EAST HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Lancaster County - A delicious kosher feast of Jewish and Israeli food was featured at the 16th annual Jewish Food Festival on Sunday.
The Temple Beth El celebrated their culture and invited others to have a taste of their traditional foods.
The festival has attracted hundreds of people since it began in 2003 to introduce the synagogue to the community. The temple's rabbis spread their knowledge of Judaism with several presentations throughout the day.
"We really wanted to open up our doors to the community at large, so they can taste our foods, hear about our cultures," said Shelly Gordon, chair of the food festival committee, "Our rabbis do presentations three times during the day, and so it's just to introduce people to Judaism and what we are about and some of our delectable foods that go along with it."
"This is a really a great way for us to do that, to have our doors be open for lots of people to come in that may have never been in a synagogue before," said Randi Jacobs, food festival committee member.
The temple's goal was to raise more than $20,000 to help support a number of services, including a program that provides Jewish meals to hungry kids and their families in the area.