Youth Director

Youth Department Update!!!!

It’s been a busy past few weeks, but coming into the Stamford community has been an amazing experience. The warmth and sincerity that the community has shown me since I have arrived has truly made me feel at home in the Young Israel of Stamford.

In the time that I’ve been at Stamford, I’ve been very impressed with the level of commitment and support given to me by the youth staff. With their help, shabbos morning groups are filled with parsha related stories and games that make groups a fun and informative experience for children of all ages. We’ve also hosted shabbos afternoon onegs for the boys and girls in the older group, where we’ve had a chance to talk, eat, and play fun board games like Apples to Apples. Finally, we recently held a movie night for all the children, where we ate pizza and saw Wallace and Gromet: The Curse of the Wererabbit.

In the upcoming weeks, the community can look forward to more exciting programming for the youth department. On Shabbos Vayeshev, we plan on welcoming some older students from Yeshiva University and Stern as they join us to help run a program geared for the teens in the shul. Soon after, the youth department will be organizing a fundraiser selling Krispy Kreme donuts and having a fun activity at New Rock City. We also plan on having a special kids Break-The-Fast and Movie night following Asara B’Tevet.

With all the programs and activities taking place in the youth department, I’ve had a chance to meet and talk to many of the people within the shul.  However, there are still parents and community members that I haven’t yet had an opportunity to introduce myself to. Therefore, I thought it would be useful to provide a brief introduction of myself and hope that in the upcoming weeks and months I’ll have an opportunity to build a lasting relationship with all the Young Israel congregants.
Originally from Paramus, New Jersey, I went to high school at MTA and learned in Israel for a year and half at Yeshivat Sha’arei Mevaseret Zion. Upon coming back to America, I studied psychology and English literature at Yeshiva University. While in college, I worked on shabbos as a special needs counselor in a group home in Brooklyn for mentally retarded and/or developmentally delayed adolescent boys. During the summers, I was on the education staff at a clinical program run by New York University for children with severe forms of ADHD. Upon graduating from college in spring 2005, I spent the following year as an advisor in a yeshiva in Israel for post high school boys. Currently, I’m back in school, pursuing a doctorate in clinical-school psychology from Yeshiva University’s graduate school of psychology, Ferkauf.

On a personal level, things have been very exciting since I’ve joined the Stamford community. I feel fortunate to have met so many parents who are genuinely invested in teaching their children about the beauty and wisdom of Judaism. I see my role in the Young Israel as providing an opportunity not just to teach, but to grow as an individual. I recognize the inherent uniqueness of every child and, as I continue to work hard trying to connect with the children on their respective levels, I am constantly aware of how much the children teach me about their unique perceptions of the world and, perhaps more importantly, what they teach me about myself