COMMUNITYNEWS.org
COMMUNITYN COMMUNITY The latest in local news and events
MAY 2024 FREE
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Soup’s on
COMMUNITYN
Effort raises funds for children victimized by the Israel-Hamas war BY MICHELE ALPERIN
Listening to the news these days can bring unspeakable sadness. For Princeton Junction resident Lee Goldberg, it was a radio report about presidential bad behavior shortly before the 2020 election that caused him to snap. Realizing that he was “tired of feeling scared, helpless, and angry,” he decided he was “going to do something about it.” In response to the news report, he says, “I walked out of the shower with shampoo in my hair and a towel around my waist and got 35 names of friends in the area.” He invited them to join what he dubbed the Blue Soup Wednesday Project, in which he sells homemade soups for $10 a quart and has donated the proceeds to 2020 presidential and down-ballot races, to the Georgia Senate races, and most recently to the children suffering on both sides of the IsraelHamas war. Recalling making soup during the pandemic, Goldberg says,
“In the middle of this terrible situation I had 20 to 30 people coming to my door with smiles behind their masks—that one moment of communion.” Their smiles, he continues, were “as important as anything else—and I didn’t feel quite as isolated or as helpless.” But it is a lot of work—buying and storing ingredients, making a meat and a vegetarian soup each week, and then storing it in the accessory refrigerator in his garage. To make the soup, he uses “three humongous pots,” one on loan from a customer. In January 2024, Goldberg felt compelled to bring out his pots again in response to the Israel-Hamas war. “I was horrified by the Oct. 7 attack and equally horrified by the response. It was so at odds with the principles I was taught in Temple—just watching all those children suffering on both sides,” Goldberg says. “It was my duty to do what I could to alleviate the suffering.” “I was crying inside for two months,” he says, but at the same time he was concerned that the high emotions over the war might result in his losing friends. So he waited. But ultimately he realized that silence was not an option and asked himself, “How do you raise your See GOLDBERG, Page 4
COMMUNITYN
Members of the High School North boy’s tennis team after winning the Mercer County Tournament. Pictured are Yousuf Rostom (left), Lukas Karapelou, Jacob Klein, Shiva Tripurana, Prithvi Sunkavelli, Jayant Venkatesan, Ravin Lalla, Charlie Xiang and Sai Siddesh. Coach Taylor Mastropasqua is at bottom.
WW-P North boys’ tennis team takes MCT title BY JUSTIN FEIL
Winning the Mercer County Tournament for boys tennis is difficult in an area loaded with talent. Prithvi Sunkavelli and Jayant Venkatesan understood that bet-
ter than anybody on the High School North boys tennis team. The seniors had been a part of the Knights program each of the previous three years when they had come up short. That history made winning the first county team title for WW-P North since
2009 all the sweeter. “It definitely does mean a lot, not only to me but to the school, especially considering it’s our first time winning it in 15 years,” said Sunkavelli. “Everything just played out perfectly and it See TENNIS, Page 9
If an eating disorder is just a phase, why does it take over someone’s entire life? Safe, expert care in our newly updated facility.
rwjbh.org/eatingdisorders
COMMUNI
COMMUNITYN
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD,1179 MA NEWARK, NJ PERMIT NO. 142