SIMCHAS By Andrea Cohen Greyber
Births Refoel Jacobson, son of Hananya & Mindy Jacobson, of Lakewood, NJ was born on April 9 and weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces. He is the grandson of Rabbi David & Emily Jacobson of Los Angeles and Rabbi Yaacov & Cookie Lipsky of Baltimore, MD. He is the great-grandson of Dr. George & Grace Fox of Los Angeles and is the first great-grandchild of Congregation Sinai members Rita & Jerry Jacobson of San Jose. Lainey & Maurice Tofig of Congregation Beth David are pleased to announce the birth of their grandson Sawyer Lawrence Tofig, son of David & Keight Tofig and little brother to Siena Lorraine, 3½, and Violet Wren, 22 months. He was born on April 14 and weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20½ inches long. The bris was held on April 22 and his Hebrew name is Moshe. His other grandparents Colleen and Patrick Fahey of Omaha, NE are also thrilled with the new baby. Jessica Intrator & Rambod Jacoby of Congregation Sinai welcomed Eva Symone into their lives on May 12. She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 19¼ inches long. She was named for her paternal grandfather Ebi
Yaghoubi and her maternal greatgrandfather Szymon Intrator. Her Hebrew name is Chava and that is in memory of her great-grandmother Alma Chava Bamberger. Her grandmother Mahnaz Yahghoubi came up from Los Angeles and her grandparents Edmond & Eleanor Intrator of San Jose were on hand for the baby naming at Congregation Sinai on May 26.
Called to the Torah Hannah Katinsky, daughter of Jennifer & David Katinsky, was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Sinai on May 5. She has just finished the seventh grade at C.T. English Middle School in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She enjoys playing volleyball and riding horses. Hannah has worked with animal rescue and really enjoys working with horses and other animals. As a part of her mitzvah project, she helped to make and serve meals at InnVision. She missed her grandmother, the late Cheryl Berman at her Bat Mitzvah, but was pleased that her grandparents, Dr. Leonard & Toby Berman and Jack & Delores Katinsky were with her for this wonderful occasion. Aaron Ross, son of Julie & Jay Ross, was called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah on May 12 at Temple Emanu-El. Aaron has one
brother, Matthew, 15. Aaron is a 7th grader at Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos. Aaron loves sports, especially lacrosse and basketball. He also enjoys theatre, singing and acting. His Torah portion, Parshat Emor, discusses special rules which Moses is to convey to the people of Israel. Aaron enjoyed sharing his Bar Mitzvah with his family and friends. Aaron’s grandparents, Ruth & Lawrence Ross and Sylvia & Michael Meltzer were delighted to be on hand for this special occasion. Adam Kagel, son of Eric & Pazit Kagel, was called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah on May 19 at Congregation Sinai. He will celebrate again in Israel at the Kotel on June 14. He has just finished the seventh grade at Fisher Middle School. He enjoys playing soccer and water polo and mountain biking. He plays the saxophone and is a big brother to Danielle, 10, who will enter the fifth grade at Yavneh Day School, and Oren, 7, who will be a second grader at Yavneh. Adam was very pleased to have his grandparents with him for his special day. Yona & Tamar Vider came from Israel and Ina & David Kagel were in from Los Angeles. For his mitzvah project he worked with handicapped children. Amy Mullenex, daughter of David & Ella Mullenex,
was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on June 2 at Congregation Sinai. Amy will enter the eighth grade at St. Andrews School and she is the older sister of Laura who is entering the fifth grade at St. Andrews. Amy plays softball, enjoys acting in plays at school, plays guitar and loves babies. She will be volunteering this summer as a mother’s helper at a day care center. She was very pleased to have her grandparents Yosef & Mira Lavovski of Ashdod, Israel and her grandmother, Noreen Mullenex of Rio Vista, CA, come for her special day. Noah Levinson, son of Randy & Jackie Levinson, was called to the Torah at Temple Emanu-El on June 16. He is a seventh grader at John Muir Middle School where he is in the Student Leadership class and the Psychology Club. Noah is the older brother of Elijah Levinson, 9, and the grandson of Shelley & Manny Marquis and Jon & Diane Levinson. He enjoys working out, reading and spending time with his friends and family. For his Bar Mitzvah project, Noah established everykidneedsahero. org, raising money to provide new comic books to local hospitals for young patients with chronic illness. He has a strong sense of social justice and is determined to make the world a better place.
www.jvalley.org
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