Event:
Challa Bake and Shabbat themed Paintnight for Ladies in the 2 weeks before. Also a Sushi and Whiskey Shiur for men with a featured Guest Speaker. Public Kabbalat Shabbat service with a famous name to attract internal and external attendance from across Meade Hill and Manchester Community. Guest Speaker Rabbi YY Rubinstein gave a talk during the davening, followed by a Chicken Soup and Whiskey ‘Kiddush’ with some singing. Lively davening on Shabbat morning, a full Shabbat lunch and a grand finale Seudah Shlishit with lively singing and good food, all with Rabbi YY as Guest speaker.
Evaluation from Chloe Prager:
“Our main aim was to target different events throughout the weekend to different cohorts of people within out community and then bring everyone together for our big communal lunch.
The challah bake attracted those that wanted something creative but without a religious service attached to it. 2 participants openly said to each other that going to shul isnt for them but they love that type of communal activity and are excited for our pre Shavuot flower arranging event.
The children’s Friday night dinner was very popular and linked what they had been learning at school with their communal lives. They shared their art work and sang the songs they had learnt.
The adults wine tasting dinner attracted a young professional and young married crowd, members and non-members, who were all up for a good time. The ruach was high and long standing founding members of the community bonded well with the newest members.
We usually attract max 100 people to shul on an average Shabbat morning – this week we had 170 people.
People enjoyed the speaker and the children enjoyed the entertainer and performing Dror Yirkra.
The seuda at JBD was very special. Giving them the seuda to prepare made them feel so valued and gave them such purpose. They enjoyed the singing and wanted more and more! It was amazing to include them in our celebrations.”
Participant Feedback:
“It was most welcoming and well balanced to attract all the age groups in the community.”
“This was an excellent Shabbat UK event and was extremely well organised. The two speakers on Shabbat morning were extremely interesting. My thanks go to the MHE team who organised such a great event, as always!”
“A fantastic event from MHEJC as usual.”
