NJ Festival Unites Community

By Karen Schwartz, Chabad.org

By 3:00 in the sunny afternoon, already 750 people were perusing art, snacking on kosher hot dogs and chicken, and sipping cold beverages on the lawn as Jewish bands played on the stage. And the second annual Jewish Music and Art Festival, organized by the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center of Basking Ridge, N.J., still had four more hours to go.

One of the Jewish center’s many projects, which include a preschool, day school, Hebrew school, Bar and Bat Mitzvah instruction, adult education classes, holiday celebrations and teen events, the festival, said organizer Rabbi Yitzchok Moully, similarly brings Jews together in celebration of Judaism. The result is a tremendous boost in Jewish pride.

“This is our way of putting Judaism on the map, for kids to come out, have a great time, and be proud to be Jewish,” Moully said Sunday as the party roared around him.

The festival, which drew headlines at its inaugural event last year and attracted media attention yet again, featured 30 art vendors, games, children’s performers, four live bands, face painting, a T-shirt design activity, kosher food and beverages.

“It’s just a great time for everybody,” said Moully, adding that he hoped attendees would leave inspired to get more involved, taking the next opportunity to attend services, a class, or simply “to take the next step in their Jewish journey.”

Jocelyn Militante and her husband Carlos came out to the community event for the music and the art, said Militante, a morning care teacher at the Jewish Center.

“I like the pop art,” she said, adding that though she wasn’t set on buying anything just yet, she was glad to see so many parents and community members supporting the event.

“I love the philosophy of working here. I love the building [and] the grounds are amazing. I just really enjoy that everything is about nurturing the child, providing an environment that encourages them.”

Josie Jakubovic, 8, found a card announcing the event at a local kosher Asian restaurant, and came with her parents, Vicki and Ben Jakubovic.

“I like the art and I like the music so I just said ‘Dad, can I go to this?’ and he said we’ll try,” detailed the girl.

The family drove the half hour from West Orange to check it out, said Ben Jakubovic, explaining that in past summers the family has attended other outdoor Jewish festivals and enjoyed them. Josie Jakubovic proudly showed off a shirt with her name on it, and added that she also made sand art and ran into a friend from camp she didn’t know would be there. She went running out to sit on the grass as a band took the stage.

“It’s cool, funky and frum, it’s a tough combination to beat,” said her father. “What better way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon?”

Denise Mackler brought her three children, Seth, 15, Arielle, 14, and Gemma, 12, to help out. The family got involved at the Jewish Center six or seven years ago when they were looking for a synagogue and immediately felt at home there. Her children went to Hebrew school there, and after graduating, got involved in the teen program.

“This place is eclectic. It’s anything you want it to be,” explained Mackler. “You can fit in here. It’s not judgmental. How many 15-year-old boys do you know that when you say ‘I volunteered you for a few hours on a Sunday’ say okay, no problem?”

Mackler credited the center’s leadership team with creating such a spiritually strong and positive environment. It’s the sort of place that will make a difference to her children’s future, she added. “You want your kids to have that warm feeling; that in the future, it’s a big part of their life.”

Roberta Schorr, who drives to the Jewish Center almost every day to bring her grandson to school and camp, says it’s worth the half hour trip to bring Aiden, 5, and Brandon, 1, to such a welcoming place.

She became involved about 10 years ago through classes offered by Rabbi Mendy Herson, executive director of Chabad of Greater Somerset County.

“I just felt it was the missing ingredient in my world,” Schorr, who became Sabbath observant five years ago, said of the prayer services and school. “So we started coming more and more often and then everything grew from there.”