Happenings: April/May 2015

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

Rachel Ackoff, WGFA (Class 24), on her appointment as Senior National Organizer of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice.

Naomi Adland, WGF Fellow (Class 25), on receiving an MA in Hebrew and Judaic Studies from NYU.

Seth Anziska, WGFA (Class 21), on receiving a PhD in History from Columbia University.

Gil Avriel, WIF Fellow (Class 26), on the publication of the “Terrorism 2.0: The Rise of the Civilitary Battlefield” in Harvard National Security Journal.

Vanessa Bartram, WHA (Miami 11), on becoming one of nine winners of the 2015 Genesis Generation Challenge for her project LAVAN.

Evelyn Baz, WGFA (Class 23), on receiving rabbinic ordination from the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies.

Emily Hyatt Cohen, WGF Fellow (Class 25), on receiving a Master’s of Hebrew Letters from HUC-JIR.

Emily Cook, WGFA (Class 20), on her appointment as Principal/Acting Head of School of the Kellman Brown Academy in Voorhees, NJ.

Andrew Feinstein, WHA (Denver 14), on being honored by the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society in Denver.

Marcy Feldman, WHA (Detroit), on receiving the Jewish Community Relations Council’s 2015 Activist Award.

Julie Finkelstein, WGFA (Class 23), on her appointment as Senior Program Manager of the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

Roi Folkman, WIFA (Class 24), on his election to the Israeli Knesset.

Shoshana Friedman, WGFA (Class 22), on her appointment as Assistant Rabbi of Temple Sinai in Brookline, MA.

Dasi Fruchter, WGF Fellow (Class 25), on receiving an MA in Jewish Studies and an MA in Nonprofit Management from NYU.

Yair Golan, WIFA (Class 14), on his appointment as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces.

Frayda Gonshor, WGFA (Class 20), on receiving a Doctorate of Education from Mills College.

Yoni Heilman, WGF Fellow (Class 25), on his appointment as Executive Director of the TAMID Group.

Dan Held, WGFA (Class 22), on receiving a Doctorate of Education in Jewish Education from the Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary and on his appointment as Executive Director of the Julia and Henry Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Education in Toronto, ON.

Zoe Jick, WGF Fellow (Class 27), on receiving a Master’s of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School.

Daniel Kirzane, WGFA (Class 21), on his appointment as Assistant Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Jehudah in Overland Park, KS.

Marc Kramer, WGFA (Class 8), on receiving the Dr. Benjamin J. Shevach Memorial Award for distinguished achievement in Jewish educational leadership from Hebrew College.

Lauren Levy, WGFA (Class 24), on receiving a Master’s of Sacred Music from the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR.

Jodi Mansbach, WHA (Atlanta 05), on receiving a 2015 Mary and Max London “People Power” Award from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

Jeremy Ragent, WGF Fellow (Class 26), on receiving an MA in Jewish Nonprofit Management from HUC-JIR and a Master’s of Public Administration from the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.

Matt Reingold, WGFA (Class 23), on receiving a PhD in Education from York University.

Eric Robbins, WHA (Atlanta 10), on receiving a 2015 Mary and Max London “People Power” Award from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

Benjamin Ross, WGFA (Class 24), on receiving a Master’s in Hebrew Letters from HUC-JIR.

Andrew Scheer, WGFA (Class 24), on receiving rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and on his appointments as Chaplain of Rikers Island Correctional Facility and CPE Resident of the Veterans Affairs Hospital in New York, NY.

Lauren Schuchart, WGF Fellow (Class 26), on receiving an MA in Jewish Education from the Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary and on her appointment as Associate Director of the University of California at Berkeley Hillel.

Anna Serviansky, WGF Fellow (Class 27), on receiving an MA in Jewish Education from the Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Ram Shmueli, WIFA (Class 11), on receiving the first Jerusalem Unity Prize, launched to memorialize the three Israeli teenagers killed last summer.

Michal Smart, WGFA (Class 6), on receiving a 2015 Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Avi Strausberg, WGFA (Class 24), on receiving rabbinic ordination and an MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew College and on her appointment as Director of Congregational Learning of Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, MN.

Yoel Strick, WSLP member (Class 1), on his promotion to Major General and his appointment as Commander of Home Front Command of the Israeli Defense Forces.

Sunny Yudkoff, WGFA (Class 21), on receiving a PhD in Yiddish Literature from Harvard University and on her appointment as Senior Lecturer in Yiddish at University of Chicago.

MAZEL TOV TO:

Deena Aranoff, WGFA (Class 11), and her husband Adam Berman on the birth of their daughter, Maya.

Elizabeth Bonney, current WGF (Class 25), on her engagement to Matt Cohen.

Rachel Garbow Monroe, WHA (Baltimore 10), and her husband Joel on the bar mitzvah of their son, Benjamin.

Avi Killip, WGFA (Class 22), and her husband Robert on the birth of their daughter, Hadassah Joy.

Katie Light Soloway, WGFA (Class 19), and her husband Ben on the birth of their twin daughters, Raphaella (Ella) Tamara and Nessa Batya.

Or Mars, WGFA (Class 6) and Director of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program, and his wife Sharon on the bat mitzvah of their daughter, Tal.

Michael Rosenzweig, WHA (Atlanta), and his wife Shelli Bank on the marriage of their son, Zach, to Ori Figura.

Ruthie Warshenbrot, WGFA (Class 23) and Associate Program Director of The Wexner Foundation, on her engagement to Yale Glinter.

MAY YOU BE COMFORTED WITH ALL WHO MOURN IN ZION AND JERUSALEM (DEATHS):

Jan Uhrbach, WGFA (Class 10), on the death of her father, Harold “Hal” Uhrbach, z”l.

Mila Wichter, WHA (San Francisco 1), on the death of her mother, Lubov Vayntrub, z”l.

IN MEMORIAM:

Our condolences to the Friedman family on the death of Etana Gordon Friedman, z”l, WHA (Indianapolis).