The 18th annual picnic by the Jewish Community of Rhawnhurst (JCOR), sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, on Sept. 5 presented an opportunity for the Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood to get together and enjoy some kosher food and good company.
As Hurricane Hermine threatened the Jersey shore area, the sun was shining brightly at Burholme Park, creating a nice day for a Labor Day picnic.
The 18th annual picnic by the Jewish Community of Rhawnhurst (JCOR), sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, on Sept. 5 presented an opportunity for the Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood to get together and enjoy some kosher food and good company.
Organizer Bob Slurzberg said the picnic was a way to bring the whole community, new and old, together — not just the Orthodox community, but the Conservative community as well.
“It’s very important, especially when new people move to the community, you want an opportunity for new people to meet the people that already live here,” he said. “They can meet people and can have friends and make friends. The other goal of the picnic is to have a sense of unity in the community. We want everybody to feel that they’re comfortable here.”
For Slurzberg, the picnic gave him a way to do what he loves best: organizing.
“What I personally enjoy is that I’m an organizer so I have to organize things,” he said with a laugh, “so this gives me a chance to organize something that ends up being a lot of fun for everybody. It’s not like I’m organizing my notes to teach a class — which is good, I’ve done that many times — but here, I’m organizing where I got the food, I’ve got the entertainment, I reserved the spot, and the end result is you look around and everybody’s having a great time so you get a real sense of ‘wow.’”
Outgoing state Rep. Mark Cohen (D-District 202) stopped by with his wife, who was helping people register to vote.
He wanted to say hello “to the JCOR people, some of whom are my constituents. I’m hoping that at least some of them are for Hillary Clinton for president and I hope are registered to vote.”
“Beyond that,” he added, “JCOR is a fine organization, and it’s done a lot to stabilize the Jewish community and to save lives in the Jewish community and the Rhawnhurst area and by holding events and by showing there’s a real reason to live in Rhawnhurst. This is the kind of event that helps enable Jewish people to get to know each other, which is a good thing.”
While grillers were busy cooking up some hot dogs, kids were running around playing football and Frisbee, getting their faces painted (though the kids weren’t the only ones enjoying that) or watching some magic tricks from Dr. Howard Saul — better known as Dr. Magic.
For many families, it ended up being a nice day for an outing.
“We come every year,” said Sally Bell, who was at the picnic with her five children. “The kids have a great time, it’s fun for them to get together and be outside and play some sports.”
“It’s a beautiful day for a picnic,” added Devorah Katz, who was joined by her 10-year-old son before he dashed off to climb a tree.
“In the summer,” continued Katz, who attends Congregation Ahavas Torah and Congregation B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek, “you end up having some families move in, and this is a nice way to meet people that you haven’t otherwise already met.”
Having the picnic include community members outside of the Orthodox community was also important, Bell said.
“There are a lot of people here right now that frankly I’ve never seen before and don’t recognize,” said Bell, who has lived in Rhawnhurst for 15 years and attends Congregation Ahavas Torah. “It’s very easy — especially when you’re a mom or you have kids — to get kind of isolated in your own group, and this is nice because it’s really all facets of the community. It’s not one shul or one school. It’s everybody.”
There was representation from different synagogues in the area, from Rabbi Daniel Wolpe of Congregations of Shaare Shamayim to Rabbi Yehoshua Yeamans of Congregation B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek.
“An event like this brings people from the entire community,” Rabbi Yeamans said. “This year we not only have Orthodox, but we have representation from the Conservative community and it’s that time once a year at the beginning of the school year, beginning of a new year with High Holidays coming up — it’s just a great way for the community to come together each year and show our sense of unity that we have, which is so important.”
That sense of unity was important for community members as well, such as Sherry Bohm.
Bohm said the picnic was a great way to bring the community together, as well as provide a welcome break before getting back to the reality of the rest of the week.
“It’s nice to be together and even though we belong to different shuls, we’re still part of the Rhawnhurst Orthodox community, so it’s very nice to be together and just spend that time together before we get back to reality called work,” she said with a laugh. “Having a unified feeling is a very important feeling.”
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