Phyllis Eisenberg: The frum “Martha Stewart” Mishloach Manot Consultant
Octogenarian Phyllis Fern Eisenberg was an influencer before there were influencers.
Her mishloach manot project, which raises about $50,000 annually for the Young Israel of Deerfield Beach, Florida, is known for its creativity, practicality and elegance. Known as the “frum Martha Stewart” and a “mishloach manot consultant,” Phyllis has been contacted by many other shuls for advice on how to plan impactful initiatives.
Phyllis and her late husband (she was widowed at the age of thirty-five and left with three young sons) were involved in Jewish activism from day one of their marriage. Pioneers of the West Orange, New Jersey, Orthodox community, they were instrumental in building Ahawas Achim B’nai Jacob and David (The Alphabet Shul), which is now the largest Orthodox shul in West Orange. They were also key builders of the local day school and the mikvah.
Phylis Eisenberg putting together the 2025 Purim mishloach manot.
“Because my parents were committed to an Orthodox Jewish life, they sowed and cultivated seeds for it to happen,” says Steve Eisenberg, one of Phyllis’s sons. “As a result, an influx of Modern Orthodox families came.”
In addition to raising her family and being devoted to communal work, Phyllis was a sharp businesswoman and entrepreneur. She established and built several well-patronized retail clothing stores in New Jersey. Phyllis developed and honed her business and aesthetic skills and built a “Rolodex” of contacts, which she nurtures to this day.
Over twenty years ago, Phyllis chose to move to Deerfield Beach. Not one to sit on her laurels, she brought along her treasure trove of skills, contacts and ideas and went to work, building and enhancing the community.
“I kept up my business contacts,” Phyllis says. “When I first attended the New York gift show over twenty years ago, trying to get ideas for how to maximize the potential of my shul’s mishloach manot campaign, I got lots of ideas.” I took my business contacts and skills and aesthetic sense to a new level. I love the challenge.”
Phyllis’s mishloach manot always has a theme. One year it was “Going to the Land of Milk and Honey,” and included luggage with products from Israel. Another year, Phyllis created a theme around a frying pan. This year’s theme—Going to Israel—consists of a shopping bag on wheels that closes with a zipper. Inside is a Havdalah candle, besamim, a travel pillow and a passport wallet, among other items. Phyllis tends to make her mishloach manot utilitarian with items that are really useful.
The poem included with the 2025 mishloach manot
“Our mishloach manot contain items that are used well beyond Purim,” Phyllis says.
This year alone, she along with her volunteers created 53,800 mishloach manot.
Phyllis’s extraordinary list of business contacts accumulated over many decades is one of the keys to the success of the annual mishloach manot packages.
“I can purchase things at rock-bottom prices,” Phyllis explains. “Our mishloach manot can retail for upwards of $150 each, but I pay far less and the difference goes to support the shul.”
A gregarious person, Phyllis recruits scores of retirees, her local friends and acquaintances, to assemble the packages. She demonstrates exceptional teamwork, inspiring women to take charge of large-scale initiatives.
A shul congregant at the annual mishloach manot packing event.
“My Mom gives meaning and vitality to an army of widows, widowers and others in Deerfield Beach,” says Steve. “It’s a win-win for all.”
As soon as Purim 2025 is over, Phyllis will start planning Purim 2026.
“Think of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade model,” Steve says. “Within a couple of days of concluding the parade, its leadership begins the process all over again. My mother does the same with mishloach manot.”
Mishloach manot is only one of Phyllis’s many community-oriented projects in Deerfield Beach. She has been devoted to raising funds for Israel Bonds. And with her artistic flair and eye for design, she helps people decorate their homes gratis.
Yet despite all of her accomplishments, Phyllis is most proud that her three sons, Steve, Jeff and Doug, are enthusiastic Jewish communal volunteers who have each found their own paths in Jewish activism. Steve, a former investment banker, quit Wall Street to devote himself to communal service. A former NCSY chapter president, Steve founded Jewish International Connection (JIC), a program that “enhances Jewish connection around the world through events and helps strengthen Jewish identity.” Jeff is one of the powerhouses behind the Israel Chesed Center in New York’s Five Towns, created after October 7, 2023, which has sent over 8,000 duffel bags in six forty-foot containers to Israel. Doug, among other communal initiatives, founded a shul in West Orange.
“My late father,” Steve shares, “told us that there are two kinds of people: Players on the field, doers, and those who sit in the bleachers, observers. My mother is the lead player on all fields. She is the captain of them all.”
Leah R. Lightman is a freelance writer living in Lawrence, New York, with her family.