Two waiters in black shirts, vests and ties smoothing a white tablecloth and setting wine glasses before an event

Community

Working with Lakewood Shuls

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Working with Lakewood shuls and kehilla organizations — community partnerships, shul events and simcha staffing for Lakewood NJ.

Why we work with the kehilla

A shul event is not a scaled-up family dinner. It has an audience, a programme, a volunteer structure and a name that the community knows. Staffing it well means understanding that the event belongs to the shul and to the families who run it, and that our job is to make the service disappear into it.

We work with the kehilla because that is where our crews come from. When we staff a shul event, the people serving are usually people who attend shul themselves, which shows in the way they read a room and in the questions they do not need to ask.

What we bring to a shul event

We bring the service crew: waiters, bartenders and kitchen help, briefed on the menu and on the programme so the food arrives when the room is ready for it and not before. We also bring the parts that volunteers cannot cover on a long evening — the setup, the bar, the clearing and the cleanup.

For an event that crosses Shabbos, the arrangement is the one we work to everywhere: the setup and the cooking are finished before Shabbos, and the service happens after it. That is how a shul event can be staffed by an outside crew without creating a problem on the day.

How to start a partnership

Tell us what the shul has in mind and when. If there is a standing event in your calendar — a Sheva Brachos, a community dinner, a holiday gathering — we can quote the year once rather than event by event, which is easier for the shul to budget for.

We will also be straight about capacity. If we cannot cover a date properly, we will say so rather than take the booking and hope the evening works out.

Community partners

Shuls and event venues we work with across Lakewood and Ocean County.

Congregation Shvilei Dovid

Synagogue · Lakewood NJ

Congregation Ohel Shulamit

Synagogue · Lakewood NJ

Lake Terrace Hall

Venue · Lakewood NJ

Planning a shul or kehilla event?

Tell us what you have in mind and when. If it is a standing event, we can quote the year once rather than event by event.