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Please join us at the
fifth annual dinner to benefit
YAD EZRA
YAD EZRA
feeby the Jewish tiory
the kosher food pantry feeding the Jewish hungry
Honoring
The Tapper Family
Howard, Susan, Maria and Mark
ERICA RAIRIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
A family committed to helping
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the less fortunate
Wednesday, November 1, 1995
Congregation B'nai Moshe
6800 Drake Road • West Bloomfield
Dinner 6:45 p.m.
Hors d'oeuvres 6:00 p.m.
Couvert: $100 per adult Youth (ages 8-18) $30 per child
$1000 per table of ten
Donors of $1,000 or more will be recognized
as Yad Ezra Sponsors
A special presentation will be made to
Jeannette Eizelman
Executive Director of Yad Ezra 1990-1995
Commemorative Book Chairman
Isadore Bernstein
Carol & Paul Hooberman Cindy & Melvin Schwartz
Dinner Chairmen
Sanford Eisenberg
President
Michigan allows an income tax credit for individuals, equal to 50% of the amount of cash contributions
(subject to certain limitations) to organizations such as Yad Ezra that provide food or shelter to the indigent.
The fair market value of the dinner for tax purposes is $30.00 per person
For information or reservations, call (810) 548-FOOD (3663)
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Budgeting
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YAD EZRA
wishes to thank Barbara
Sachse and Rhonda Dean,
committed members of the
Board of Directors, who have
worked diligently for the or-
ganization and the dinner
committee. Their names were
accidently omitted from the
dinner committee lists.
ast night at a beautiful Bar
Mitzvah dinner, I sat with
two other women at our
table (the men turned pale
and left) discussing bar and bas
mitzvah budgets. One other
woman and I had already sur-
vived at least one child's big event;
the other woman in the conver-
sation was just beginning to plan
her daughter's bas mitzvah.
Surrounded by one of the most
beautifully done bar mitzvahs we
had ever attended, we discussed
our personal budgets in whispers.
I confessed that my oldest daugh-
ter's bas mitzvah, last March, had
run over budget by about one-
third of the original cost we had
projected. Ouch doesn't begin to
describe the pinch, and we pro-
ceeded with caution.
Our event included a catered
Friday night Sabbath dinner at
home with about 20 people, in-
cluding family from out-of-town,
a kiddush after Saturday morn-
ing services for our congregation,
and a dinner Saturday night for
our family and our daughter's
classmates, about 60 people total.
I did not think this was a lavish
affair, since we made our own cen-
terpieces and didn't invite any
friends, even the closest.
But we did have: a photogra-
pher who made a video tape, two
musicians so the girls could do
Israeli dancing, delicious catered
food, florist flowers in our home-
made centerpieces, new dresses
for the bas mitzvah girl (and her
Mommy, and a new suit for baby
brother), rented tablecloths, nap-
kins and chairs; and a few more
things that added right up to a
budget-crunching number.
We used the twin party rooms
at my parents' elegant condo-
minium: one for the dinner and
one for the buffet and dance floor,
so we didn't have much of a loca-
tion cost. However, other factors
cost plenty and I see in retrospect
that I could have avoided,
trimmed or curtailed others. A
few hints:
The Photographer: The only
thing worse than just emptying
your wallet on the photographer's
desk would be giving a bar or bas
mitzvah and not having pictures
to savor afterwards. Hove having
the bas mitzvah video and pic-
tures; they are excellent and I
cherish them and the memories
they capture. That said, watch
your dimes. When a professional
party photographer, no matter
how cordial, says the fee is $575,
he doesn't mean it. He means the
fee is $575 plus more than a dol-
lar each per picture for develop-
ing, plus $35 each for copies of the
video tape, plus $80 for the album
(a little less if you can have the
gumption not to have the most
gorgeous pix of your kid printed
on the cover — gumption I
lacked), plus four or five bucks for
any reproductions you want to
send to grandma, plus ten or more
dollars for any enlargements you
want for the mantle piece.
I suspect we provided our pho-
tographer's son with tuition to the
Harvard Business School, but
with a financial plan like his good
old dad has got, he'll need that
MBA. But, on the "we could have"
list, I'd say, we could have skipped
the picture on the album, we
could have had cheaper duplicates
made (although the professional
quality ones speak for them-
selves), and — this is the biggest
— we could have negotiated an
all-inclusive package from the
very beginning. I don't know if I
would have saved much money
that way, but I would have had
more control, and having more
control always makes me feel
smarter (it doesn't actually make
me any smarter, but it helps).
The Details: The caterer, an old
friend, made most of the food for
the evening meals, and a few sal-
ads for kiddush. We worked out
a fair price and she did a great job
for me. That said, I wasn't listen-
ing (or counting) carefully enough
when she told me what her con-
tract didn't cover: drinks and pa-
per goods for the kiddush, wine,
waiters (she brought them, but I
paid them separately), tips, and
rental chairs, tables and table
linens. These things add up in a
big way, even with paper goods
from the budget warehouse and
wine by the wholesale case.
The Frills: The last minute ex-
hilaration carried me away with
perfecting our simcha. I could
have chosen less exotic flowers:
more carnations, fewer tulips. I
could have chosen less expensive
clothes, for her and for me and,
particularly, for baby brother, who
got grape juice on his new shirt
six minutes into the evening to no
one's particular surprise, includ-
ing mine.
I could have, but I didn't. And
too bad. Because I love the pic-
tures, and I loved the flowers, and
baby brother looked adorable,
even stained. I cherish the mem-
ories and the achievement of my
daughter...and we'll just save
money somewhere else.
Hey, honey, how about a vaca-
tion in a tent? ❑