the number of donations tends to wane after the new year, said Susan Thomas, the food bank’s executive director.
“This is a huge help right now. It’s definitely the time of year when donations are down,” Thomas said. “But what we’ve also seen recently is stores are struggling to keep food on the shelves, and so our retail rescue donations are significantly decreased, which makes food drives like this even more important.”
While Kneseth Israel has participated in food drives before, tying one to Purim was a novel and “wonderful” idea, said Michael Synder, who along with two other members, Walt Beckerman and Eliot Cohen, stacked cereal, jars of tomato sauce and other dried goods on the food bank’s loading dock.
Sislen said he was proud of the congregation of 100 or so members for rising to the occasion. Some even made special trips to the grocery store to buy highly sought-after items, like breakfast bars and nutritional shakes, he said.
The initiative has raised morale in the congregation and showed that future food drives could be possible, Carr said.
“I think we should always reach out to those who are less fortunate, in general,” he said. “It’s the first time we’re doing this and you don’t know what the response is gonna be, whether you have less than a box [of food] or what, but the response has been tremendous and overwhelming.”
ture, and as part of their purpose. Their questions are an expression of their innate desire to know and understand, and by helping them find answers, our own understanding grows along with th
