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Jewish Community News

Simchas: December 2005

by Andrea Greyber

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

BIRTHS

Leo Rinsler of Emanu-El welcomed his first great grandchild, Kendall Marley Green, the daughter of Joshua and Tania Green and the first grandchild of Robin Rinsler Green. Leo now has five granddaughters, one grandson and one great-granddaughter.

Johnathan & Nili Tal are very happy to welcome baby Danielle, born September 10, in Los Gatos. Brother Josh, 11, is a student at Yahveh Jewish Day School, and sister Maya is 4.

Bonnie Slavitt Moore & Jack Moore of Beth David are pleased to welcome Rebecca Ann Black. She is their first granddaughter and is the daughter of Jessica and Stephen Black of Dallas, TX, born July 18. The “Beck,” as her grandpa calls her, was named for Stephen’s grandmother and Jessica’s great-great-aunt. Her big brother Sam, 2, is happy with his new sister as are her other grandparents of Dallas. They are ecstatic to have a granddaughter to accompany their five grandsons. Jessica and Stephen Black are affiliated with Temple Shalom in Dallas.

Grandparents Stephen Schleimer & Cyndi Sherman of San Jose were happy with the arrival of Gideon Isidore Meishle Batya on July 15. He is the son of Dr. Sara Batya & Nadine Batya of Los Gatos and is the little brother of Rafael Batya, 4. His other grandparents are Lena Alisa and Bob Phelan and Dr. Aubrey Laurie and Joan Laurie of Shreveport, Louisiana.

Barbara & Steve Goldstein of Beth David welcomed granddaughter Ryan Paige Resnick on June 14. She is the daughter of Sara & Brad Resnick of Buffalo, NY. Ryan Paige joins her big brother Jacob, 2 in the nursery. Sara grew up in Cupertino. Grandparents Helen & Donald Resnick are now residents of Boca Raton.

Heather Lynne & Oren Rothenberg of Sinai welcomed their first-born son, Zachary Abraham on August 15. He is the grandson of Maggie & Rick Gould and Pnina & Michael Rothenberg all of San Jose. He was named for Oren’s grandfather.

Michele & Dave Myron of Sinai are pleased to announce the birth of Kovi Samuel on August 16. His big brothers are Eitan Lev, 6, Ari Benjamin, 4, and Nadav Zachary, 2. Kovi’s grandparents are Art & Marilynn Segal of Cerritos, CA and Phyllis & Stuart Myron of Northridge, CA. Eitan is a student at Yavneh where his father is on the board; Michele is on the board at Sinai.

Cathy & Russell Gottfried, of Sunnyvale and Sinai, welcomed new son Sanford Elliot into the world on October 3. “Sandy” has an older half-sister, Emily Wolfe, 15, who lives in San Francisco. His grandparents are Henry & Inga Lurie of Los Angeles and Stuart & Lita Gottfried of New York.

Twins are on the rise. Al & Bunny Roth of Emanu-El are pleased to announce the birth of granddaughters Violet and Bailey Roth, daughters of Nina Roth on September 16.

Double baby girls are right at home in San Jose with Sinai congregants Evan & Danielle Robinson. Shayna Elise and Amanda Nicole, arrived on August 27. Their grandparents are Frederick & Roberta Schechter who live in southern California. They are named for Evan’s parents and Danielle’s grandparents.

New members of Emanu-El, Beth & Rob Longwell, have a busy household after the birth of their twins: Lucy Michelle and Nathan Douglas. Their grandmothers, Ellen Levitas and Anna Longwell live in Palo Alto. Lucy and Nathan were named after their grandfathers.

Vivian Herman of Cupertino welcomed grandson Adam Joshua Kaplan who arrived in the world on September 9. Adam is also the grandson of Drs. Harriet & Melvin Kaplan of Rancho Palos Verdes. He is the son of Joyce & Roger Kaplan and the little brother of Samara Eve. He was named for his grandfather, the late Ralf Herman. Vivian is a long-time member of Beth David where Joyce attended Hebrew school and had her bat mitzvah.

Simchas abound for Rhoda & Larry Yelowitz of Sunnyvale. Their son Aaron and his wife Beth are the proud parents of Wexler Harry Yelowitz, born on July 11. He was named for Rhoda’s father Harry. Aaron is a professor of economics at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Wexler Harry is the first grandchild for the Yelowitzes who are members of Beth David. The other grandparents are Jeffrey & Regina Coulter of Louisville, KY and Donna & Dan Goodlet of Baghdad, KY.

WEDDING NEWS

The Yelowitz’s son Jason married Sara Hoffman at Asilomar on September 5. Rabbi Mark Bloom of Oakland’s Temple Beth Abraham presided. Jason and Rabbi Bloom had been friends since AZA days when they were teenagers. Jason and Sara live in Incline Village, NV where he runs his own company, Ehousehunting.com. Jason graduated from the UC Santa Barbara. Sara, the daughter of Eric & Julya Hoffman of Ellicott City, MD, earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia.

Sharon Papo & Amber Weiss were married August 7 at La Bella Foresta in Soquel. Rabbi Paula Marcus (Temple Beth El) and Rabbi Lavey Derby (Congregation Kol Shofar) officiated. Sharon is a counselor at the Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center and is the program coordinator for a GLBT youth program. Sharon is a trainer for MOSAIC and the ADL. She is also a teacher at Beth David’s Hebrew High School. Sharon has a B.A. in Woman’s Studies from U.C. Santa Cruz and is an alumna of the Ti-ke-a fellowship of the San Francisco Bureau of Jewish Education. Sharon is the daughter of Michael & Dorothy Papo, the sister of Joel and Dara Papo. Grandparents are Beatrice Papo, and the late Joseph Papo of San Jose, and the late Leisle & Irwin Fisher of Redwood City. Amber grew up in Woodland Hills. She is an acupuncturist and herbalist. Amber is co-founder of the Aloha Acupuncture Clinic in Soquel. She received her B.A. in psychology at Stanford U. and her M.A. in Chinese Medicine at Five Branches Institute. Amber is the daughter of Patti & David Weiss. The newlyweds are currently living in Santa Cruz where they are members of Temple Beth El.

CALLED TO THE TORAH:

Josephine & Asher Engler of Willow Glen celebrated the bar mitzvah of their eldest grandson Benjamin Zvi Kahn at Congregation Beth El in Minneapolis on October 22. Josephine presented Benjamin with a talit from Israel, in the presence of his parents, Orlee & Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, his brother Danny, grandparents Gail & Saul Jacobs, great-grandmother Sofie Peterson and nine cousins from California & New York. Benjamin, a student at the Jewish Day School with interests in science, music and sports, led the service and Torah reading before addressing the 700 guests in the sanctuary with his D’var Torah about Sukkot.

On September 10 Allison Stein of Cupertino was the first bat mitzvah in the new sanctuary at Sinai where her parents, Edye & Larry Stein, are active members. Allison is a student at Gideon Hausner Middle School. Her grandparents are Sandy & Shel Spungen of San Jose and Barbara Stein and Marty Stein of Milwaukee, WI. Allison’s sisters, Samantha and Jessica are students at South Peninsula Hebrew Day School.

Amanda Schmitt of Emanu-El celebrated her bat mitzvah on October 22. She is the daughter of Sara & Ralph Schmitt of San Jose and the granddaughter of Dr. Phillip & Roma Green and Hilde Schmitt also of San Jose. Amanda is a student at Chaboya Middle School. Her younger sister Alexandra was also excited to participate in this special occasion.

ENGAGEMENTS

Neil and Diana Gelblum of Cupertino and Dr. Robert and Miriam Sherman of Bonita, California are pleased to announce the engagement of their children, Adina Sherman and Yonatan Gelblum. They plan to marry in January 2006 in San Diego. They will be married by the rabbi from the University of California at San Diego’s Hillel where they met. Yonatan is a student in a joint program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government where he is pursuing a master of public policy degree and Georgetown University Law School where he will receive a JD degree. Adina graduated from UCSD and is now studying elementary education at San Diego State University to obtain her teaching credentials. Mazel tov to the happy couple and their families.

Beth David’s Phyllis & Neil Newman of Saratoga announce the engagement of their son Justin to Jessica Tillotson. Justin and Jessica plan to marry in Maui in June. Justin graduated from Tulane U. in Louisiana and works for a high-tech firm in Boise, ID. In addition he is in the real estate business. His bride-to-be is a student at Boise State U. and hopes to teach in elementary school. Jessica’s parents, Robin & Doug Tillotson, live in Jackson Hole, WY. Justin is the grandson of Shirley & Irving Cepinko of San Jose and Abe Newman of Hollywood, FL.

Martin & Roberta Schwartz of Cupertino announce the engagement of their son Kevin to Barbara Miller. The Schwartzes are members of Beth David. Barbara, who graduated from Arizona State U. in Tempe, works as a benefits analyst for Mercer HR Consulting. She grew up in Phoenix. Her parents, Bob & LindaLu Miller currently reside in Surprise, AZ outside of Phoenix. Barbara lives in Oakland and works in San Francisco. Kevin currently resides in Davis, CA where he is a PhD candidate in environmental and plant biology. He received a BS from Cornell U. in Ithaca, NY.

ANNIVERSARIES

Ruth & Al Sporer, long-time Sinai members, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They were married August 14, 1955, at Congregation Beth Jacob in Beverly Hills. To commemorate this special occasion they took their children, Amy & Dan Schiff and Julie & Stuart Krigel, and grandchildren, Benjamin and Raphael Krigel and Rachel and Frank Schiff, to a nature preserve in Pine Butte, MT. Ruth’s sister, Maureen Ellenberg, who was her matron of honor, accompanied the Sporer family.

Carolyn & Mike Kulakofsky of Sinai also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They were married in Gary, IN, on October 15, 1955. In addition to the golden anniversary simcha, Mike observed his 75th birthday this autumn. Their children, David and his wife Anneliese of Houston and their children Joshua and Aaron, Joseph and his wife Ryuko of Los Gatos and their children, Jacob, Jonah and Rachel and Daniel and his wife Judy of Connecticut and their children Benjamin and Jonathan, will join other members of the extended Kulakofsky clan for a celebratory three-day family get-together during the Thanksgiving weekend.

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, P.O. Box 320070, 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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