On the fourth Sunday of every month, Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park hosts a community dinner called HaMotzi.
In the synagogue’s social hall, 12 tables are set with china, water goblets and real silverware — enough for a three-course meal. Place cards are set out on the tables with the names of people who used to attend HaMotzi but have since passed away. As people take their seats, either the congregation’s rabbi or cantor leads everyone in saying prayers, like Hamotzi. Then, the soup and salad are served.
HaMotzi started in 2015 when the Elkins Park synagogue was renting space to another synagogue in the area to hold a barbecue. Sue Fried, co-organizer of HaMotzi and KI sisterhood program co-chair, said that of the approximately 90 people in attendance, “none of them were Jewish, but all of them were hungry.”
Fried was on a Mural Arts trip with Paulette Sterman-Soroko — co-organizer of HaMotzi, KI sisterhood program co-chair and a longtime member of Keneseth Israel— and the KI sisterhood when she heard about the barbecue. “[Rabbi Lance Sussman] came to sisterhood, and he broached the subject,” said Fried.
“When Paulette heard about it, she comes to me and she said, ‘What are we going to do about it?’” she added.
In Montgomery County in 2022, more than 73,000 people (8.6%) experienced food insecurity, according to a 2024 food insecurity report published by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.
Today, that number has only risen. Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija stated that in 2025, 85,000 people in the county experienced food insecurity, Fox29 Philadelphia reported.
“People think of Montgomery County as an affluent area, but this is a hidden issue, hunger,” said Fried.
Sterman-Soroko grew up attending Keneseth Israel. Now a retired elementary school teacher, Sterman-Soroko has always been passionate about giving back — a passion that was fostered by Keneseth Israel. “Growing up at KI, there was always this sense that we’re here to make the world a better place. We’re here to help each other, and we’re here to help our neighbors,” she said.
Fried has always been involved in fundraising and the sisterhood, no matter what synagogue she was a member of. “It just was just part of my personality. … I always felt a close tie to Judaism and also giving back to the community,” she said.
Before retirement, her husband owned and operated a pharmacy whose customers often had to choose between paying for their prescriptions or paying their rent, which is when she said she was exposed to different types of financial situations.
Fried and Sterman-Soroko visited different types of outreach programs such as food pantries and other community dinners at churches in the area. What they found was packaged foods and paper plates, but they wanted to do something different.
“What we decided as a group is that we want the people that come on Sunday to have the same dinner experience as a Shabbat dinner at KI,” said Brian Rissinger, Keneseth Israel’s executive director.
“We wanted this to be like you were welcoming people in your home,” added Sterman-Soroko.
Over the past decade, the program has provided more than 30,000 meals to individuals experiencing food insecurity. On average, the synagogue hosts 100 people for a sit-down, home-cooked dinner and hands out to-go portions to 200 people at the program’s drive-through, the majority of whom are not Jewish.
“None of them had ever walked into a synagogue. They always called us the Jewish church,” said Sterman-Soroko.
For the 175 volunteers and hundreds of people receiving a meal, HaMotzi goes beyond filling a physical need.
“Along with the joyful part, we’ve had so many that have come in that have lost a child, a brother, a sister, and one whose son had, unfortunately …, he was one of our volunteers, committed suicide. That week they insisted on coming to HaMotzi to be surrounded by the family,” said Sterman-Soroko. “It is a family.”
At HaMozti, there is no division between volunteers and participants. Volunteers often sit and eat with guests and guests often also volunteer to cook or clean up.
The impact even extends beyond the dinner itself. Keneseth Israel’s religious school has a cart in the lobby where the preschool and religious school children can pick out items, purchase them using their tzedakah, and then that food is made available as grocery bags for people to take home after the dinners each month. Many of the children will also choose HaMotzi as their mitzvah project.
“We teach about tikkun olam [to repair the world] and we teach about doing things … on a regular basis that help to heal the world. And HaMotzi has provided a very clear way for young and old to be committed to doing that,” said Rissinger. “Sue and Paulette created a way to help children understand how their money, how their tzedakah, can make a difference.”
The monthly dinners are entirely supported by donations and sponsorships in addition to the volunteers. To sponsor a dinner, it costs $1,800; however, Fried said most of their sponsors give more. Members of the community can sponsor a dinner to celebrate an anniversary or in memory of a loved one, as well as local businesses, who often donate leftover bagels and baked goods from the day.
“While we can’t meet the need of all of those [85,000 people], we work towards making a difference in the lives of the people … in our community,” said Rissinger.
HaMotzi’s drive-throughs happen from 2-3 p.m. and dinners are 5-6:30 p.m.
