Simchas

BIRTHS

Riki Alcheck & Bill Sheppard of Sunnyvale are thrilled to announce the birth of Ariella Elana Sheppard on December 5, 2006. Welcoming Ariella to the family are big sister, Shira, 3, grandparents Sandi & Ken Bretz of Cupertino, Elie & Yael Alcheck of Los Altos, Ed & Muriel Sheppard of West Des Moines, IA and great-grandmother Rita Silber of San Jose. Uncle Maury & Aunt Beverly Alcheck of Burlingame, Aunt Ronit & Uncle Zack Bodner of San Francisco, and Uncle Michael Alcheck from UC Davis came in for the baby naming at the home Maury & Beverly Alcheck. Uncle Len & Liana Sheppard of New Hampshire will see Ariella in Iowa this summer.

Madeline Anya Moskowitz was born on February 13 to Sinai congregants Daniel & Lisa Moskowitz who officially named her at Congregation Sinai on April 28. Madeline is the little sister of Allyson, 3, who attends Sinai Nursery School. She is the granddaughter of Sunny Haberman of Long Beach, CA, Steven Moskowitz of La Palma, CA and Alan & Virginia Kutcher of Lake Forest, CA. Her Aunt Heidi Kutcher lives in Colorado and is excited to have another niece and her Uncle Aaron Moskowitz of Phoenix, AZ was able to come in for the baby naming.

Jessica Esther Lazarus (Esther Lena) was born on February 18, 2007 to Jeff & Rachel Lazarus who now live in Atlanta, GA. Jessica was named in a ceremony at Palo Alto’s Congregation Kol Emeth on March 31 by Rabbi Sara Graff. Rachel grew up at that synagogue and her parents, Michael & Dottie Miller, are still members. Dottie is in charge of the Florence Melton Adult School at the Jewish Community Center in Los Gatos. Jessica’s big sister is Allison Lazarus. Her paternal grandmother, Roberta Lazarus lives in Los Angeles. Aunt Laurie & Uncle Doran Golubtchik of Woodmere, NY and Aunt Tamar & Uncle Jon Miller of San Francisco are thrilled with her arrival.
Jessica is named for her maternal great-grandmother, Esther Denn and paternal great-grandmother, Lena (Lou) Weisman.

Jan & Janyce Lipson of Congregation Beth David are the proud grandparents of the first girl in the Lipson family in two generations! Elayne Rose Lipson was born March 12 to Samuel & Kathryn Lipson who now make their home in Austin, TX. Proud uncles are Joseph Lipson of Cupertino and Albert Lipson who is a student at UCLA. The other grandparents are Dr. Lee & Eric Kindberg of Charlotte, NC. Uncle Thomas Kindberg also lives in Charlotte.

Joseph & Shirat Berg of Congregation Emanu-El were delighted to welcome Etai Berg, their second son to the family on March 12. Joe teaches 5th grade at Emanu-El and Shirat teaches Hebrew at South Peninsula Day School. Etai is starring in his role as little brother to Ori who is 27 months old. Etai is the grandson of Emanu-El members David & Janet Berg of San Jose and Riki & Avner Negev of Israel. He is the nephew of Aunt Stephanie & Uncle Gary Naillon of San Jose and many aunts and uncles who live in Israel.

Diana & Michael Hurwitz, new members of Sinai Congregation, welcomed daughter Zeah Elisabeth on March 19. She is the granddaughter of Leslie & Alexander Hurwitz of Los Altos and David Madsen of Santa Clara. Her proud uncle is Andrew Hurwitz of San Jose.

CALLED TO THE TORAH

Gavriela Rena Fine, daughter of Howard & Renee Fine celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Beth David on February 17 surrounded by her siblings, Jacob, 21, a student at West Valley College who had just returned from a stint with the Israeli Army, Elliot, a student at San Jose State University, Ari, 18, a senior at Lynbrook High School in Cupertino and Devora, 16, who also attends Lynbrook. Her grandparents, Peggy & Doc Girando of San Jose and Shirley & Bill Fine of San Diego were delighted to see her called to the Torah. Other family members who came included Uncle Robert & Aunt Susan Halstead and Cousins Ben and Sam of San Diego, Lisa Pawolski and Cousins Sara and Kristin of Mountain View. Gavriela, a seventh-grade student, is president of the Yavneh student body where she is an active participant on both volleyball and basketball teams. Her mitzvah project involved raising funds for the Israeli Defense Fund, for ONE FAMILY and for MAZON, the Jewish response to hunger. She also collected stuffed animals to give to the Lucille Packard Hospital.

Jacob Applesmith, son of Judy & Michael Applesmith, of Los Gatos was called to the Torah at Congregation Beth David on April 14. Jacob, who loves catching lizards, playing basketball, flag football and tennis, is a seventh grader at Yavneh Jewish Day School. His mitzvah project involved interviewing counselors and raising money for Camp Kesem, an overnight camp for children with cancer. Jacob was pleased to have his grandparents, Max & Ruth Appel from Oak Park, MI and his Uncle Gary Appel and Cousin Micah from Travers City, MI attend his Bar Mitzvah. He missed his grandparents Martha & Scotty Smith who were unable to travel from Capistrano, CA.

Joni Gore, daughter of Claire & Lane Gore, of Congregation Sinai in San Jose celebrated her Bat Mitzvah on April 21. Joni is a seventh grade student at Yavneh Jewish Day School where her sister, Shaina Baum, 10 is a fourth grade student. Her aunt, Joni Ozlan, of Israel was, unfortunately, unable to attend but Aunt Donna Levin of San Francisco was on hand for the special day. Her grandfather, Lajos Sajben lives in Budapest, Hungary. Joni’s mitzvah project entailed promising a portion of her Bat Mitzvah monies to Camp Sunburst, a week-long camp for children with HIV-AIDS; this camp is located in the Del Valley Park in Livermore, CA. Joni enjoys singing lessons which she continues after her Bat Mitzvah.

Aviv Weinstein, son of David & Shoshana Weinstein, was called to the Torah on April 21 at Congregation Beth David. He is a student at Cupertino Middle School, is a prize-winning wrestler who also has enjoyed swimming butterfly and back stroke on a swim team. He loves to play the piano. Aviv’s mitzvah project was to donate a percentage of his Bar Mitzvah monies to Magen David Adam to help support the Israeli army. Aviv’s younger brother, Jonathan, 11, is a student at Stocklmeir Elementary School. Proud relatives who flew in for the ceremony included his grandmother, Deena Levy of Israel, his grandfather Joseph Weinstein of Philadelphia, PA, grandmother Marcy Weinstein of New Jersey, Uncle Charles Weinstein of Delaware and his Uncle Mark Weinstein who came in from Greece.

Eva Johnson-Steinborn, daughter of Catherine Steinborn & Ward Johnson was called to the Torah at Congregation Beth David on April 28. She is a student at Redwood Middle School in Saratoga and her brother Noah is a senior at Saratoga High School. Eva loves music, specifically singing; she writes poetry and enjoys sailing with her Dad. She is an enthusiastic camper at Camp Tawonga. Eva’s grandmother Judy Steinborn and her Uncle Gary Steinborn were happy to attend the Bat Mitzvah as was her grandmother, Cathy Johnson who came in from Iowa City, IA. Her grandfather Desmond Johnson was unable to attend but will be taking her to Vietnam and Thailand this summer as a special gift in honor of her achievement.

Zack Heerwagen, son of Hilary Schneider & James Heerwagen, of Los Gatos, was called to the Torah at Temple Emanu-El on May 5. He is an eighth grader at Harker School in San Jose, where he plays football and basketball. Zack’s younger brothers, Adam, 12, and Ethan, 9, attend Hillbrook School in Los Gatos. His grandmothers, Cynthia Chesley of Fort Washington, MD and Jackie Rudwin of San Antonio, TX were pleased to come in for this special occasion. They were joined by Aunt Amy & Uncle Richard Lee, Uncle Jon Schneider and Aunt Sally & Uncle David Duncan, all of Scottsdale, AZ, Aunt Susan Darby of McLean, VA and Uncle Tyler Heerwagen of Saratoga. Zack’s mitzvah project was to sell bumper stickers to raise money for the Giant’s Community Fund which supports youth at risk who can benefit by playing baseball.

Heather Ward, daughter of Sandy & Robert Ward, of Cupertino was called to the Torah at Temple Emanu-El on May12. She is a seventh grade student at Kennedy Middle School. She enjoys swimming, horseback riding, cooking, reading and acting. For her mitzvah project, she made over 300 pounds of fudge which she sold to raise money to plant over 200 trees in Israel through the Jewish National Fund. She and her family also pick fruit from local trees and donate it to Village Harvest which distributes it to local food banks. Heather’s grandmother, Jenell Ward, of Oxnard, CA came up for this special day as did her great Uncle Leon & Aunt Sally Dogon of Boston and her Aunt Denise Ward who came up from southern California.

Molly Abramson, daughter of Lori & Joel Abramson of San Jose, celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Sinai on May 12. Molly is a seventh grade student at Yavneh Jewish Day School where her younger brother, Benjamin, 8, is a third grade student. She is growing her hair in order to donate it for “Locks of Love”, a project in which she has participated before. For her mitzvah project through Yavneh she interviewed people from “Pups for Peace” and will donate some of her Bat Mitzvah monies to this organization which trains dogs to sniff for bombs. In addition to her philanthropic interests, Molly enjoys circus arts which features training in gymnastics, stunts, clowning and working with animals. On this special day her grandfathers, the late Gerald Levy and Byron Abramson were remembered with fondness. Grandmothers who were excited to attend Molly’s Bat Mitzvah included Susan Giles of Foster City, Louise Levy of Menlo Park and Lois Abramson -Glenn of San Jose. Her Uncle Al & Aunt Robin Abramson and Uncle Craig & Aunt Marietta Abramson of San Leandro, Aunt Wendy & Eliot Rush of Boston, MA and Aunt Tamara Giles & Ken Vernick of Minneapolis, MN were also able to attend the festivities.

Mathew Schacher, son of Debra Mendlowitz & Tim Schacher, celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Beth David on May 19. Mathew is a seventh grade student at Yavneh Jewish Day
School where his sister, Heather, is a fourth grader. He has studied piano and the martial arts and is very interested in math, game design and computer science. This summer he will taking a computer programming class through Johns Hopkins University and he will also serve as a leader in training at Walden West. Mathew’s mitzvah project through Yavneh was to allocate money to the Environmental Defense Fund. His grandparents, Dwight and Sue Schacher came in from South Carolina and his Aunt Gayle Mendlowitz came in from Pennsylvania. His uncles Kurt & Jeff Schacher came in from Lodi and other relatives traveled from San Diego, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and South Carolina to join him for this special day. His other grandparents, the late Morris & Sara Mendlowitz were remembered at this occasion.

Danielle Lerner, daughter of Jeanette & Stuart Lerner of San Jose, was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah at Congre-gation Beth David on May 26. She is a seventh grade student at Miller Middle School in Cupertino. Her brother, Gregory, 9, attends Yavneh Jewish Day School where he is in the fourth grade. Danielle is the granddaughter of Dora Klein who flew from Pretoria, South Africa to celebrate this milestone with the family. Her grandfather, Lou Lerner, came in from Naples, FL with his wife Heather. Her grandmother, the late Sandy Lerner and late grandfather, Samuel Klein were fondly remembered on this special day.
Other relatives who joined in the celebration included Aunt Irene & Uncle John Leamon and cousins Adam and Rachel of Swampscott, MA and Aunt Laura & Uncle Howard Lerner and Cousins David and Erica of Hopkinton, MA. Aunt Kathi & Uncle Barry Klein and cousins Lindsay and Matthew were in from Atlanta, GA and Uncle Trevor came in from Boca Raton, FL. Danielle is an avid reader; she plays guitar and loves animals. For her Mitzvah project, she held bake sales to raise money to purchase musical instruments for the INN VISION shelter for women and children. In June she will be going to the shelter to play guitar for the children and present the instruments to them. She will also donate a percentage of her Bat Mitzvah money to an animal shelter and to plant trees in Israel to replace those destroyed during the war with Lebanon.

ENGAGEMENTS

Shir Hadash members Neal & Mildy Weinstein of San Jose are proud to announce the engagement of their daughter, Jillian Rochelle to Aran Anthony Delaney of Denver, Colorado. He is the son of Gail Delaney and the late Dr. James Delaney. Jillian has been employed by Abercrombie & Fitch since graduating from the University of Southern California and is currently Senior Operations Manager at the new flagship store in London. Aran, a graduate of Fort Lewis College, is an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles. A September 2007 wedding is planned in Los Gatos after which the happy couple will honeymoon in Maui and then reside in London.

Rita & Steven Schlosser of Saratoga are thrilled to announce the engagement of Jeremy Schlosser to Amanda Wigal. Jeremy is the son of Steven and the late Nina Schlosser. He is a business development manager with the Coca Cola Company in Phoenix, AZ. Amanda is the daughter of Iris Wigal and the late Dennis Wigal. Amanda is the owner of Brandables, a marketing services company located in Phoenix, AZ. Jeremy’s brother Jeffrey, sister-in-law Alison and nephew, Brady who live in Armonk, NY are excited about the news.

Aliza Pressman and Craig Chosiad have recently announced their engagement. Aliza is the daughter of Rabbi Daniel & Beverly Pressman of Congre-gation Beth David. Her grandparents are Rabbi Jacob & Marjorie Pressman of Beverly Hills and Louis and the late Faye Auerbach formerly of Van Nuys; Lou now lives in San Jose. Craig is the son of Jonathan & Barbara Chosiad of Stoughton, MA. His grandparents are the late Miriam & Albert Chosiad of Newton, MA and Sue and the late Norman Rose, formerly of Pittsburgh, PA; Sue now lives in Cherry Hills, NJ. Aliza graduated from Barnard College with a degree in History and earned a Master of Science in foreign service at Georgetown University in 2005. She currently works in Washington, DC at the Supply Chain Mgt. System project where she helps deliver life-saving drugs to AIDS patients in Africa. Craig graduated Harvard College with a degree in social studies and is currently pursuing a J.D. at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor. Although Aliza and Craig spent a year at the same high school, performed in the same musical and toured Scandinavia with the same choir, they did not meet each other until they were both living in Washington, DC in 2003. The wedding is planned for Winter 2008 in San Jose. The bride’s father will officiate.

As the sun rose over the white stones of Jerusalem in late April 2007, Robert Greyber, who grew up in Potomac, MD and Natasha Guzman, who grew up in Costa Rica and Houston, TX became engaged. Robert earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago; Natasha earned a Bachelors and a Masters in accounting – taxation at the University of Texas in Austin. They met in Seattle at Expedia.com where he is Vice-President for Air Line Travel and she is the Senior Manager of International Tax. Rob is the son of Andrea & Howard Greyber and the brother and brother-in-law of Elizabeth & Joe Lichy of San Jose and the brother of Rabbi Daniel & Jennifer Greyber of Los Angeles. He is the uncle of Ari & Samuel Lichy and Alon, Benjamin and Ranon Greyber. Natasha is the daughter of Maria V. Alpizar; her grandparents are Julio & Eraida Alpizar.

WEDDINGS

Lois Abramson & Armand Glenn were married on April 22 at Hakone Gardens by Rabbi George Gittleman of Santa Rosa’s Shomrei Torah. They were attended by Ruth Turner of Santa Rosa and Bob Hechtman, a friend of the groom’s for over 70 years who introduced the happy couple. Lois is the mother of Joel Abramson of San Jose and Al and Craig Abramson of San Leandro. She is the grandmother of Molly and Benjamin Abramson of San Jose and David and Sarah Abramson of San Leandro. The wedding featured music by Joel Abramson with extra songs by Joel & Lori Abramson.

Anniversary

Mazel Tov to Cheryl and David Weissbart on their 20th Anniversary. The couple will be celebrating with their family and friends at their home in Morgan Hill. Their son Evan, 6, is a student at Yavneh Day School. Trevor, 15, attends Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, and Joel, 18, is graduating high school this month.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Geri Kahn, who grew up at Temple Emanu-El in San Jose, attended UC Santa Cruz and the University of San Francisco Law School, practices immigration and social security law in San Francisco. She is the daughter of Sandra Kahn of San Jose. Geri was recently part of a Hadassah contingent who went to Washington, DC to be sworn in to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition to this honor, she also had a private meeting with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Please send announcements and photos to Andrea Greyber at a greyber@yahoo.com or call 377-6224.

Simchas Submissions

If you have news to include in this column, please contact Andrea Greyber by the deadline date.

Photos may be submitted by email or by mail to JCN, marked "Simchas."

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