After three years as the Chair of the Community Committee I can definitely say that my favorite event of the year is the New Member Shabbat dinner.  This year we had over 75 members attend the event — a dinner that followed Kabbalat Shabbat Services.  The attendees covered the gamut — families, empty-nesters, singles of all ages, new members and longtime members. What brought these BZBI-ers together was a desire to be part of our community, to get to know each other and engage in interesting conversation.

There is something special about celebrating the joy of Shabbat and breaking bread together. As I welcomed the group it was inspiring to see the room filled with such a cross-section of the community. It wasn’t an event for any one age or lifestyle, but simply a gathering of folks who represent the spirit of BZBI — a home for those who care about Jewish life in Center City.

New members at BZBI receive a “Buddy” who calls them several times during the year to make sure the new member is feeling connected and to make sure they know about upcoming events. It was great to see so many new members meet their “old” member buddies and have the chance to get to know each other at this dinner.

The best sign of success was the cacophony in the room, and the number of people still there when it was time to say Birkat Hamazon. Community is thriving at BZBI and will continue to be the fuel that drives our future.

All that and the food was terrific too.