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MARCH 2011 • JCN • www.jvalley.org
By Andrea Cohen Greyber
BIRTHS Ryan Daniel Monarch was born to Rebecca & Andrew Monarch of San Diego on January 2. He is a big brother to Adam Monarch, 2½. Ryan weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 inches long. He is the grandson of Shelley & Alan Klieman of Los Angeles, Barbara & Sheldon Moss of AZ, and Lottie & Elie Monarch of Sunnyvale who are longtime members of Congregation Sinai in San Jose. Elior Rafael Ohriner was born on January 8 to Rabbis Philip & Shoshana Ohriner of Congregation Beth David. He was 8 pounds 9 ounces and 19 inches long. He is the younger brother of Ari, 3, who attends the JCC preschool. Elior is the Rabbis Philip grandson of Terry & Carol Winograd of and Shoshana Palo Alto and Evan Ohriner with and Jenifer Ohriner Elior of Knoxville, TN. The brit was held at Congregation Beth David and was performed by Rabbi Moshe Trager. Alexandra Johanna Chaya Kass, born on January 10, is the daughter of Ian & Stephanie Kass of San Jose and the granddaughter of Marlene Kass of Saratoga. The Kasses are members of Congregation Beth Alexandra David. She is the Kass little sister of Sammy Kass and Rhianna Kass. She weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. Her uncle Evan Kass and uncle and aunt Larry & Felicia and cousin Adriana Snyder of San Jose are all thrilled with her arrival. Ali is being named in memory of her grandfather, Alfred Kass.
CALLED TO THE TORAH Adina Greene was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on October 30 at Congregation Shir Hadash. She is the daughter of Thalia & Bruce Greene of San Jose and the younger sister of Ariella Greene, a sophomore at Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto. She is the granddaughter of Josephine & Asher Engler of San Jose and the late Renee & Stanley Greene of Spring Valley, NY. Adina is in the seventh grade at Dartmouth Middle School; she plays the flute, and soccer, loves cheerleading, is an avid reader and loves going to the movies and shopping with her friends. Adina’s mitzvah project was to collect and deliver school supplies and backpacks for a children and women’s shelter in Santa Clara. Relatives who attended this special simcha included Aunt Orlee, Uncle Jeff, Ben and Danny Kahn from Minneapolis; Uncle Aylon, Aunt Barbara, Maya, Jacob and Evan Engler from San Mateo; Aunt Rona, Uncle Neal and Adam Orenstein from Los Gatos; Aunt Marcia & Uncle Wayne Greene of Los Gatos; and Great-uncle Howard & Great-aunt Dorothy Handler from CO. Adina was very excited to share this special day in her life with her twin brother, David, and her family and friends. David Greene, son of Thalia & Bruce Greene, of San Jose, twin brother
simchas of Adina Green and younger brother of Ariella Greene, was called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah on October 30 at Congregation Shir Hadash. David is in the seventh grade at Dartmouth Middle School. He plays the trombone and is on competitive soccer and baseball teams. He also loves to golf, plays video games and hangs out with his friends. David’s mitzvah project was to collect and deliver school supplies and backpacks for a children and women’s shelter in Santa Clara. He was very happy to share this profound day in life with his twin sister, Adina, his family and friends. Eytan Hendel, son of Arielle and Doron Hendel and brother of Keren and Yoni was called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah on December 25 at Congregation Sinai in Willow Glen. Eytan Hendel He is a seventh grader at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School. He will be advocating for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito for his bar mitzvah project. This project was inspired by his love of animals especially his dog, Rocky. Eytan loves to play soccer with his West Valley team, The Arctic Wolves. Eytan was surrounded by many friends and family on his special day. Many people ushered Eytan into his adulthood by reading Torah and blessings. They included the Rabbi Josh Berkenwald, his tutor, Barbara Biran, Shula Raz, Tsilla Brafman, Stuart Rovin and his uncles, aunts and cousins. Eytan was blessed to have his grandparents, Mordechai and Ettie Hendel from Holon, Israel and Jim and Eve Orlow from Ardmore, PA. The other family members included Susan Switzer and Dan Orlow of New York, NY and their children, Katya, Zeke and Jesse; Rabbi Sara and Michael PaascheOrlow of Newton, MA and their sons, Razi, Lev and Gabriel; Adina Frydman and Rabbi Avi Orlow of White Plains, NY and their children, Yedid, Yeshama and Emunah; Sarah Lytle and Jacob Cogan of Cincinnati, OH and their sons, Caleb, Eli and Jonah; and, Adina and Dan Barocas of Nashville, TN and their children, Anabella, Sam and Jack. Eytan and his family thank the many people who helped make his bar mitzvah a special and memorable day. Fay Citron-Pousty, daughter of Steve & Jill CitronPousty of San Jose, was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Sinai on December 18. She is the older Fay Citron-Pousty sister of Tess, 10, a fourth grader at Yavneh Jewish Day School and Felix, 7, a first grader at Yavneh. Fay is in the seventh grade at Yavneh. Fay loves to read and she loves animals. She owns a dog and a pet rabbit. Her grandparents, Howard & Lorraine Citron of CT and Beverly & Amir Pousty of NY, were proud to be with her on this special occasion. Analise Henry, daughter of Karen & Penni Henry of San Jose was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El on January 8. She is the younger sister of Ariana, 15, and the older sister of Braydon, 13. Analise is
Analise Henry
a student at Kehillah High School. She plays the flute and enjoys photography. For her mitzvah project, she worked at a family homeless shelter where she did arts and crafts with the children and collected winter clothing for the residents. Shira Kahn Samuelson, daughter of Merle Kahn & Laurence Samuelson, of San Jose was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Sinai on January 15. Shira is in the seventh grade at Yavneh Jewish Day Shira Kahn School and is the older sister of Jacob, 9, who Samuelson is in the fourth grade at Yavneh. She is the granddaughter of Beverly Samuelson of Morton Grove, IL and the niece of Laurie Kahn of Palo Alto, David Kahn of San Francisco, Dr. Matthew Samuelson (Lisa) of Prairie Grove, IL. Her first cousins, Avielle Kahn, and Aaron and Joshua Samuelson of Prairie Grove, IL were pleased to join Shira on this special occasion. Many other cousins from IL, WA and FL also came. Shira loves the theater, plays soccer, fences and is taking voice lessons. She recently appeared in “Annie.” In lieu of centerpieces, Shira requested that donations be made to the Alzheimer Association in memory of her grandfather, Kalvin Kahn, who suffered with Alzheimer’s and who died in 2009. She will be donating some of her Bat Mitzvah monies to the Alzheimer’s Association and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University. Mia Burke, daughter of Andrea & Jeff Burke of San Jose, was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on January 15 at Temple Emanu-El. She is a seventh grade student at Ida Price Middle School where she competes on the girls’ volleyball team as well as the track team. Mia also plays the Mia Burke trumpet in the school’s symphonic and marching bands. She enjoys snowboarding, bike riding, interior design, art and spending time with family and friends. Mia is the older sister of Harrison Burke, 8, a student at Bagby Elementary School, and the younger sister of Trevor Miller, 19, a student at Delta College. Her grandparents, Mel & Bella Tressor of Orlando, FL, were happy to journey out West to join her on this special day. Other aunts, uncles and cousins were there for her as well. Mia recently participated in her first Relay for Life. She completed 21 miles over 24 hours for the Mitzvah Makers team. For her Bat Mitzvah project, she is using her artistic talents to create a series of paintings which she will donate to health care facilities to cheer up patients in hospital rooms. Oscar and Sydney Kohut were called to the Torah as B’nei Mitzvah on January 22 at Temple Beth El in Aptos, CA. They are the children Oscar and Sydney of James Kohut & Karen Kohut of Soquel. They are the grandchildren of Ruth and Arnold Geller and Joanne
Kohut of Riverside, CA. Oscar is in the seventh grade at Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School in Santa Cruz. He keeps in touch with friends from Camp Ramah and from Yavneh Jewish Day School. He likes to sing and plays tennis, basketball, baseball and runs cross country. He serves as a big brother to younger members at Temple Beth El. For his tzedakah project, he will be making a donation to Camp Ramah. Sydney is in the seventh grade at Yavneh Jewish Day School. She enjoys dance including hip hop, ballet, and jazz, reading, creative activities and time spent at Camp Ramah. She has volunteered at Temple Beth El where she has taught younger children Hebrew and also helped them prepare for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. She will be doing a mitzvah project at Yavneh and she is making donations to Yavneh. A couple of years ago, when their grandparents were visiting the area, they noticed the framed fragment from the Torah from Ostrowa, Poland. Ruth Geller’s family came from Ostrowa and it is possible that her father may have read from the Torah scroll which now resides in Silicon Valley. The Kohut family borrowed the Torah from Congregation Beth David and Oscar and Sydney were able to read from it on the day of their B’nai Mitzvah. Both Oscar and Sydney felt a very special connection to the Torah scroll and to their grandmother’s heritage. Carolyn Abrams, daughter of Ken & Linnea Abrams of Campbell, was called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El on January 29. She is a seventh grader at Moreland Middle School and is the younger sister of Allison, 18, a senior at Westmont High School, and Julia, 23, a student at the Carolyn New England School Abrams of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. She is the granddaughter of Barbara Abrams of Belvedere in Marin County who passed the Torah to her at the Bat Mitzvah. Others who were honored with aliyot were her parents, her sisters and her Uncle Fred & Aunt Joanne Abrams. Carolyn is active in student government at Moreland. She enjoys hanging out with her friends, basketball and music. She had her first trip to Camp Tawanga last summer and she was also able to visit her sister in Boston where she got to stay at an organic farm. For her mitzvah project she is collecting new underwear to donate to charity; she will also be giving 20% of her Bat Mitzvah monies to this project.
ENGAGEMENTS Mazel Tov! to Aviv Monarch, son of Congregation Sinai members Elie & Lottie Monarch of Sunnyvale, who is engaged to Rabbi Laurie Matzkin of Palo Alto, daughter of Judy & Terry Matzkin of Danville. Aviv is a teacher at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School and Laurie is the education rabbi at Kol Emeth. A September wedding is planned at the Fogarty Winery.
Please send announcements and photos to Andrea Greyber agreyber@yahoo.com or call her at (408) 377-6224.