Volunteering

Community Wellbeing

Community Wellbeing is a comprehensive approach to caring for our community. It prioritises keeping in touch with our community members regularly, while also providing pastoral and practical support when help is needed. It is therefore both proactive and responsive at once and has transformed our community, bringing us closer together, and relieving stress amongst those facing health and family crises.  

Community Wellbeing is what makes NSTE a “second family” to so many in our community.

Central to the Community Wellbeing program is our outstanding Care Team of volunteers who assist the Rabbis in providing outreach and support. Through the combined efforts of the Care Team, Rabbis, and staff, NSTE regularly stays in contact with a growing number of people in our community who are ill, injured, recently bereaved, vulnerable, or otherwise in need of pastoral and practical support.

Care Team volunteers assist with:

Phone calls

Hospital or nursing home visits

Meals, deliveries, and transportation

Reaching out on birthdays, anniversaries and yahrzeit

Following up after a death, birth, or bris

Due to the nature of the Care Team’s work, an initial orientation meeting is held to provide the volunteers with information and guidelines to get started.

Be in touch to learn more about this most meaningful work.

Friends of the NSTE Garden

The 'Friends of the NSTE Garden' is a keen volunteer garden team that regularly meets to maintain NSTE's garden areas.

Our efforts also support the mitzvot (good deeds) and values that are dear to our hearts; Tikkun Olam and Tzedakah. As volunteers, we help reduce the shul’s cost of maintaining our grounds.

First sunday of every month 9-12

Kitchen Krew

Our “Kitchen Krew” is an amazing team of 20+ volunteers who come together multiple times a year to plan, organise, shop, cook, and serve Shabbat Dinner for the congregation and guests.

For many years, this team has worked hard to create not only delicious and inspired Shabbat Dinners, but also to create a beautiful environment in which to enjoy the unique ru’ach (spirit) of sharing a meal with friends and family.

One of the highlights for our each year is our Chanukah Dinner. Who knew that our Valerie Jaye Hall (VJs) could seat over 100 members and guests? Who knew that the Krew could feed and serve so many people?  Over 350 latkes were made, and a beautiful Israeli meal was served.  None of this could have happened without dedicated leadership and an able team.  

We always welcome new volunteers to this wonderful group.

Shammashim

Shammashim play a vital role in helping our services run smoothly and assisting the rabbis.  It is a great mitzvah to volunteer as a Shammash!  It also provides a great opportunity to get to know more congregants. Training is easy and you will gain a more intimate knowledge of the service.  As there is a roster of Shammashim, the duty is shared, and you can sign up for once a month (or more often, or less often), and you can select whether you prefer to serve on a Friday night or Saturday. 

Yad Squad (Torah Reading)

Each Shabbat morning, and on many festivals, our Yad Squad of Torah readers join the Rabbis in sharing words of Torah with the congregation. You can select how frequently you read or chant, and on what dates. We have short and longer readings available, and we try to schedule the roster two months in advance to give you plenty of time to learn your portion(s). Our readers use a mix of different “trope” - we like the diversity this represents.  We also teach Torah Chanting if you would like to learn this ancient practice.