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Jewish Community News
Simchas: February 2007
Simchas from Silicon Valley
Simchas of Silicon Valley
By Andrea Cohen Greyber
BIRTHS
Linda & Barry Brummer of Los Altos and Gilda & Carl Samek of Los Angeles were thrilled to welcome their first grandchild on October 6. His name is Benjamin Judah Samek and he was born in Los Angeles to Kim & Alex Samek. Years ago Kim celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at Beth David where her parents are still members.
Congratulations to Sandra & Murray Dolmatch of Beth David on the birth of their grandson Joshua Aaron Ke Kai Sofris on October 13. His parents are Patti & Jordan Sofris of San Jose. Jordan is a DJ and photographer. Joshua’s uncle, Michael Sofris, lives in Los Angeles. The bris was held October 20 at the home of his Dolmatch grandparents and the mohel was Dr. Mark Rubenstein.
October 18 was a special day for Temple Emanu-El’s Judee Weinstein of Campbell who welcomed her daughter Eleanor Rose O’Connor into the world. She was a little early and weighed only 5 pounds but has quickly filled out and is thriving. “Ellie” is named for Judee’s mother. Grandfather Solon Weinstein will be coming in from Plimmerton, New Zealand for an extended visit, and her Uncle David Weinstein and Aunt Rosemary O’Hara hope to follow. Judee is a nurse at Los Gatos Community Hospital who grew up in Woodland Hills, CA.
Marian Bergoffren of Temple Emanu-El was pleased to welcome her third grandchild Mya Rae Bergoffren on November 17. Mya’s middle name “Rae” is in memory of her late grandfather, Richard Bergoffren. Mya joins her older brother Max, 7, and her sister Zoe, 4, and their parents Evan & Christine Bergoffren in Long Island, NY. Her other grandfather, Mike Cervasio lives nearby in New York.
Brooke Sophia (Sarah Bracha) Barnett, daughter of Judith (Dickman) & Brian Barnett was born on December 5. Thanks to the excellent resources of the NICUs at Northridge Hospital and UCLA, and to Brooke's own amazing determination, Brooke came home to parents and big sister Jennifer, 2, on January 4. Happy grandparents are Beth David congregants Eleanor & Lloyd Dickman of Cupertino and Carole & Stuart Barnett of Encino, CA. Eleanor & Lloyd wish to thank all of their friends in this community for their support.
CALLED TO THE TORAH
Clarissa Jacknow was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on September 2 at Congregation Beth Shalom in Walnut Creek. She is the daughter of Roni & Steven Jacknow and the sister of Arianna. Her father Steve became a Bar Mitzvah at Beth David in 1975. Grandmother Florence Stein of Los Gatos, grandfather Burt & Ardis Jacknow of FL, Angelo Barbaria of San Pablo, CA and Bob & Pat DiCristofaro of Lincoln, CA were proud to attend as was Aunt Jill Jacknow of Los Gatos. Clarissa, who is a student at Walnut Creek Intermediate School, is an avid soccer player of many years, enjoys La Crosse, singing, dancing and acting, has a great sense of humor and is proficient in math.
Sam Paulsen, son of Mimi & Greg Paulsen of Los Altos, was called to the Torah at Emanu-El on November 11. His younger brother Alex, 10, did a reading in English. His grandparents, Jerry & Phyllis Greenbach of Palm Desert, CA and Marion & Betty Paulsen of Reno, NV were in for this special occasion. Sam is a student at Blach Intermediate School of Los Altos where he enjoys soccer, wrestling and music. His mitzvah project was to increase awareness of the atrocities happening in Darfur.
Oz Fishman, son of Ziva & David Fishman, was called to the Torah at Beth David on November 11. He is a student at Cupertino Middle School, plays guitar and swims. His younger sister Noa, 10, and Roni look forward to following his fine example. His Uncle Mickey and Aunt Maitel were able to join the festivities after a long journey from Kiryat Gat, Israel. His grandparents, Tamar & Sam Fishman flew in from Bethesda, MD. For his mitzvah project, Oz raised $1,000 for Hadassah Hospital's Children's Center by holding a bake sale.
Evan Miller, son of Belinda Suntop and Peter Miller celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El on December 23. Evan is a student at Dartmouth Middle School where he plays percussion instruments in the school band. He also loves to play computer games. Evan’s older brother Bryan, 16, was happy to participate in the service and other special people on hand for this occasion were grandparents Anita & Marvin Nathan and Arlene Miller who came in from San Francisco and grandparents Morris & Roslyn Suntop who flew in from Rochester, NY.
Julie Lactot, daughter of Rachel Schwab & Chet Lactot of Sunnyvale, was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on November 25 at Congregation Beth David. Julie’s family, including her older sister Amy Lactot, her grandfather Bernie Schwab of Silver Spring, MD and her aunts and uncles participated in the service. Julie is a seventh grader at Castilleja School in Palo Alto. She enjoys dancing, acting, reading and movies. Julie made and donated animal toys to the Humane Society for her mitzvah project.
Jordana Lilly, daughter of Nancy Weintraub & Byron Lilly of Los Altos was called to the Torah on January 20 at Emanu-El. Her older brother, Benjamin, 15, had an aliyah and other special relatives, grandparents Harriet & Jack Weintraub of Los Angeles and Marsha Lilly of Oceana, were on hand for this special simcha. Jordana’s mitzvah project was to raise money for the children of Darfur.
Zoe Leigh Weitzman was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on Chanukah Shabbat, December 23 at Sinai. Zoe was honored to read her portion from the Torah rescued in Poland and brought back to San Jose several years ago by the students of the Birth Right to Israel Group. She was surrounded by family and friends for a weekend of festivities. Zoe is the daughter of Susie & Stan Weitzman. Zoe is the granddaughter of Esther Weitzman of Aptos, CA and Philip Weitzman of blessed memory and Madeline & Henry Shulman. Zoe attends Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto where she enjoys both her secular and Jewish studies. Just after her Bat Mitzvah, Zoe cut her hair and donated it to “Locks of Love.” She enjoys playing soccer and tennis and looks forward to continuing her summers at Camp Ramah.
ENGAGEMENTS
Robby & Edie Brodsky of San Jose are pleased to announce the engagement of their son, David Brodsky to Thu Nguyen who is originally from Hawaii but now of San Jose. The Brodsky’s are members of Congregation Emeth in Morgan Hill. David is a student at San Jose State University and is the brother of Eric who resides in Louisiana, Daniel, 14, who is a freshman at Evergreen High School, and Deana, 9, who attends Laurelwood Elementary School. David’s grandparents, Zena & Herb Brodsky are looking forward to the wedding in September of 2007 as is his maternal grandfather Art Cepeda. Thu’s parents are Hong & Khanh Pham, her grandmother is Lien Tran, her grandfather is Hung Nguyen and her sister is Thao Nguyen.
ANNIVERSARIES
Ginny Hoffman & Brad Wall celebrated their 25th anniversary and renewed their marriage vows underneath the Chuppah, held by their children, Michael Wall, Tammy Wall, her fiancée, Aaron Sachs, and Julie Wall on December 30 at Temple Emanu-El. They celebrated with a reception following the ceremony at their home in San Jose.
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Melissa Reisner, daughter of Harriet
& David Reisner, attended the Live Oak High School in Morgan
Hill where she participated in the D.E.P., the delayed entry program.
She has now graduated from the Marine Corp Basic Training at Parris Island,
South Carolina. Melissa, 19, and her family are members of Temple Emanu-El
in San Jose. Private Reisner will study aviation electronics at Pensacola,
FL for a year. A
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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