How To Sponsor a Kiddush
Your Guide to Beth Jacob – How to Sponsor a Kiddush!
One of the Beth Jacob is sharing in great community, and one of the most important times we get to do that is following Shabbat morning services, at Kiddush lunch. And sponsoring a Kiddush is one of the easiest ways to participate in supporting our community. You can honor someone, remember someone, celebrate a simchah, or put together a group who all have some mutual affiliation and sponsor the Kiddush together. We are also going to try to have one weekend per month (Gregorian calendar) for celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, and one per month (Hebrew calendar) for recognizing yahrzeits. As long as we have enough people participating in these Kiddushim to cover the cost, we should be able to cover a lot of the weekends throughout the year.
There are three levels of regular* Kiddush sponsorship: $550, 800, and $1,100. They each include the Kiddush basics, and then at each level the options increase. These costs are based on normal synagogue attendance of approximately 225 people; for some of the summer and a few winter and holiday weekends when fewer people generally attend, these prices are all 40% lower. Each Kiddush has a range of items that are allowed to be chosen, based on cost of materials and preparation. Obviously, I can’t list every type of food here that people may ask about, so I’ll make any determinations necessary about the number and content of items requested on a case by case basis, including substitutions.
Kiddush Basics
Challah
Bagels/Cream cheese
Herring
Grape juice/Wine
Green salad
Cookies/bars/brownies for dessert
$550
Kiddush Basics plus 2-3 cold/room temp. dishes (e.g., tuna salad, egg salad, orzo with pesto, carrot salad with pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and feta, sweet potato salad, etc.) Fruit platter for the dessert table
$800
Kiddush Basics plus 4-5 cold/room temp. dishes, including some more complex or expensive options (i.e, Thai Noodles, roasted vegetable platters, Fruit platter for the dessert table, additional desserts
$1,100
Kiddush Basics plus 5-6 dishes, including cold and hot items (kugel, blintz soufflé, baked ziti, potato knishes, etc.) Fruit platter for the dessert table, additional and/or specialty desserts
Add-Ons
Due to their cost, some foods are add-on items only, and are not reduced in cost on the percentage scale. Examples are items such as lox platters, trout salad, cheese platters, cakes or cupcakes from an outside source (such as the kosher bakery at Byerly’s in St. Louis Park), etc. These will be billed on a cost basis above the charge for whatever level Kiddush they are added to.
If you’re interested in sponsoring a Kiddush, or have questions about sponsoring, get in touch with me. Maybe you’re putting together a group who are all fans of a particular team, or went to college in the same area, or just want to celebrate winter being over. Maybe you want to join in a birthday/anniversary or yahrzeit Kiddush. Maybe you have another idea you want to try out. Whatever the case, get in touch with me, and I’ll work with you to set up the date for the Kiddush, to figure out what foods you want to have, and to communicate that information to Natalia Mykytchuk and to our mashgiach on the Shabbat morning kitchen crew.
There are lots of reasons to sponsor a Kiddush. What are yours?
B’Shalom, Sean Murphy
sean@beth-jacob.org
*Not including the more complex Kiddushim such as you’ll find at b’nai mitzvah celebrations.