Chabad ‘Shabbat Under the Stars’

The Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe held its fourth annual “Shabbat Under the Stars” dinner at the Chabad House in Monroe, with guest speaker Thomas J. Foley, a former priest, Aug. 15.

Rabbi Eliezer Zaklikovsky of the Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe and his wife, Chanie, welcomed people into their home for Shabbos, but didn’t quite expect the huge turnout.

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“Not only was it the first time that we had a guest speaker, but we had 220 people as well,” Rabbi Zaklikovsky said.

Many people didn’t attend the dinner because of the inclement weather, Zaklikovsky said.

“However, if not for the rain I believe we would have ran out of food and chairs,” the rabbi said. “But, more importantly, the rain added to the closeness and the ambiance of the evening.”

Shabbos brings Jews together with unity and pride, and furthermore, Jews often don’t have the time to stop and focus on Shabbos and the Jewish people, Zaklikovsky said.

“The dinner is a yearly tribute to celebrating Shabbos and Judaism in Monroe,” he said.

Zaklikovsky said he wanted people to leave the dinner with a positive feeling about Shabbos dinner, know that it is meaningful and it can be done with friends.

“Chabad is a place where people can get inspiration and spirituality in a very meaningful way, and, at the dinner, we exposed the Chabad house to many new members in the community,” he said.

Foley’s speech was entitled “the Path to the Hassidic Gentile,” in which he spoke specifically about his experiences with Jews, Jewish mysticism, his experiences with teachings of the Rebbe, and his own experiences in establishing the Chabad house in Basking Ridge.

Foley is a senior partner at Foley, Proctor, and Yoskowitz, L.L.C, in Morristown.

“I first started with Mendy Herson, a young Rabbi in Basking Ridge; we became best friends and studied the Tanya together every week,” Foley said.

The Tanya is an early work of Hasidic Judaism, written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad.

Foley said Zaklikovsky called him, invited him to speak, and said he would be doing a better job talking as a non-Jew.

“People encouraged me to get Foley as a speaker for the dinner,” Zaklikovsky said.

Foley has spoken for the past 15 years throughout the country said there were a tremendous amount of people there, and it was special and gratifying.

“I enjoyed speaking at the dinner thoroughly,” Foley said. “I was very passionate in my talk.”

“I enjoy talking to older Jewish people, because they have been through so much, while at the same time I realized older people and younger people really liked it,” he added.

Zaklikovsky said the fact that people were really receptive to someone who isn’t Jewish made it very real and people can take a lesson from him.

“Speaking at the dinner was as inspiring for me as it was inspiring for the audience,” Foley said. “Also, everything I said came from the heart. I wanted everyone that evening to leave with one message and that is to do a mitzvah.”

Foley said he can’t be a teacher, he’s not a rabbi, but he sees his role as to inspire and wants to make people feel special when he speaks.

“Through the eyes of God and my eyes the people that night were very special,” Foley said. “Everyone has a special soul no matter how you look at God.”

Many people thanked him for speaking and said this dinner stood out amongst the previous three because of him, Zaklikovsky said.

“The rabbi and his wife, Chanie, are very warm and welcoming, she welcomed me into their house and said make yourself at home,” Foley said.

Foley said, the rabbi is a special person, and the evening was very meaningful. All the people at Shabbat dinner that night were very warm and friendly.

“What struck me about the evening was the closeness of the people — they weren’t strangers, and the attention they gave to me and the rabbi was very gratifying and a great experience,” Foley said.

People really enjoyed Foley and he was a wise choice as a speaker, Zaklikovsky said.

“Mr. Foley brought a great deal of satisfaction to me, my wife and everyone that attended the dinner,” the rabbi said. “On all levels the evening was a home run.”

Chanie Zaklikovsky said putting it all together was very special for her.

“I got women from all of the communities throughout Monroe to come to a meeting and they all spread the word about the dinner,” she said.

Seeing 220 Jews in a tent in the pouring rain for Shabbos dinner was amazing, she said.

“I teach a class, and a woman said she was so inspired by Tom Foley’s message to do a mitzvah that she said she met a blind woman and, afterwards, she visited her, because she wanted to do a mitzvah for Tom Foley,” Chanie said. “Foley said to do a mitzvah for him, and since then everyone has been coming up to me saying I need to do a mitzvah so I can do a mitzvah for Tom.”

Renee Dumas, of Chatham, said, “We knew we could do something, and we know the rabbi through my parents and the neighborhood. The rabbi was at my sister’s funeral. The whole family is very warming and a bottomless pit of love.”

Leonard and Frieda Posnock said with the brand new addition to the house and its growing Shabbos services every Saturday, the Chabad will continue to grow in membership and thrive in Monroe.

The Posnocks said, “We got involved in the Chabad when we moved to Monroe and it’s our fourth time attending this dinner.”

Richard Schwartz of Monroe said it was a beautiful affair and he comes to Chabad every Shabbos.

“Being here with the rabbi and Chanie makes me feel proud to be a Jew,” said Sunny Raddock of Monroe.