Upcoming at Or Chadash

Community Volunteer Opportunity

Dear Members of our Or Chadash Community,

We are very excited to share with you a wonderful volunteer opportunity for friends of Or Chadash who are knitters.

This March, Or Chadash has been invited to teach knitting to about ten children (ages 8 and up) at Harbor of Hope in Flemington on four consecutive Thursdays: March 5, 12, 19, and 26 from 4:30 to 5:30 PM.

Harbor of Hope, located at 3 Main Street in Flemington, provides support for immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and those healing from trauma. The director of Harbor of Hope, Carol Dvoor, a member of the local Jewish community, has reached out to me asking if we might be able to assist with this after-school program. I will be leading the classes, and I need additional knowledgeable knitters to provide one-on-one guidance.

This small act of our teaching and our showing up in support are ways we live out Tikkun Olam - repairing our corner of the world - through patience, skill-sharing, and community.

Or Chadash will supply all materials, including circular needles, yarn, crochet hooks, darning needles, and tote bags. Volunteers will offer one-on-one guidance to beginning knitters.

If you are interested - even if you cannot attend all four sessions - please contact/text Betsy Zalaznick at 908-310-9247.

Thank you.  

- Betsy

Chesed Caring Community

The Hebrew word chesed means "compassion". The Or Chadash Chesed

Caring Community is an informal group of congregants dedicated to helping

members of our temple through life’s challenging times with acts of compassion.

You can volunteer as much or as little time as you are able, even just a few minutes to write a get-well or sympathy note or to make a comforting phone call. Very often, the people who help with Chesed activities get the same uplifting feeling as those who receive assistance. By helping others and allowing ourselves to receive help, we forge meaningful connections with other members of the Or Chadash temple community.

Right now we are looking for volunteers to lead two important services provided by the Chesed Community:

• Arranging Food for Shivas - Reach out to the family and see if they would like a meal delivered. If so, find out from where and then make the arrangements to have it delivered.
• Organize "Meal Trains" for births & critical illnesses - Reach out to the family to see if & when they might need assistance with meals. Then establish a calendar of when meals are needed and the rest is easy!  Rabbi Joe and Betsy will take care of communicating with the congregation to ask folks to supply & deliver the meals.

If you are interested in leading either of these Chesed Community services, please contact Betsy Zalaznick (bzalaznick@gmail.com) or Rabbi Joe Forman (josephforman@gmail.com).

“These are the obligations without measure, whose rewards, too, are without measure:

• To perform acts of loving kindness,
• To welcome the stranger,
• To visit the sick,
• To rejoice with the bride and groom,
• To console the bereaved,
• To make peace where there is strife.”

-Talmud

Programming Committee

We’re starting a new Programming Committee and would love for you to be part of it! This group will help come up with fun, engaging events for our congregation to enjoy together - whether that’s something to do, learn, or simply show up and connect.

The commitment is easy and flexible: one evening Zoom meeting a month and helping plan an event (or two) that interests you. If you enjoy sharing ideas, working with others, and helping bring people together, we’d love to have you join us.

Questions or interested in joining? Feel free to reach out to Debbie Weiss at deb1508@aol.com.

Or Chadash Temple Youth Group (OCTY)

OCTY has been busy these past few months!

In January, our members used donated materials to create beautiful artificial flower arrangements, which were delivered to a local nursing home to brighten residents’ days.

In February, we assembled soup kits for families in need during our Souper Bowl. These kits were distributed through the Harvest Family Success Center in Flemington, helping support members of our broader community.

Now, we are excitedly preparing for the Purim Carnival and Spiel on Sunday, March 1st! We hope all OCTY members will come out to volunteer and help make this special day a wonderful experience for the children of Or Chadash from 10:15 am to 12 pm. OCTY members should RSVP to one of the co-presidents or email Stephanie Orr at stephanieorr123@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

2025-2026 OCTY Co-Presidents:

Kadence Melamud fyferella@gmail.com

Samantha Orr sorr246@gmail.com

Hayden Moscowitz hmoscowi@gmail.com

Braden Hubbard bradenhubbard08@gmail.com

OCTY Advisors:

Stephanie Orr stephanieorr123@gmail.com

Stacey Hubbard stacey.hubbard@gmail.com

Sisterhood

If you have an idea for an event, we'd love to hear from you!

Please reach out to:

Christine Berg cberg3@comcast.net