Volunteers Make Passover Deliveries

Jason Rosenbaum knocked on a stranger’s door in Woodland Hills on Sunday morning and barely had a chance to introduce himself before being ushered in.

“Come in, come in,” said Selma Koletsky, a grandmother who lives alone. “I’m delighted that you’re here.”

Rosenbaum had two boxes with him. Their contents included a frozen chicken, kosher wine, eggs, potatoes, onions, apples, oranges and a haggada, the book that tells the centuries-old story of Passover.

Rosenbaum was one of about 10 volunteers from Cal State Northridge’s Hillel program who were keeping alive the Encino B’nai B’rith’s 20-year tradition of distributing food to Jews who had asked for assistance in obtaining basic foods for Passover.

The volunteers received similar greetings wherever they made their holiday deliveries.

“They’re grateful for the company as much as they are for the food,” said volunteer Sydney Eiduson of West Hills, who made 16 deliveries.

Seven other Valley-area B’nai B’rith lodges joined in the Passover distribution effort Sunday, making a total of 320 deliveries, said David Kaye, community service chairman of the Encino B’nai B’rith. The boxes were handed out to volunteers at the back of Gelson’s market on Reseda Boulevard in Tarzana.

Rosenbaum, who works as a marketing director for a Woodland Hills company, made his first delivery of the day to Koletsky. After he set the boxes on her kitchen counter, she invited him to sit and visit for a while.

They talked about skiing, traveling and Koletsky’s grandchildren. “I enjoy people,” Koletsky told Rosenbaum, who graduated from Cal State Northridge last year. “It’s nice what you are doing.”

Rosenbaum eventually excused himself. He had several other deliveries to make.

“It’s just something nice to do for another person,” Rosenbaum said, standing at his car. “It’s a chance to get outside of the little circle I live in and see another part of life.”