MALDEN, MASS. (WHDH) - A Jewish family who spends every Christmas Day serving meals to the less fortunate in Malden are hoping their annual act of service shows others that the spirit of the holiday isn’t just for those who celebrate Christmas.
“When people ask me what my favorite holiday is, they expect me to say Hanukkah,” Jonathan Weiner said, “but it’s Christmas!”
The Weiners started the family tradition more than 30 years ago, when a young Jonathan Weiner asked his father if there was a way to help the homeless.
“He stood there and he looked at me — even though he was five years old — and said, ‘Dad? What are we gonna do about this?’” his father, Dr. Ed Weiner said. “And, for me, it changed my life.”
The father-son duo joined a Jewish organization called “Project Ezra” and now oversee more than 100 volunteers, many from their synagogue, Temple Tiferet Shalom in Peabody, who cook and deliver Christmas meals to more than a thousand people in the Malden area.
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