For the sixth consecutive year, Holocaust survivors from the Five Towns and surrounding communities gathered at the Five Towns Premier Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Woodmere on Oct. 1 for a Sukkot luncheon filled with food, music, prayer and fellowship.
More than 20 survivors attended the annual community event, which was held beneath the facility’s sukkah. The afternoon included a three-course kosher meal, a talk from Rabbi-in-training Israel Abrams and traditional music and singing. Survivors also had the opportunity to shake the lulav and etrog, a central Sukkot tradition.
For many of the survivors, the gathering offered more than a holiday meal. It provided an opportunity to leave their homes, reconnect with friends and participate in a communal celebration in a setting designed to accommodate their needs.
“My sukkah is your sukkah, and my home is your home,” Cathy Byrne, gerontologist at Five Towns Premier said.
Byrne helped establish the annual tradition and welcomed the survivors to the facility, which has partnered with the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC to host the luncheon each year.
“It’s beautiful, and every year, I say to Lisa the night before, ‘Pray for the sun,’” Byrne said, referring to Lisa Barnett, director of social work at the Gural JCC. “It’s raining, we bring sweaters, we have heaters, half the time we’re inside, half the time we’re cold. And today, the sun was good, and it is beautiful.”
The partnership between the Premier and the Gural JCC gives survivors an opportunity to celebrate Jewish holidays together while also introducing them to a kosher rehabilitation and nursing facility in the community.
Five Towns Premier’s sukkah is handicap accessible, making it easier for older adults with mobility challenges to participate. The facility also works with the synagogue and community to accommodate the needs of Holocaust survivors, including those receiving long-term or end-of-life care.
Barnett said the event gives survivors an opportunity to experience joy and connection outside their homes.
“It’s so meaningful. It’s joyful,” Barnett said. “It provides an opportunity to do something a little bit different than just coming to the JCC field, though that’s beautiful as well, and to be connected to the bigger community.”
The Gural JCC provided round-trip transportation in handicap-accessible vans for the survivors. A new transportation grant through UJA-Federation also allows the JCC to arrange taxi service for survivors who live outside its traditional service area.
“For us to offer them this at this stage of their lives is very important,” she said. “They’ve enjoyed so much hardship and service, that right now it’s all about providing them with joy and happiness and contentment.”
The luncheon also highlighted the importance of maintaining connections as the number of Holocaust survivors declines. The JCC continues to serve survivors while expanding its work with second- and third-generation descendants through programs that preserve and share family stories.
Barnett said the JCC will continue its programming “up until the very last survivor,” while also ensuring that the stories of survivors are carried forward.
During the luncheon, Abrams spoke about Sukkot as a “time of happiness” and encouraged the survivors to embrace joy and accept the circumstances God has placed before them.
For Barnett, the most meaningful part of the afternoon was watching the survivors engage with one another, sing and respond to the music.
“Just looking at the expressions on the survivors’ faces and seeing them engage with each other and also being moved by the music and clapping,” she said, is her favorite part of events like the luncheon.
