JICNY - Jewish International Connection of New York | Community Continuity Connectivity

Why I Do What I Do; (from the book Chutzpah, Wisdom & Wine)

Submitted by stacey on Tue, 09/22/2020 - 6:37am

Excerpt from Jodi Samuels new book "Why I do What I do" ..my life as a busy person...

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South Africa

Ahron is the Chief Investment Officer at Yeshiva University in New York, NY, where he oversees $750 million in endowed and other long-term investments. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa to Canadian and South African parents, and immigrated to South Florida at the age of six, where he ...

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New York, NY

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Georgia Soviet Republic

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Legnica, Poland,

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JACOB KIMCHY- 2015 GALA HONOREE "DEDICATION TO JEWISH LIFE AWARD"

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Tashkent, Uzbekistan

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David Wollenberg

New York City

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Fortune Harari

Brooklyn,NY

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RIshon Letzion, Israel

I am Half Ashkenaz. My mother's family are Polish and came to Palestine on the Exodus, from France. They were sent back to France by the British and found another way to new-born Israel. My father's family are Sephardic, and moved to Israel from Bulgaria. I was raised as a secular Jew, and only ...

Milena Kozhin

Queens,NY

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Michael Katina

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

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Jodi Samuels

Johannesburg, South Africa

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Scottsdale, Arizona

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New York, USA

hen I first arrived in New York City, Steve Eisenberg and JICNY became my lifeline and connection to the Jewish community here, and for that I will always be grateful. Since then, my connection to Steve, Jodi and the extended JICNY family has grown deeper and more involved, including a recent talk ...

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Batya E.

Tehran,Iran

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Sam Bodenheimer

New York City

“Bodi” is a highly accomplished singer/songwriter, film/television composer, chazzan, and entertainment industry entrepreneur. Invited one fateful Friday evening last year as our guest singer and speaker, Bodi developed an instant connection with the JICNY family and has served as our chazzan/music ...

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New York City

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Jessica Wiesenberg

Miami, Florida

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I came to NY for graduate school, and I loved it. I then spent a few more years in school up in Boston, but eventually moved back to NYC. And while Israel is my home, the Upper West Side (just a few blocks from where Isaac Bashevis Singer used to live and write) is my home away from home. I love ...

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Moscow,Russia

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New York City

There is no group more welcoming for Jews in New York City than the JICNY. They are beacon when away from home that you can gravitate towards and be welcomed. Throughout the years, I have become a more observant Jewess. So while it's always nice to be home with family for the Jewish holidays, it's ...

Rabbi Shalom Morris

New York City

Shalom Morris is the Educational Director at Shearith Israel, the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue of NY. Born Ashkenazi, he has become a 'switch hitter' and now attempts to navigate both Sephardic and Ashkenazi, as well as American and International, communities. Often asked, 'You're a rabbi? How old ...

Alex (Sasha) Loseva

Brooklyn,NY

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New York City

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Anna Oshchepkova

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Mark Dresdner

Australia

JICNY and Jodi and Gavin personally have provided me with highly valued support in a myriad of ways, since I arrived in New York a decade ago from Australia via Chicago. Their generosity has included hosting my shevah brachot in their home and Gavin learning Gemara with me one-on-one. In addition, ...

Adrian Berger

Sydney, Australia

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Cayle White

Canada

“I was born into the immigrant Jewish community in Toronto, Canada in the seventies, and I consider myself to have had the “best of all worlds”. We were exposed to so many different languages, European, American and Asian culture, and of course, loads of crazy Jews! I consider my grandparents, who ...

Joseph Meerbaum

Jerusalem, Israel

I was born in Jerusalem, grew up in the United States, and am a citizen of the JICNY. Having grown up in a home where my parents spoke 4 languages, frequently in the same sentence, I feel right at home at the JICNY events. I especially look forward to attending the JICNY Shabbat Dinners where ...

Glenn Hurwitz

Yonkers,NY

My name is Glenn. It is nice to meet you! I am a native of Yonkers, NY, right near Riverdale. I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where I majored in Psychology. I started coming to Steve's class when they met at MJE, when other people told me there was this great Torah class on Monday ...

Tovah Benson

Tampa, Florida

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Ben Rabizadeh

New York City

JICNY is the destination in New York City to meet and mingle with diverse Jewish young professionals from around the world. This distinct international flavor of JICNY is what makes the organization such an asset to the NYC Jewish community; made only possible by the warm and unending commitment of ...

Alana Shultz

Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Hello, I’m Alana. I grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. On my father’s side, I’m a second generation Fair Lawn’er and a 3rd generation American – my Great Grandparents moved to US in the early 20th century from various places in the Old Russian Empire. My mother however, was born in Hamburg, Germany ...

Sivan Hadari

Brooklyn, NY

Being an Isramerican has always been an integral part of my life. I was born in Brooklyn to Israeli parents; my mother was born in Tunisia and my father comes from a Persian background. I attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush in Brooklyn and had the privilege of making Aliyah when I was twelve. I ...

Jessica Eisenberg

New York City,NY

I'm a local NYC girl, born in Manhattan and raised on Long Island and have lived in various cities including London, Boston and Alicante, Spain. I have called NYC my home for the past ten years. About myself: I live a bit of a dual life. During the week I do actuarial work for the reinsurance ...

Stacey Katz-Slone

Atlanta,Georgia

I work “behind the scenes” at the JICNY preparing emails, marketing and database administration.

I was born in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). My parents are restaurant owners and both my sister and I “grew up” in the restaurant and catering business in the Atlanta. I graduated college from ...

Nissim Sade

Israel

Shalom, my name is Nissim, which means miracles. I have 4 brothers and 4 sisters and I’m the youngest. I was raised in an religious family in Netanya. All of our family has served in the Israeli army and for many years we had 4 siblings serving at the same time. I graduated from Tel Aviv University ...

Hadassah Paladin

Mexico

Edan Harari

Brooklyn,NY

I was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and I grew up in Brooklyn, NY. I'm passionate about growing spiritually as well as learning all there is to know about living a joyful, successful and most importantly fulfilled life. I'm close with my family and I love spending time with kids because I love how they' ...

Estee Bardanashvili

Georgia

I was born and raised in the Former Soviet Republic of Georgia, a beautiful country by the Black Sea where Jews lived for the past 26 centuries. In my teenage years I went to fine arts and music colleges and studied in Moscow, Russia, till my family immigrated to New York. After graduating from ...

Jacob Kimchy

Israel

I am the Co-Founder of One Heart Global, a non-profit organization based in New York City dedicated to helping victims of terror across the globe. I began One Heart in 2006 in memory of my father, Rami Kimchy, who was killed on May 7, 2002 in a terrorist attack in Rishon Letzion. My father was ...

Jacob Oslick

Monterrey, Mexico

I was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and lived in Mexico, Bolivia, and Zaire as a young child, before coming to the U.S. to stay. My parents were both Americans, but my dad was a diplomat so we moved around a lot. As a result, I've always felt not quite American, but not quite international. And, ...

Laura Weissberger

Los Angeles

I spent my childhood in a suburb of Los Angeles, then moved to northern California to attend the University of California Davis for undergraduate. I finished college a year early and took that year to volunteer for and Israeli NGO in Nepal doing economic development projects in a rural village. ...

Ronen Elrom

Israel

was born in Israel, and grew up there very connected to my friends and family. I spent 7 years in the Israeli Army, receiving computer programming training I truly value from Mamram and serving as an Officer in the Air Force. After the Army, I worked for some terrific technology firms, but always ...

Sam Kressler

Worcester, Massachusetts

I grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts in a community so Reform, I used to joke that I was raised "Junitarian". I arrived in New York soon after a year and a half stint living in Peru. I was looking to learn more about Judaism and network with Latin Americans. Steve and Rabbi Nissim's Monday classes ...

Sabrina Michael

Azerbaijan

I discovered JICNY by accident while surfing the internet one summer night and I was immediately intrigued by this community for Jewish "gypsies" like me who come from all over the world. My family moved from Azerbaijan to Israel to Munich, Germany just before I was born, and I attended American ...

Steve Feldman

Maryland,USA

I had the great pleasure of being introduced to the JICNY six years ago through my girlfriend, and now my wife Lauren, who met Steve Eisenberg on a trip to Israel in 2006. She raved about Steve's Monday Night classes so I joined her one night to see what it was all about. Still today, I remember ...

Jade Rabinowitz

South Africa

I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. I am married to my wonderful husband Howard Rabinowitz and we have a gorgeous 11 month old child. Her name is Blake Lee. I am an accomplished international award winning photographer that was also the official photographer for the Mandela family in South ...

Jacob Ouaknine,

Casablanca, Morocco

We grew up in a Moroccan modern orthodox family. Memories of growing up in Casablanca will always be white. Coming from a family of 6, my brother and sisters learned to be very dependent upon one other. There is this unspoken respect that travels between us. We all feel responsible for one another ...

Oren L. Adler

FAir Lawn,NJ

Growing among the enclave of Israelis in Fair Lawn, NJ, I spoke and heard only Hebrew until I was five years old. Although I did not serve in the IDF, I always straddled the identity crisis of calling myself Israeli or American; culturally I have a stronger affiliation with Israel and Israelis. I ...

Maya Ben-Bassat

Tel Aviv,Israel

While I was born in Tel Aviv, spent all of my childhood to early-adulthood summers in Israel, and was raised speaking Hebrew in an Israeli (traditional) home, I grew up deep-in-the-heart-of-Texas (Houston). Despite the fact that I've lived longer in the US than in Israel, I still consider myself ...

Dana Lilienthal

New York, USA

I grew up in Rockville Centre, New York in a traditional Jewish home. In 2002, I decided to learn more about Judaism and moved to the Upper West Side to immerse myself in Jewish culture. During my time living in the city I tried different shuls, took classes, and attended Shabbat dinners. Although ...

Jason Roomer

South Africa

I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa in a nicely observant environment where I attended Jewish day school, and was very much part of the community. I was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand (I know it’s a bit of a mouthful) in Johannesburg, and have been an attorney at a big New York ...

Chef Sholmo Schwartz

Beer Sheva, Israel

Although today I live in one of the busiest cities in the world, I was actually born in the quiet desert of Israel in the city of Beer Sheva. After my IDF service I dedicated my professional life to Zionist education and traveled around the world working with Jewish communities. A little over three ...

Milena Kozhin

Queens, New York

I grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, attended Yeshiva Dov Revel, HAFTR then NYU for college. Received masters degree in Nutrition and Health Sciences. Judaism, family and education are focal points of our lives. I’m blessed to have trained and worked at companies ranging from Bloomberg, Miramax ...

L. Batya Schwartz Ehrens

New Jersey, USA

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