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Jewish Community News

Simchas: April 2006

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

Simchas from Silicon Valley

BIRTHS

We wish a belated mazel tov to Johnny & Veda Urias of Milpitas as they announce the birth of their daughter Aeryn Emma Urias who was born May 13. Her big brother is Yochanan Nathan, 3. Johnny teaches second grade in San Jose while Veda is a student at National Hispanic University studying to become a teacher. The proud maternal grandparents are Kathy Martinez and Paul Quent of San Andreas, CA, who were thrilled to welcome their first and only granddaughter, and paternal grandparents Esther Webb of Milpitas and John M. Urias of San Jose.

Grandparents Steve & Shelley Zell of San Jose and Bob & Carol Horowitz of New York welcomed their new grandson Jonah Miles Horowitz on December 18. Jonah and his parents, Dana & Lee Horowitz, live in Berkeley.

Jeff & Johanna Applebaum of Los Gatos welcomed Jacob Benjamin into their family on January 7. His big brother Joshua is a student at South Peninsula Hebrew Day School and is in the fourth grade at Temple Emanu-El’s religious school. His grandparents, Robert & Rosalyn Applebaum are also members of Emanu-El.

Andrea & Howard Greyber of San Jose’s Congregation Sinai were delighted to welcome their fifth grandson. Ranon Jay Greyber was born on January 26 in Los Angeles to Rabbi Daniel & Jennifer Greyber. Rabbi Daniel is the executive director of Camp Ramah in Ojai, CA. In an emotional speech at his son’s brit, Daniel spoke of his friend Jay who lost his battle with leukemia and in whose honor the middle name was chosen. Ranon Jay’s big brothers, Alon, 6½, and Benjamin, 4½, were excited to hold the new baby and to see that he followed the family tradition of being born on the 26th of the month; Alon and Benjamin were both born on August 26 and their mom on February 26. Ranon’s uncle, Rob Greyber, who lives in Seattle, flew in from London to be at the brit. Jen’s sister, Abby Tatum of Oklahoma City, OK, also attended as did grandparents Tom & Barbara May of Grayton Beach, FL, and Rabbi Stephen & Leslie Listfield of Montgomery, AL. Ranon Jay is the nephew of Elizabeth & Joe Lichy, members of Sinai, and first cousin to Ari & Sam Lichy who attend Yavneh Day School. Ranon’s uncle Marty Tatum and first cousin Chase were not at the brit but were pleased to hear of his arrival.

In a beautiful Simchat Bat at Congregation Sinai on March 4, Mira Shoshana Karpati was welcomed into the Jewish community. Her parents are Dr. Sharon Glazer & Tamas Karpati of San Jose. Mira was born on February 20 and named for her two maternal great-grandmothers and her maternal great-grandfather, who all survived the Holocaust. Sharon’s parents, Joel & Rachel Glazer of Baltimore were there for this very special occasion. Her other grandparents, Veronika Szegedi and Tamas Schwarz and Gyorgy Karpati live in Hungary. Mira joins her big brother, Liron, 3½, in this special family.

We wish a hearty mazel tov to new members of Temple Emanu-El, Jeff & Christina Blue on the birth of their son Zachary Glantz Nguyen Blue on February 24. His grandparents are Trang Thi Phan & Ngo Van Nguyen of San Jose, Carole & Stan Jaffe of New Jersey and Jim Blue and Marcia Patricof of New York.

Noah Samuel Sorger was born on November 10 to Jonathan Sorger & Nicole Dannenberg Sorger. Nicole is the daughter of John & Linda Dannenberg and Don & Ann Hines. Jonathan’s proud parents are Ann & Joe Sorger. Great-grandma Miriam Sorger flew in from NYC to participate in the brit milah. Ann and Joe’s parents were Holocaust Survivors, so Noah is a 4th generation survivor; he plans to live with his parents in Oakland until he goes to college.

CALLED TO THE TORAH

Barbara Frank of San Jose celebrated the bar mitzvah of her youngest grandson, Hovav Frank, at the Moriah Synagogue in Haifa on December 24 where his parents, Dale & Meira Frank are actively involved. His two brothers, Noam and Barak, also participated in the service. Joining the celebration from San Jose were Congregation Sinai members: Jerry & Rita Jacobson; Maureen Ellenberg, her children Steven & Susan Ellenberg and their children Zachary, Mollie and Navah; Alfred & Ruth Sporer and their children, Amy & Dan Schiff and Julie & Stuart Krigel, and the Sporer’s grandchildren, Rachel and Frank Schiff and Benjamin and Rafi Krigel. Hovav is active in the Masorti youth group and enjoys basketball and tennis. His grandfather, Menashe Melamed of Jerusalem was also there for this special occasion.

Steve & Shari Krandel grew up at Temple Emanu-El; they had bar mitzvah and bat mitzvahs there, were confirmed and married there. His parents, Robert & Ruth Krandel were married at Emanu-El and her parents, Dr. Clayton & Sandra Feldman are members of the synagogue. So, it was a three-generation Emanu-El event on February 4 when Kevin Krandel, son of Steve & Shari Krandel was called to the Torah. Kevin is a student at Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos. He is a black belt in Tai Kwon Do and enjoys playing pool. His sister Kelsi, 11, is looking forward to continuing the family tradition at Emanu-El.

March 4 was a red-letter day for adult bat mitzvah Robin Hurwitz, who was called to the Torah at Temple Emanu-El. She is the wife of Walter Hurwitz and the mother of daughters Elyssa, 11, and Kelsey, 9. Family flew in to celebrate with her from Atlanta, New York, Michigan and Palm Beach, FL. She committed to Tikun Olam and led dog biscuit baking on Mitzvah Day at Emanu-El.

Four generations of Temple Emanu-El congregated on March 18 to celebrate the bar mitzvah of Zach Sprintz. Zach is the son of Millie & Mike Sprintz of Los Gatos. Millie’s parents are Herm & Beryl Greenberg of San Jose. Herm’s parents are Al & Louise Greenberg of Los Gatos. They are all members of Emanu-El. Mike’s parents are Sandy & Dale Sprintz of Boca Raton, FL. Zach attends Fisher Middle School and enjoysgolf, volleyball and baseball. He likes playing catcher. Gregory,10, is Zach’s younger brother.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION
On February 10, Jessa Leah Deutsch was one of four county-wide volunteers to receive the San Jose Magazine Life-Line Award. This is the first year that the Life-Line Awards have been presented to volunteers. Jessa was recognized for her devotion to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo County. Since 2001 Jessa has sponsored food drives, spent time as a sorter, and helped with surveys and food distribution. In addition, Jessa spent last summer break as a full-time volunteer with the Food Bank at their San Jose offices. Jessa attends Monta Vista High School in Cupertino and plans to pursue a career in Special Interest Law working with non-profit organizations. She is the daughter of Debi Burdman-Deutsch of Sunnyvale and Larry Deutsch of Cupertino, the older sister of Jeanette Deutsch, the granddaughter of Phyllis & HyBurdman of San Jose, Margie Deutsch of Annapolis, MD, and the late Dr. Harry Deutsch.

ENGAGEMENTS

Nissa Robbins and Tom Johanix have recently announced their engagement. Nissa is the daughter of Paul & Sheri Robbins of Palo Alto. Her grandparents are Jan & Jerry Rogoway of Tarzana, CA, and Arthur Robbins and Patricia Broemser of Mountain View. Tom is the son of Jan Draper of Tucson, AZ, and Tim Johanix of Becker, MN. Tom’s grandparents are Eva Stenglein and the late Homer Stenglein and the late Betty & Jack Johanix, all of Hibbing, MN. Nissa attended South Peninsula Hebrew Day School and graduated in 1996. She attended Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the University of San Francisco. She is currently working as a professional nanny. The groom-to-be graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in English. He is currently the president of Compensus, Inc., a consulting firm in San Francisco which provides equity compliance solutions. Tom proposed to Nissa during the reading of “Eyshet Chayil” (A Woman of Valor) at a family Shabbat dinner last fall at the home of Nissa’s parents. ASeptember 3 wedding is planned in San Francisco. Rabbi Sheldon Lewis of Kol Emeth in Palo Alto will officiate at the ceremony as he did at the Robbins’s wedding 29 years ago.

WEDDINGS
Michael Schaffer and Felicia Alvarez of Saratoga were married on February 11 at Congregation Beth David where they are congregants and synagogue board members. Michael has a BS in accounting from California State University at Northridge and an MS from Golden State University. Felicia has a BA in theater arts and communication from UCLA and California State University, Los
Angeles, and a Masters in Fine Arts from UCLA. Michael’s mother, Rae Schaffer, resides in Las Vegas, NV; his father Rubin is deceased. Felicia’s father resides in Terrace Heights, CA; her mother is deceased. Michael has two children from his first marriage, Tatiana and Maximillian.

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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