Approximately 200 people attended Shavuot services with Chabad of Greenwich this weekend. Services were held at the Arch Teen Center to accommodate the crowd.
Mini plaques of the 10 commandments were given out along with kosher chocolate chips. Rabbi Yossi Deren, Co-Director of Chabad of Greenwich read out each commandment and children placed one chocolate chip on each one. The Torah scroll was present and children were invited to come up to the bima for the reading.
Services were followed by serving of ice cream, with toppings, served from an ice-cream stand. A diary luncheon of bagels and lox and cream cheese, blintzes and cheesecakes, all imported from Brooklyn, NY were served.
Children took turns reading the commandments from their triptych that held each commandment.
Following dessert, participants were treated to a lecture by the editor of Jewishwoman.org, Sarah Esther Crispe entitled: “Smart Homes and Spiritual Dwelling: The Inner Meaning of Interior Design.”
Greenwich’s blossoming Jewish community has resulted in a surge of attendance in the festival holidays of Sukkot, Simchat Torah and Shavout.
These family friendly holidays offer Jews the opportunity to attend services and then celebrate after words with traditional thematic meals in keeping with the holidays’ meaning. On Shavuot, Jews relish and enjoy diary treats, like ice-cream, blintzes and cheesecakes as this represents drinking milk from one’s mother and the giving of the Torah is life sustaining for Jews.
Children enjoyed reading the 10 commandments out loud to their parents and smiling over the fifth commandment, “Honor Your Father and Mother.”