Jewish Community News

News: November 2007

Simchas of Silicon Valley
By Andrea Cohen Greyber

Births

   Congregants Mayra & James Stoddard of San Jose stood in the Succah at Temple Emanu-El and named their baby Dana Eileen Stoddard.  She was born March 16 and is the little sister of Vicente and Cruz. Dana was named in memory of her great-grandmother Eileen (Hebrew name Miriam) Cohen and her great-uncle Dana Fisher, her grandmother’s brother. Dana is the granddaughter of Temple Emanu-El congregants Lynda & Jack Chase of San Jose. Her other great-grandparents are Eleanor & Chuck Chase of Moose Lake, MN. Uncle Adam Stoddard is quite excited about the birth of his first niece. He is a law student at Lincoln Law School in San Jose.
               
    Congregation Sinai members Steve & Shoshana Miller really know how to celebrate the High Holy Days. Two years ago their son Don Miller was born on Yom Kippur and this year on September 14, Rosh Hashanah, they were blessed with Celeste who weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Mother, father and big brother are all doing well and it is indeed a sweet way to begin the year!!

      Sarah Valerie Finger was born to Randy & Dana Finger on October 7. The Fingers now live in Elk Grove, CA but Randy grew up here in San Jose at Congregation Beth David. Sarah is the granddaughter of Ilene & Herb Finger of San Jose and Susan & David Buki of Sacramento. Her aunt, Lisa Finger, is delighted with her adorable new niece as are her other aunt and uncle, newlyweds Heather & Bud Brink. Sarah is the great-granddaughter of Temple Emanu-El congregants, Henrietta & Sam Mintzer.

Called to the Torah

     “This Bat Mitzvah was greater than the Giants’ winning the pennant”, quoted the father of Sarah Chaney who was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on September 1 at Congregation B’nai Tekvah in Walnut Creek. She is the daughter of Jody & Mery Chaney, the granddaughter of Rosalie Burns & the late Edward Chaney of San Jose and Dr. Bernard & Estelle Shuer of Sun City, CA.
      Sarah is a student in the gifted and talented program at Sequoia Middle School, is on the school’s year book staff and is very active in Girl Scouts and baseball. She loves the San Francisco Giants, traveling and spending time with her dog, Zack. She spent the last two summers at Camp Tawonga and was a junior counselor at Twin Canyon Diablo Camp. She is a member of Midrasha where she will continue her Jewish education.
      In addition to members of her immediate family, relatives and friends flew in from Arizona, Los Angeles, Ohio, Washington, DC, Colorado and Montevideo, Uruguay to attend this milestone in Sarah’s life.

       Shaina Painter, daughter of Michal Weiner and Larry Painter, and sister of Shannon Painter was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Beth David September 29, on Succoth. Shaina is an eighth grade student at Yavneh Jewish Day School. Over the past thirteen years, she has been growing her hair for “Locks of Love”, a non-profit organization that takes ten inches of hair and creates wigs for children with cancer who have lost their hair while undergoing chemotherapy. For her mitzvah project she is donating money to Mazone, One Family Fund, the Humane Society of Silicon Valley and Global Green.  Because of her help with global warming issues, she is being given a dinner by this organization in December in San Francisco. In addition to deeds of loving kindness, Shaina enjoys doing circus art.

    Elyssa Hurwitz, daughter of Robin & Walter Hurwitz of San Jose was called to the Torah on October 6 as a Bat Mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El. She is the sister of Kelsey Hurwitz and both girls attend Miller Middle School. Elyssa is the granddaughter of Dr. Ronald & Andrea Hurwitz, Judy Rhein and Robert & Susan Rhein. She recently participated in and donated monies to the Susan G. Komen Walk-A-Thon in memory of her grandmother and namesake, Estelle Hurwitz. Elyssa was chosen to live with a host family in Toyokawa, Japan as part of Cupertino’s Sister City Program. Her hobbies include surfing, soccer and going to Sharks´ games. About thirty people from out of town including family from Michigan, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York were able to join Elyssa for her special day.

    Samantha Hope Stein, who is a student at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Sinai on October 13. She is the daughter of Larry & Edye Stein. She is the younger sister of Allison Stein, 14, a student at Kehillah High School and the older sister of Jessica Stein who also attends Gideon Hausner. She is the granddaughter of Sandy & Sheldon Spungen of San Jose and Barbara Stein of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her late grandfather, Marty Stein, was remembered at this milestone event in Samantha’s life.
     Samantha enjoys computers, science, volleyball and soccer. She is interested in reptiles and dogs and will be donating some of her Bat Mitzvah money to Boulevard Pet Hospital which helps with pet rescue and dog adoption.
   Alexandra Greenwald¸ daughter of Patti Zwissig and Ronald Greenwald celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Beth David on October 13. She is a student at Harvest Park Middle School in Pleasanton and is the younger sister of Talia and Rachel Greenwald. Her grandmother Jean Johnson of Pittsburgh, PA was thrilled to be present when Alexandra was called to the Torah as were her aunts Judy Jacover of Chicago, IL and Joan Saltzman of Los Angeles. Her cousins Bobby and Scott also made the trip up from Los Angeles.
       Alexandra plays the clarinet, lovesdrama and swimming. For her mitzvah project, she spends time with special needs children at her school. She participates in the Remember Us project for which she said Kaddish for a six-year-old girl who was lost during the Holocaust. Additionally, she donated a goat to the Heifer project in memory of this child, Anna Gadlina of Belarus. Project Heifer gives animals to families who need them; they are taught to care for the animals, to breed them and hopefully these families can become independent and in turn help others. Since Alexandra’s parsha was Noah, this seemed a fitting mitzvah to fulfill.

     Regan Harold Farnsworth, son of Natalie & Bob Farnsworth was called to the Torah at Congregation Sinai on October 20. Regan attends Rolling Hills Middle School in Campbell and his brother Bryce Farnsworth, 16, attends Westmont High School. His grandmother, Irene Topper, came in from West Palm Beach, FL as did his grandparents, Bob & Theresa Farnsworth from Seneca Falls, NY.
      Regan enjoys video games and in the future will be donating to Dogs for the Blind, an organization which helps to train seeing-eye dogs.
    
      Haley and Katie Krum were called to the Torah at Congregation Beth David in Saratoga on October 20. They are the daughters of Jan & Michael Krum of San Jose and the granddaughters of Madeline Teifeld and the late Herman Teifeld.
     Haley is a student at Castillero Middle School and she enjoys reading, tennis, animals, babies and hanging out with her friends.
    Katie is a student at Pioneer High School where she is on the cheerleading squad. She enjoys shopping, hanging out with her friends and softball.
    Katie and Haley will be donating a portion of their Bat Mitzvah monies to the Children’s Hospital in Oakland. They will purchase stuffed animals and make visits to the hospital to cheer up the children.

       Daniel Kline was called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Beth David on November 10. He is the son of Libbie & Howard Kline and the big brother of Nathan Kline¸ 9.  Daniel’s grandmother, Rita Jacoby of Long Beach, CA and his Aunt Marcia Jacoby and Uncle Sigmund Jacoby of Long Beach as well as Uncle Steve Kline of San Jose were on hand for this special day.
      Daniel is currently attending Sierramont Middle School where he is a hard -working student. He has been on the principal’s honor list every trimester since the 4th grade. Daniel is a talented musician; he has played the clarinet for the past four years, is first chair in the school band and is in a special wind ensemble through his private music school. He is also a member of the chess club and has won many awards. The biggest challenge which Daniel faced as his Bar Mitzvah drew near was balancing his Jewish studies with his regular school studies. While attending the Berryessa Summer Music Institute, he completed his mitzvah project by tutoring less experienced musicians in the clarinet. This project was very fulfilling for him and he is now considering a career either in music or teaching or possibly combing the two.

Engagements

  Lisa Beth Cristol of San Jose and Taylor Alan Henricks of San Francisco have announced their engagement and plan to be married in July of 2008.
       The bride-to-be is the daughter of Linda & Mark Cristol of San Jose. Lisa, a graduate of California State University Northridge in 2003, has a Bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. In May 2007, she graduated with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Long Island University and is working in New Hampshire as a physical therapist.     
      The groom-to-be is the son of Joan & Alan Henricks of San Francisco. Taylor, a graduate of Princeton University in 2003, has a Bachelor’s degree in operations research and finance engineering. After graduation, he worked as an investment banker for SG Cowen in New York City. Currently, he is pursuing a Masters in Business Administration at Dartmouth University with graduation scheduled for June 2008.
      Lisa and Taylor plan to reside in the Bay Area after they are married.

Weddings

      Laura Joy Wittenberg and Jeremy David Siders are pleased to announce their recent marriage on July 1, in Mountain View. Laura is the daughter of Richard and Joyce Wittenberg of  Ventura, CA and the sister of David and Kevin. Jeremy, who grew up in Cupertino, is the son of Lawrence & Doris Siders and the brother of Jonathan Siders.  Rabbi Leslie Alexander officiated at the marriage ceremony. The Siders are now living on the peninsula.

        Elizabeth & Abe Seiden of Congregation Sinai and Mona & Loney Grabscheid of San Jose were pleased to attend the wedding of their children Tamara Seiden and Joel Grabscheid on October 7,
at the Chaminade in Santa Cruz.
     Tamara is a graduate of San Jose State University where she majored in business. Joel graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz where he studied politics.
     Sabrina Seiden, the sister of the bride and Eduard Grabscheid, the brother of the groom were pleased to be in the wedding party.
     The bride and groom are now living in San Jose.

Of Special Note

       Charles Atlas, of San Jose, has the distinction of being the Temple Emanu-El member with the longest continuous membership. He will celebrate his ninetieth birthday on December 1, a little earlier than the “real date” of December 10 so that both his sons, Ted and Mark, can be with him along with his four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. It will be a quieter party than his 80th but will still feature family and food.
     His great-uncle was the first secretary at Bickur Cholim Society which was formed in 1861 in order to ensure that Jewish people in the San Jose area were taken care of. The Society did not have a rabbi; they hired one from San Francisco to officiate at High Holy Day services. Things have certainly changed a lot in the almost 150 years of the Temple’s existence.
     Mr. Atlas remains an active member at Temple Emanu-El and volunteers every Friday in the offices there.  We wish Charles Atlas a Happy Birthday and many happy returns.