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Jewish Community News

Simchas: February 2006

We are pleased to announce Births, B'nai Mitzvahs, Engagements, Marriages, Happy Events, Graduations, a Golden Anniversary, and Birthdays.

BABY NEWS

Mazel tov to Hazel & Bob Raskowitz and Penni Goldman of St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada on the birth of their granddaughter, Alyssa Sarah Klapper, daughter of Sheri & Alan Klapper of Almaden Valley in San Jose and sister of Jordan Matthew, 2. Alyssa was born on Nov. 29, and named at Shir Hadash on Jan. 6.
Busy, busy is the home of Roger & Stacey Hendler Ross of Emanu-El. They welcomed Steven Hendler Ross on Nov. 8. He joins big brother Matthew, 5, and Rachel, 3, in their San Jose home. He is the grandson of Paula Ross of San Jose, Joan Ehrlich of San Francisco and Alvin & Carol Hendler of FL.

Linda & Fred Miller of San Jose welcomed their new granddaughter, Kaitlin Marley Miller on Nov. 11. Her parents are Jenn & Todd Miller of San Jose and she is the little sister of Trent, 23 months. Her maternal grandmother is Florence Trent of Menlo Park.

Carolyn Fabisch of Emanu-El welcomed her 7th great-grandchild on Oct. 16. Braden Miller is the son of Rebecca & Martin Miller, Vacaville, the younger brother of Patton Miller and the grandson of Marian & Melvin Fabisch of San Jose.

CALLED TO THE TORAH:

David Goldstein, son of Leigh & Simona Goldstein of San Jose was called to the Torah at Emanu-El on Sept. 17. He is a student at Chaboya Middle School. In addition to his studies he enjoys playing basketball and participating in BMX racing. His grandparents Jay & Claire Goldstein of San Leandro and Leopold & Rozaliya Ekhilevsky of San Jose, celebrated his bar mitzvah with him. His younger sister Ilana participated in the service.

Gabriela Osias of San Jose, daughter of Joel Osias & Doris Vela, celebrated her bat mitzvah on Nov. 5, at Emanu-El. She attends Ida Price Middle School.

David William Cappello, son of Manny & Amy Cappello and grandson of Hal & Jane Lax all of Emanu-El, and grandson of Romolo & Angela Cappello of Palo Alto, celebrated his bar mitzvah on Nov. 12. His sister is Sarah Rose, 15. The Cappellos live in Saratoga and David attends Miller Middle School.

Scott Virshup, son of Tina & Gary Virshup, celebrated his bar mitvah on Dec. 3 at Emanu-El in San Jose. The Virshups live in Cupertino where Scott attends Hyde Middle School. His older brother, Colin, participated in the service. Other special guests included his grandmother, Evelyn Virshup, who recently moved to Saratoga from Santa Barbara, and grandparents Jeanette Thompson of Thousand Oaks and Alvin Thompson of Covina, CA. In addition to his studies, Scott enjoys drums, skate boarding and video games.

Dec. 3 was the bat mitzvah of Daniella Julius, daughter of Rabbi Eitan & Ziva Julius of Congregation Sinai. Daniella is now a student at Gideon Hausner Middle School in Palo Alto. Her younger brother Nadav and cousin Molly Weilbacher of Philadelphia chanted Ashrei together.

Lizzie Blumenthal, who recently moved to Los Gatos with her parents, Howard & Jane and her big brother Max, celebrated her bat mitvah at Beth David on Dec. 17. She did a fundraiser for Shalom Bayit as part of her bat mitzvah preparation. Lizzie is a student at Fisher Middle School and in addition to school activities, she loves dance – ballet, jazz and lyrical. Her grandparents, Dr. Gerald & Rene Blumenthal of Boca Raton, FL, and Wallace Kaufman of Del Ray Beach, FL, came for this special occasion.

Joshua Stephen Jue of Saratoga celebrated his bar mitzvah at Emanu-El on Dec. 17. He is a student at Redwood Middle School where he enjoys volleyball, baseball and martial arts. Joshua’s parents are Eileen & Jimmy Jue. His grandparents, Marvin & Frances Brown, came from Miami, FL, for this special occasion.

On Jan. 7, Mitchell & Wendy Askenas celebrated the bat mitzvah of their daughter Lyndsey Rachel. Lyndsey was called to the Torah at Sinai to read from Parashat VaYigash and chant her Haftorah. Lyndsey’s sister Brenna chanted Ashrei. Lyndsey’s grandmothers, Barbara Wolf of East Longmeadow, MA, and Merle Askenas-Kaplan and her husband Bernie attended. Lyndsey is now a student at Gideon Hausner Middle School in Palo Alto.

ANNIVERSARIES:

Arnold & Leslie Ress, who now live in Nashville, TN, celebrated their 25th anniversary in Sept. Arnold’s mother Ethel Ress was pleased to join the happy couple for this special occasion. Arnold was raised at Emanu-El where his mother still belongs.

We wish a hearty mazel tov to Dr. Norman & Janet Abrahams who celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary on Nov. 11. The Abrahams are both from San Francisco, were both born at Mount Zion Hospital and their mothers went to high school together. They were members of Emanu-El in both San Francisco and San Jose for many years. Norman practiced dentistry for 35 years in Saratoga. He served on the Board of Trustees of West Valley/Mission College District for nine years and is now a member of the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission. He also served on the Jewish Community Relations Committee, which he chaired for two years. Janet owned the Tin Pan Gallery and The Upstairs in the Pruneyard. Their daughter, Dona Abrahams Johnson, and her daughters, Taylor and Kacey Johnson, were on hand for the celebration. Their other daughter is Louise Abra-hams Silk who lives in Santa Rosa with her sons, Gabriel and Fletcher. Dr. Abraham’s younger brother, Sy Abrahams, celebrated a special birthday on Nov. 11. He is a retired federal bankruptcy judge for Santa Clara County.

WEDDINGS:

We wish a mazel tov to Randy Finger of San Jose and his bride Dana Milner of Sacramento on their marriage, on Sept. 25. He is the grandson of Henrietta & Sam Mintzer of Emanu-El and the son of Eileen & Herb Finger of Beth David. Randy & Dana met at Hillel at Sacramento State University. Randy works at Apple in Sacramento and Dana is busy studying early childhood development.

Sara Green, granddaughter of Leo Rinsler, married Ron Paiva on Aug. 27.

BIRTHDAYS:

Emanu-El’s Sisterhood, Hadas-sah and the Jewish Community have been blessed through the talents of Helen Zimmerman who celebrated her 99th birthday on Nov. 14. She moved from San Francisco to San Jose in 1933 and headed up a drama group at Emanu-El, was president of the Emanu-El Sisterhood and narrated the history of the congregation on the occasion of its 135th anniversary. The celebratory luncheon was held in the Los Angeles area where her two grandsons, Perry and Lauren, and her granddaughter Leslie live. Her son Bob Zimmerman lives in San Jose.

Please send news of simchas to Andrea Greyber, agreyber@yahoo.com, with the notation “JCN Simcha” in the subject line. Accompanying photos should be emailed as jpeg attachments. The JCN requests, but does not require, a $25 donation for each simcha announcement to help defray the cost of the newspaper and support Federation. Send checks to Jewish Community News, 14855 Oka Road,, Los Gatos, CA 95032-0100.

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."

Photos must include the names of the people pictured, and the date of the event.

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