Northwest Yeshiva Holds Gourmet Food Auction

On June 2, parents, friends and foodies got together at the at the home of Julie and Joe Greene to bid on a wide variety of goodies up for auction to benefit Northwest Yeshiva High School on Mercer Island.

Over 60 people attended the successful event, which raised $12,000 for operating funds and scholarships. 

NYHS alumnus auctioneers Simon Amiel and Robert Gladstien auctioned off delicacies such as challahs, sushi, three-layer red velvet cake, bazargan, babkas, borekas, cheese boyos, salufa and schug, sambosack, spinach quashatho, tiramisu and Kosher wines by the case.

“Some of the most popular items were the Sephardic delicacies like bulemas and burekas which are delicious dough stuffed with cheese, spinach or potato,” said Melissa Rivkin, Director of Advancement at NYHS. “We hold this event right before Shavuot so that people will buy yummy dairy items for the holiday.”

Shavuot is the Jewish holiday that comes 7 weeks after Passover and commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. In Hebrew, Shavuot means festival of weeks but it is also called "festival of reaping" and "day of the first fruits" as it corresponds with the summer harvest time.

Today it is celebrated with a wide range of customs, including eating dairy meals, so foods like cheese cake, blintzes and cheese burekas are popular, decorating the home with greenery and flowers, all night Torah studying and reading the Book of Ruth (the Book of Ruth describes a wheat harvest and Ruth's desire to belong to the Jewish people ).

“This event was truly a labor of love,” said Rivkin. “We were fortunate to have so many community chefs whipping up tasty items in support of Northwest Yeshiva High School!”