Jewish Educational Center
Annual Dinner
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence
Dr. Steven Singfer Edward and Cecile Mosberg The JEC's Early Childhood Department and Morah Lisa Bond
Guest of Honor
Our Guest of Honor, Dr. Steven Singfer, is a distinguished alumnus from RTMA's Class of 1973 and the current President of the Jewish Educational Center’s Board of Trustees.
Commitment to Torah Umadda has been one of the hallmarks of Steve’s life.
Following his graduation as RTMA’s class valedictorian in 1973, Steve learned in the Bait Midrash of Yeshivat Kol Torah in Jerusalem. From there, Steve attended Yeshiva University, with the special distinction of learning in Rav Soloveitchik’s zt’l shiur. After graduating Yeshiva College Summa Cum Laude, Steve spent an additional year learning in Rav Soloveitchik’s zt’l shiur before continuing on to the Columbia University’s School of Dental Medicine. During his dental school tenure, Steve earned awards in Periodontics and Oral Pathology.
In 1977, Steve and Aviva (Vivi) Auerbach were married with Rav Pinchas M. Teitz zt’l serving as Maseder Kiddushin. Steve and Vivi are the proud parents of Shira (Singfer) & Steven Brandsdorfer, Benjy & Malkie (Rosner) Singfer, Dovi Singfer, and Lizi (Singfer) & Josh Berkowitz. Shira, Benjy, Malkie, Dovi, and Lizi are all JEC alumni.
Steve and Vivi are blessed with eight grandchildren: Gabriella, Jordana, Jonathan and Emma Brandsdorfer who attend Yavneh Academy in Paramus; Aryeh, Josh and Dahlia Singfer who currently attend the JEC; and Meir Berkowitz, a future JEC student.
A successful dentist by day, Steve is a tireless osek b'tzarchei tzibur, faithfully serving the JEC and the greater Jewish community in several important capacities. As President of the JEC's Board of Trustees, Steve plays an essential role in ensuring the JEC's ability to serve the needs of its nearly 850 students. In addition to serving as President of the JEC's Board of Trustees, Steve is an outstanding Ba'al Koreh for the Elmora Avenue Shul and serves as the Ba'al Tefilah for Yomim Noraim at Congregation Adath Israel.
Steve has been an incredibly devoted son to both his and Vivi’s parents. Steve’s late father, Leo z’l, escaped from Germany in 1939; Steve’s mother, Helen, is a concentration camp survivor. Steve’s parents raised him and his sister, Robin, in a home which fostered a love of Torah and Yiddishkeit. Steve is doubly blessed by the loving relationship he shared with Vivi’s parents, Rabbi Meyer and Ruth Auerbach, z’l, for whom Vivi and Steve cared for in the final years of their lives.
Despite his busy dental practice in Brooklyn, his family obligations, and the demands of his community leadership roles, Steve is the consummate ben Torah, even utilizing time between patients for Torah study! Steve shares his love for Torah with his children and grandchildren, as well as with members of the broader community.
Steve’s accomplishments alone make him worthy of being honored, but it is his dedication and love for his family, Torah, the Jewish Educational Center and the Elizabeth/ Hillside Jewish Community that makes us proud to have Dr. Steven Singfer as our Guest of Honor.
Lev Tov
Ed and Cecile Mosberg survived the Holocaust for a reason. We might never know the exact reason they survived when the majority of each of their families did not, but we do know that Hashem has blessed them with the courage, strength and stamina to prove that the Jewish spirit is undaunted by adversity.
Ed’s parents and two sisters were murdered by the Nazis. Cecile’s mother, sisters and brother were also murdered by the Nazis. Only she and her father survived. Her father emigrated to Israel, where he died peacefully in 1974.
Ed and Cecile first met in the summer of 1942, while he was on a work detail near Krakow. He was looking for a sister in the camp that Cecile was interred, but found his bashert, instead. They met a few times after that, by coincidence or design, and following the war, in 1947, were married in Brussels.
The Mosbergs have been blessed with three daughters, six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.
Ed and Cecile are devoted to each other, their family and the need to make sure the world never forgets the atrocities perpetrated upon the Jewish People. Since the Holocaust, they have made numerous trips to Europe, including the camps in which they were interred, such as Matthausen and Aushwitz.
Aside from raising a wonderful family, the Mosbergs crowning achievement has been the rescue and rehabilitation of Holocaust Sifrei Torah. To date, they have rescued, and donated to synagogues and schools, 17 Sifrei Torah, including one given to the JEC in October, 2015. Ed continues to captivate audiences throughout the worldwide Jewish community about his family’s horrific experiences and our obligation to “never forget.”
Their unstinting generosity and love for the Jewish People is but one reason the JEC is proud to present Ed and Cecile Mosberg with the Lev Tov Award.
and Morah Lisa Bond, Coordinator
Distinguished Service Award
The first classes at the new Jewish Educational Center, in 1941, included Primer, the very start of the Early Childhood Department. If parents of those children could see the program as it exists today, they wouldn’t recognize it!
While every teacher and assistant in Early Childhood has traditionally loved and cared for their students, the emphasis has migrated from the “cookie cutter” approach to educating young children to one that is “child centric.” Each teacher embraces the needs of each specific child and considers the whole child. Rather than teaching the “class,” the emphasis is on teaching the “child.” Learning Centers have replaced desks, and the classrooms have become much less “formal.”
To Lisa Bond, Early Childhood Coordinator, the goal of the Department is to “let them learn, make mistakes, be a little messy, and build their self esteem so they can go on to the elementary division with confidence.” This theme is echoed by her staff, for whom a child’s confidence is the key to setting the foundation for a good education.
Under Morah Lisa’s leadership, the Early Childhood Department has eagerly adapted to new technology and programs that were unheard of in the early days of the JEC. SmartBoards have given teachers and students an array of new resources and activities. Hebrew language and reading have been expanded, Singapore Math added and Guided Reading has made an impact. With all this, the emphasis remains on the individual child and that child’s needs.
During the ten years that Morah Lisa has been Coordinating, the EC students have participated in numerous educational and fun programs. One of the most “looked forward to” programs is Grandparents and Special Friends Day, where the EC students sing for their guests, have lunch and make a special project with them. On the more formal education side, outside consultants in speech and reading have added much to the development of our EC students. Encouraged by their leader, the EC teachers use the Team approach as their default setting, sharing ideas and techniques to the benefit of all of the students.
It is no accident that, under Lisa’s leadership, the reputation, and size, of the JEC’s Early Childhood Department has grown dramatically. She and her staff go far beyond “simply teaching” every day. They are most deserving of the Special Service Award.
330 Elmora Avenue, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07208 • (908) 355-4850 • thejec.org