Paul Cherry, second from left, a homeless man who spent Christmas at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick, accepts a tin of toiletries from Rabbi Daniel Fellman and two of the temple’s youth group members, Marni Zahorsky and Ben Sousa. Photos by Debra Rubin
January 8, 2008
For homeless men in Middlesex County who have nowhere else to go for food, companionship, and shelter, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick has become a place to celebrate Christmas.
As it has done for close to 20 years, the synagogue offered the area’s homeless a holiday breakfast, dinner, and gifts and in general made efforts to treat its “guests” with dignity and kindness.
“We always take Christmas week because it’s busy for the churches,” said Rabbi Daniel Fellman, the synagogue’s assistant rabbi. “It’s easy for us.”
The synagogue is part of an interfaith network of New Brunswick-area houses of worship that in conjunction with Catholic Charities provide shelter for the homeless on a rotating basis throughout the winter.
It has taken in homeless men for two weeks for some years. This year because of the growing need, it will offer hospitality for a second and a third week later in the winter.
During its weeks, the synagogue sets up cots in its religious-school classrooms for the approximately 15 men to sleep. According to guidelines, each man is given a snack in the evening and breakfast in the morning and must be out of the church or synagogue by 6:30 a.m.
However, the rules are loosened every Dec. 25 at Anshe Emeth, when the men are free to spend the day in the synagogue, which is buzzing with families and activities on what is usually the congregation’s annual mitzva day.
“We feel it’s our opportunity to say to the homeless men in New Brunswick, ‘We know you’re there. We know you’re cold. Welcome to our temple,’” said the program’s coordinator, Phyllis Pollak of New Brunswick.
“We just drive by someone on our way home from work or when we’re out Hanukka shopping,” Pollak added. “When I used to see homeless men at the New Brunswick Train Station I’d pass them by. Now I go up to them and say hi. Now I look at them not as a nameless person, but as a human being who is cold and tired.”
A generous breakfast was served under the direction of Dr. Joe Cohn by members of the temple youth group, who had spent the previous night camped out in sleeping bags in the temple.
“When we make them breakfast in the morning, they show such appreciation,” said youth group president Rachel Goldstein, 17, of East Brunswick. “For us, we could be home with our families or with friends who celebrate Christmas — but here we are.”
Marni Zahorsky, 14, of West Windsor and Ben Sousa, 16, of Highland Park coordinated the youth group effort. Ben said the idea was to get the teens used to helping out so they would take on responsibility for the shelter as they got older.
Temple members also attended an afternoon turkey dinner provided for the homeless men, who were also given gift cards for stores where they can buy toiletries and other basic necessities.
Members of the youth group at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple pass the time overnight on Dec. 24. The teens spent the night at the New Brunswick synagogue and helped serve breakfast to homeless men on Christmas morning.
“The idea is to treat them like humans, to treat them with kavod [respect],” said Fellman. “This temple and all its volunteers have a strong belief in tikun olam [repairing the world] and if there are homeless people in our midst, we want to do what we can to help and are in fact commanded to do so.”
The synagogue’s efforts are appreciated by the men. Paul Cherry, originally from Franklin, became homeless several years ago and has spent every Christmas since then at the temple.
“I’m sad because I’m homeless and can’t be with my family,” he said shortly after arriving on Christmas Eve. “But when I’m here I feel like I am home. They open their hearts and home. I can’t even express it in words; they make me feel so good inside, like I’m wanted.”
Cherry said he planned to move to Atlanta in the coming months to be with his son and granddaughter.
“Never will I forget this temple,” Cherry vowed. “They’ve given so much to me. I don’t know what yet, but I’m going to get back on my feet. I want to do something for them to give back because this is a great, great place. God bless this temple.”
Mitzvot: a synagogue’s Christmas tradition
MORE THAN 75 people gathered Dec. 25 at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick to help feed the poor, brighten the lives of those in nursing homes, and spread holiday cheer to others as part of the synagogue’s annual mitzva day.
Youngsters decorated cookies and lunch bags that would later be packed with drinks, sandwiches, and fruit to donate to agencies feeding the homeless.
Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple members do their part during the synagogue’s annual mitzva day on Dec. 25. Photo courtesy Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple
Teens and adults learned to become “mitzva clowns” to entertain at the Oscar and Ella Wilf Campus for Senior Living in Somerset or helped around the temple with maintenance and clerical tasks.
“I used to have my family over,” said mitzva day committee chair Debbie Friedman of Highland Park. “But it felt like we were celebrating Christmas. This was doing something with purpose and meaning.”
Dinner was served to homeless men being sheltered at the synagogue for the holiday. Members brought along donations of diapers, formula, toiletries, turkeys, blankets, bedding, and clothing for shelter guests and needy neighborhood families helped by the Anshe Emeth Community Development Corporation.
The most popular activities were the arts and crafts projects decorating cookies and bags for lunches at Elijah’s Promise soup kitchen. Many families then filled the bags and delivered them the next day to the New Brunswick facility.
Laura Gordon and her husband, Ira, of East Brunswick, brought along their sons Ryan, eight, and Jared, five. The boys designed winter pictures and messages and wrote, “Happy Holidays” on lunch items.
“They had a really fun time and fun day doing something with friends,” she said. “I don’t think they knew what they were doing until the next day when we made 25 sandwiches and dropped [the lunches] off. They even went through their Halloween candy and put a little candy bar in each bag.
“I liked being with my kids and having fun with my family,” Gordon said. “This is what we do on Christmas. This is our tradition.”