Gift Announcements

• Rise H. Ain and Michael R. Levy Tuition Assistance Fund

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the establishment of the Rise H. Ain and Michael R. Levy Tuition Assistance Fund to be funded with Rise and Mike’s uncommonly generous planned gift. We applaud their truly exceptional commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future Endowment Campaign.

  Rise and Mike have a long and deep relationship with CESJDS. Nicole, Adam, and Mark Levy graduated from CESJDS in 1996, 2000, and 2003, respectively. Rise’s daughters Rachel and Dorie graduated from CESJDS in 1995 and 2001. Dorie’s husband Jacob Ravick graduated in 2001, and Dorie and Jacob’s children attend CESJDS.

  In addition to being proud CESJDS parents and grandparents, Rise and Mike have served in a large and varied number of leadership positions at CESJDS and in the broader Jewish community. With respect to CESJDS, both Rise and Mike have been members of the board of trustees and chairs of many board-appointed committees. In addition, Mike served as president of the board and as co-chair of Operation Excellence, the campaign supporting the creation of the Annette M. and Theodore N. Lerner Family Upper School Campus and the renovation of the Lower School building. Among Rise’s many community positions, she has served as vice president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Planning and Allocations committee and is currently president of Ohr Kodesh Congregation.

  Rise and Mike have designated their gift for tuition assistance. They understand the competing financial demands of providing high-quality education and the burden that places on many families. It is their hope that others will join them in order to create the level of endowment necessary to afford every Jewish family the opportunity to receive a CESJDS education.

  This gift will be funded through Rise and Mike’s estate plan, which incorporates a life insurance policy to fund a portion of their gift. The maintenance of the life insurance policy and the distribution of death benefits will be managed for the benefit of CESJDS by the Jewish Community Foundation (formerly United Jewish Endowment Fund). This structure allows Rise and Mike to ensure a significant donation to the School’s endowment that is not dependent on future financial developments. They are pleased to have the benefit of the estate-planning expertise and management skill of the Jewish Community Foundation in order to provide support for CESJDS and other favored organizations.

• The Stuart and Tobi Bassin Family Endowment

  CESJDS is pleased to announce The Stuart and Tobi Bassin Family Endowment gift to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. Stuart and Tobi Bassin are the parents of Addie ’21, Jonah ’23, and Brielle ’27.

  In recognition of this generous gift and to remember all of those that perished in the Holocaust, CESJDS will hold a school-wide annual moment of silence and reflection in conjunction with Yom HaShoah each year.

  The Bassin Family naming of the CESJDS Yom HaShoah Moment of Silence is particularly meaningful to Stuart and Tobi because Tobi’s father, Morley Potash, is a child survivor. Learning the details of her father’s survival later in life and about each member of her family that was lost has made a large impact on Tobi’s life. Stuart and Tobi have used this personal history to commit themselves to Jewish education and finding ways to make a difference within the Jewish community.

  The Bassin family feels strongly that we are all connected in the strength of our heritage—and that we are also all bonded in remembrance and respect for those lost to the Holocaust. Stuart and Tobi see CESJDS as a pillar of the Jewish Community and are proud to support the Building Our Future endowment to help ensure that a strong Jewish education and community are available for their children and generations to come.

• Sharon and Jacob (z”l) Benus Social Entrepreneurship Program and Blecher Family Arts Chai Lights/Blecher Family Upper School Music Endowment

  CESJDS is pleased to announce that Mia and Lee Blecher have made a significant donation to CESJDS to create the Sharon and Jacob (z”l) Benus Social Entrepreneurship Program. Mia and Lee have also established the Blecher Family Upper School Music Endowment. In recognition of this special gift, CESJDS has named the Blecher Family Arts Chai Lights.

  CESJDS is grateful to Mia and Lee for their vision, generosity, and continuing support of our school, both financially and through their words and deeds. Mia and Lee are the proud parents of Shai (Grade 4) and Dara (Grade 10) Blecher.

  As they considered the impact of their donation, the Blechers wanted to honor the entrepreneurial spirit of Mia’s parents, Sharon and Jacob (z”l) Benus. Mia’s father Jake was a serial entrepreneur and a visionary and her mother Sharon an executive manager and a true mensch—the perfect match. All their businesses had one thing in common: impact. Social entrepreneurship speaks directly to what they deeply believed in and worked so hard for—creating enduring solutions that help people.

  The Sharon and Jacob (z”l) Benus Social Entrepreneurship Program, to be launched in the 2024-2025 school year, will align with our core value of Tikkun Olam and will assist students in developing the traits, skills, and knowledge base found in our Portrait of a Graduate. This new signature program will help students build the skills to creatively solve complex societal problems and artfully navigate ambiguity. It will teach the skills around creating a business, including financial literacy, as well as empower students with an entrepreneurial mindset, skills, and knowledge that will serve them regardless of career path.

  Through their gift, the Blechers also wanted to pay tribute to their family’s love of music. Lee’s parents, Freda (z”l) and Marvin Blecher, always had a deep appreciation of music, especially opera, and were great supporters of music opportunities in their community. Their grandchildren share this love of music and have greatly benefited from the opportunities they have been granted at CESJDS. The Blecher Family Upper School Music Endowment will enable us to sustain and grow the music offerings in the Upper School by providing support for all aspects of the program including obtaining new equipment, sound systems, and improvements to the music room.

  The Blecher Family Arts Chai Lights is an annual celebration of music, arts, and creativity and will be held this year on May 29 at the Annette M. and Theodore N. Upper School Campus.

  Please join us in thanking the Blechers for their vision, commitment, and dedication to CESJDS and for helping our school remain at the leading edge of education.

• Debra Herman Berger Director of Arts Education

  We are pleased to announce that CESJDS has named the Debra Herman Berger Director of Arts Education in memory of Debra Herman Berger and in honor of Paul S. Berger’s consistent and tireless dedication to CESJDS—and to commemorate his commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We express our sincerest gratitude to Paul and Debbie (z”l) for their love and generosity.

  “Debbie and I were partners in everything we did as it related to the Jewish community and to Israel. We shared each other’s thoughts and views, and we were deeply dedicated to each other. Debbie, from the beginning, was involved in helping the day school, and she always had in her heart her love for music and dance and the connection between Judaism and its music and art,” Paul remembers.

  Paul and Debbie’s love story goes back to when Paul was in law school and Debbie was at Columbia University School of Music and Art. Debbie was moving in the direction of a career in the arts, specifically in song and dance. When they were married in October 1958, Debbie chose to change the direction of her career. She enrolled at University of Maryland as a student, wife, and, eventually, mother. Eighteen years later, Debbie earned first her bachelor of science followed by two master’s degrees in political science and anthropology. She developed a strong interest in Middle Eastern studies. When Paul took a sabbatical in Israel in 1980-81, Debbie wrote her master’s thesis on Middle Eastern think tanks in Israel.

  During the entire time Debbie was going to school she continued dancing and performing regularly at a dance studio in Washington, and she began to volunteer teaching art through music at the Solomon Schechter Jewish Day School of Greater Washington (later to become the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School). Throughout Paul and Debbie’s married life, dance remained a significant presence in her life even as she pursued her other career.

  In 1982 Debbie founded Project Interchange, now an educational institute of the American Jewish Committee. Project Interchange brings opinion leaders and policy makers to Israel for a week of intensive travel and learning. Debbie remained a leader in the organization up until the time of her passing.

  Paul reminisces, “Debbie would have wanted to have this support for the growth and development of the school. My own memory very much remains about the life and joy of my late wife Debbie, and I know that she would appreciate her memory being associated with the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. Debbie used to say, ‘a person exists to the extent one is remembered.’ Having her name associated with the CESJDS arts program carries her memory forward tied together with what was her passion.”

• Fay-Ann, Jonathan, Nicola, Kerry, and Neville Brodie Endowment

  CESJDS is pleased to announce that Fay-Ann and Jonathan Brodie have made a commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign. CESJDS is grateful for their generosity and friendship and continuing support of our school.

  Fay-Ann and Jonathan's three children are CESJDS alumni "lifers," Nicola Brodie ’05 (married to Ezra Fishman), Kerry Brodie ’08 (married to Tomer Yavetz), and Neville ’11. They have one grandson, Nadav.

  When the Brodie family discussed this special gift to CESJDS, they decided to direct the funds to support Zimriyah, our Hebrew music competition held on Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, as part of the newly named Silberg Family Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration. Zimriyah is important to the Brodies because, as Neville explained:

  "It's not often you find middle-school boys excited to perform choreographed dances and enthusiastic to wake up for school. Zimryiah is that one special day of the year when everyone is eager to get to school to celebrate Israel."

  Fay-Ann and Jonathan have served our school and community in several capacities. Fay-Ann was PTO co-president and a member of the Board of Directors. Fay-Ann's father, Norman Meyer (z"l), was our beloved former director of development, who was instrumental in creating a fundraising and "friend-raising" operation of the highest caliber—spearheading "Operation Excellence" to establish the Annette M. and Theodore N. Lerner Family Upper School campus and laid the foundation for this successful Building Our Future endowment campaign. Fay-Ann and Jonathan are making their gift to honor the legacy of Norman as well as the bright future for their children and grandchildren.

  See a full list of endowment funds.

  To learn more about the Building Our Future endowment campaign, please contact Nancy and Paul or Sharon Metro Roll at sroll@cesjds.org or 301.692.4861.

• CESJDS Fanaroff Family Haukkah Musical

  We are pleased to announce the Fanaroff family’s gift and commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign and the naming of the CESJDS Fanaroff Family Hanukkah Musical. We express our sincerest gratitude to the Fanaroff family for this thoughtful and generous expression of support of CESJDS.

  The family’s donation will be added to the Helyn & Louis Fanaroff Cultural, Arts & Literary Endowment, which was established in 1992 to support programs and projects at CESJDS that further the community’s access to the arts.

  These endowments gifts are made by the Fanaroff family in loving memory of their parents and grandparents, Helyn and Louis Fanaroff. Helyn and Louis had four children and Baruch Ha’Shem how their family has grown!

  Sonia (Mark) Polsky

  Jodi (Scott) Cohen - Hallie ’15, Cami, Kellie, and Bobby
  Adam ’93 (Meredith) Polsky - Hayden, Lucy, and Emma
  Raleigh ’95 (Seth) Leichter - Lucas, Jaycie, and Harlow

  Wendy Fanaroff

  Jordana Ravick ’98 (Eric Feder ’98) - Leo and Solomon
  Nina ’99 (Lowell) Aplebaum - Lewes, Juniper, and Mabel
  Jacob ’01 (Dorie ’01) Ravick - Judah and Zoey

  Debby (Gary) Bortnick

  Tracy ’98 (Eric) Lynn - Hazel and Jaron
  Abigail ’99 (Greg) Kopstein - Kelyn and Brody
  Nathan ’01 (Rebecca) Bortnick

  Steven (Susan) Fanaroff

  Alexander (Rebecca) Fanaroff
  Neil Fanaroff
  Harrison Fanaroff

  The inaugural Hanukkah Musical took place in December 2015, in honor of the 50th Anniversary of CESJDS. Every Lower School student took part in Hanukkah Goes Broadway, and the show was enjoyed by parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends. The Hanukkah Musical will now be an annual tradition, and CESJDS is grateful for the generous support of the Fanaroff family.

  The Fanaroff family is proud to support the arts at CESJDS because they believe that quality education builds on all of a child’s strengths. CESJDS has made a commitment to encourage creativity in the arts—and it is the Fanaroff family’s hope that by adding to their already existing endowment, our students will have even more opportunities to explore their passions in literary, visual, and performance arts.

  “Our greatest wish is that CESJDS continues to be a place where students of all abilities find a place to shine.”

• Feder Family Endowment Fund for Tuition Assistance and Educational Support Services

  We are pleased to announce the Educational Support Services Chair at the Upper School will be named the Feder Family Educational Support Services Chair in recognition of Carol and Jack Feder’s gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We express our sincerest gratitude to Carol and Jack for this thoughtful and generous expression of support of CESJDS.

  Carol and Jack are proud parents of CESJDS graduates Eric ’98 (Jordana Ravick ’98), Alex (’01), and Amanda (’04) and grandparents of Leo and Solomon.

  They believe that the availability of Jewish day school education is a critical component for the continuing growth of a vibrant Jewish community. A significant portion of this endowment will be used to provide tuition assistance to increase the availability of a Jewish day school education to all students regardless of means.

  The Feders designated this gift to Educational Support Services in recognition of the need for continuing the excellent educational support services at the school. Amanda’s CESJDS education and the support she received inspired her to pursue a career in education. Today she is an award-winning special education high school teacher in Chicago.

  In 1992 Carol and Jack established the Feder Family Endowment for the Promotion of Song and Music at CESJDS. Our community is grateful to the Feder family for their thoughtful approach to philanthropy and helping to grow our endowment in the areas of tuition assistance, educational support services, and song and music.

• Glatz-Landy Fund in Memory of Shimon Glatz

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the establishment of the Glatz-Landy Fund in Memory of Simon Glatz (z"l), established by Tammy Glatz Landy ’89 and Jonathan Landy ’91 through their gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. The Glatz-Landy Fund in Memory of Simon Glatz is designated to provide tuition assistance to families who wish for their children to attend CESJDS. We express our sincerest gratitude for this thoughtful and generous expression of support for CESJDS.

  Tammy and Jon both were CESJDS students from elementary school through graduation and even carpooled there for many years. The school was a second home to them, and after graduate school they moved back to the area to start a family and to send their children to the place where they made amazing friendships and received a wonderful education from loving and dedicated teachers. Tammy and Jon are the proud parents of three CESJDS students—Matthew (11th grade), Alex (8th grade), and Emma (7th grade). They send their children to CESJDS because they want them to have a strong Jewish identity, to grow and learn in a nurturing environment, and to be compassionate and thoughtful members of Jewish and secular society.

  Tammy and Jon learned from their grandparents, particularly Ruth and Bernard Siegel (z"l), and their parents, Rifka and Simon Glatz (z"l) and Roz and Chuck Landy, about the values of a Jewish education and the importance of giving back to the community, and they witnessed their example of contributing to the school's fundraising campaigns. Tammy and Jon have made it a priority to continue that tradition. In establishing this fund, Tammy and Jon are dedicating it to tuition assistance because, while Simon had many passions and interests—including painting, tennis, science, business, and engineering—he was particularly committed to helping support the dreams and ambitions of those around him. He did this just as others had done for him and Rifka as young immigrants from Israel who traveled to America with nothing but a boat ticket. By honoring Simon, the fund acknowledges the role we all play in making opportunities available to the broader community.

  CESJDS is committed to assisting families who, even with personal sacrifice, do not have the financial means to provide a Jewish day school education for their children. The Building Our Future endowment campaign plays a critical role in achieving this objective, and we invite you to join Tammy and Jon in making an investment in the CESJDS Tuition Assistance program.

  Contribute to the Glatz-Landy Fund in Memory of Simon Glatz.

• Glatz-Landy Ahavat Yisrael Capstone Endowment Fund

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the establishment of the Glatz-Landy Ahavat Yisrael Capstone Endowment Fund. The purpose of this gift is to provide scholarships to ensure all JDS students who want to attend are able to participate in the Irene and Daniel Simpkins Senior Capstone Israel Trip. We express our sincerest gratitude to Tammy Glatz Landy ’89 and Jon Landy ’91 for this thoughtful and generous expression of support for CESJDS.

  This gift will become part of the Jewish National Fund USA and Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Scholarship Fund for the Alexander Muss High School in Israel Program. Jewish National Fund USA will match this gift and will match all endowed funds designated for this purpose, dollar for dollar, up to $5 million. Through this partnership, CESJDS can provide double the amount of scholarship funds available so that more students can participate in this once-in-a-lifetime signature experience at Alexander Muss High School in Israel.

  Tammy and Jon, along with their children Matthew (’18), Alex (’21), and Emma (’22), are CESJDS lifers with a strong family connection to the State of Israel. Tammy’s father Simon z"l was born in Israel and served in the IDF, while her mother Rifka found refuge in Israel after being liberated from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Jon’s grandparents Ruth z"l and Bernie z"l Siegel supported Israel from its infancy and instilled in the family a love of Israel and a deep commitment to its security and prosperity, a tradition which Jon’s parents Roz and Chuck have continued.

  The Glatz-Landy family has visited Israel many times, and both sides of the family have close relatives who live there. Matthew, Alex, and Emma each consider the Irene and Daniel Simpkins Senior Capstone trip to be the single most enriching, impactful, and life-changing experience of their 13 years at CESJDS. To honor and commemorate this, and to help ensure that all future JDS students have the opportunity to participate in this formative experience, Tammy and Jon have established the Glatz-Landy Family Ahavat Yisrael Capstone Endowment Fund. This new endowment match agreement with JNF-USA plays a critical role in achieving this objective, and we invite you to join Tammy and Jon in making an investment in this special scholarship fund.

  Contribute to the Glatz-Landy Ahavat Yisrael Capstone Endowment Fund

  See all of the CESJDS Named Endowment Funds

  Contact the Development Office for more information

• Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Family Foundation Fund for History

  We express our sincerest gratitude to the Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Family Foundation and its trustees, Arlene Gudelsky Kaufman, Shelley Gudelsky Mulitz, Michael T. Friedman, Laura Gudelsky Mulitz, and Paul S. Berger, for establishing the Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Family Foundation Fund for History. We are pleased to announce the naming of the Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky History Department Chair in recognition of the foundation's gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign.

  The Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Family Foundation has been a strong supporter of CESJDS for many years. The foundation had also previously established the Gudelsky Special Needs Endowment to help advance the education of students in our educational support services program. In Operation Excellence, our capital campaign to build the Upper School and renovate the Lower School, the foundation named the Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Performing Arts and Athletic Center at the Lower School.

  For the current Building Our Future endowment campaign, the Gudelsky Family chose to support the history department and name the Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky History Department Chair because they believe that you have to understand the past to prepare for the future.

• Nancy and Paul M. Hamburger Endowment Fund for Jewish Text and Practice

  CESJDS is pleased to announce that Nancy and Paul Hamburger, as early donors to the 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign last year, have established the Nancy and Paul M. Hamburger Endowment Fund for Jewish Text and Practice, endowing the Nancy and Paul M. Hamburger Jewish Text Department Chair. CESJDS is grateful to Nancy and Paul for their vision and generosity and continuing support of our school, both financially and through their words and deeds.

  Nancy and Paul are the proud parents of three alumni—Benjamin ’04 (recently married to Diana Braham), Joshua ’07, and Emily ’09.

  Nancy and Paul are strong advocates of Jewish day school education and have been supporters of CESJDS since their first child, Benjamin, entered kindergarten in 1991. Nancy has served the school in numerous roles over the past 25 years including annual campaign chair, PTO co-president, Board of Directors president, and vice president.

  Nancy continued her involvement in leadership roles at CESJDS long after Ben, Josh, and Emily graduated, including serving as co-chair of our most recent Head of School Search Committee and being part of the small Head of School Cabinet that initially conceived of the Building Our Future endowment campaign and set this unprecedented campaign in motion.

  In early 2015, when Nancy and Paul began to think about their gift to support the Building Our Future endowment campaign, they focused on supporting Jewish text and practice because Jewish texts and practices have sustained Jewish continuity throughout our history. It is their hope that CESJDS and its outstanding faculty will continue to educate and inspire generations of Jewish students with our sacred texts and bring richness to their lives through our Jewish practices.

  See a full list of endowment funds.

  To learn more about the Building Our Future endowment campaign, please contact Nancy and Paul or Sharon Metro Roll at sroll@cesjds.org or 301.692.4861.

• The H. Steven Kanofsky Endowment for Tuition Assistance

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the establishment of the H. Steven Kanofsky Endowment for Tuition Assistance.

  Steve is a native of the Washington/Maryland suburban area and had a career as a civil engineer. Steve has spent time working in Israel, including volunteer work there during the Yom Kippur War, and working as an engineer during the construction of airbases in the Negev Desert. During his stays in Israel, he was able to visit Jewish historical sites not often visited by tourists, including Beitar, Kadesh Barnea, the Sartaba massua, Eshtamoa, Giv’on, and many other places. Steve has visited towns in Ukraine and Moldova where his grandparents came from and visited the Kever of the Ba’al Shem Tov while in Ukraine.

  The Jerusalem Post of September 12, 2017, is quoted as saying, “Studies confirm that a Jewish day school education can be the most effective and impactful way to increase Jewish identity.” Steve feels that Jewish identity promotes preservation of Jewish heritage and the continuity/survival of the Jewish people.

  Steve believes that every Jewish family who wants a Jewish day school education for their children should have that opportunity, regardless of their ability to afford it. He hopes that the various CESJDS endowments will provide the means for all of these families to receive the Jewish education they desire for their children.

  We express our sincerest gratitude to Steve, who does not have a direct family relationship to JDS and sees our school as a vitally important part of our Jewish community. He chose to support CESJDS through this endowment and another fund he set up last year in memory of his parents Sophie and Benjamin Kanofsky because of his strong connection to Israel and the Jewish people.

  For more information about gift planning at CESJDS, please visit our website or contact Sharon Metro at smetro@cesjds.org.

• Sophie and Benjamin Kanofsky Endowment for Tuition Assistance

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the establishment of the Sophie and Benjamin Kanofsky Endowment for Tuition Assistance.

  Sophie and Benjamin (“Bill”) Kanofsky were lifelong residents of the Washington, D.C., area, were married here in the mid-1940s, and raised three children. Bill was a salesman in the liquor business, and Sophie worked in several positions in the federal government before they later opened an Italian carryout—Paisano’s. The Kanofskys were members of Shaare Tefila Congregation on Lockwood Drive in Silver Spring. Upon retiring, they moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, where they were members of Temple Israel. Sophie was an active member of the sisterhood and a lifetime member of Hadassah. Bill was an active member of the men’s club.

  The Kanofskys felt that the survival of the Jewish people depended, in part, upon maintaining Jewish identity. A Jewish day school education can be the most effective way to increase Jewish identity. Their endowment will provide Jewish students with a vibrant Jewish education, helping to ensure continuity of the Jewish people.

  See a full list of endowment funds.

  To learn more about the CESJDS endowment, please contact Sharon Metro at smetro@cesjds.org or 301.692.4861.

• Andrea and Mel Kraus Endowment for the Arts

  We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Andrea and Mel Kraus Endowment for the Arts. Andrea and Mel have made this generous gift and commitment to the 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. Their gift was created specifically to support two programs sponsored by the Upper School Arts Education department: Arts Chai-lights and Visual Arts Day.

  Arts Chai-lights has been CESJDS’s annual celebration of the arts since 2010. Each year the community is treated to a magical evening that joyously honors student creativity. Hundreds of works of student art from Lower and Upper School students and more than 40 student performances each year transform the Upper School into an exciting, festive environment full of imagination and joy. Arts Chai-lights also emphasizes the process of art making through hands-on art booths. Visitors can paint, sew, experiment with digital art and music programs, experience the ceramics wheel, experiment with cartooning, and more.

  More than 700 people attended this year’s Arts Chai-lights, the school’s seventh.

  Arts Chai-lights puts our values front and center: we respect the arts as a central component of our students’ education. Research has shown that students whose educational experiences are enriched by the arts demonstrate greater tolerance towards others, have a stronger sense of self-respect, are more confident offering creative solutions in the workforce, and are more likely to involve themselves as members of a community. In that respect, the name Arts Chai-lights is even more fitting: the arts prepare students for life (Chai), and we are proud to provide such experiences for our students to set them up for personal and professional successes.

  Visual Arts Day is a day, typically in the spring, when we take the entire Upper School to area art museums to study art technique, art history, and the creative spirit. In the past we have gone to: the National Gallery of Art, the Freer and Sackler Building, the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Library of Congress. This year we added the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Renwick, and the Jewish Museum in Baltimore to the list. This wasn’t just a standard walk around a museum: students were sketching, writing poetry, creating captions, and/or photo-blogging as they encountered art.

  Andrea taught art at CESJDS for 26 years and is making this gift so that she can continue her passion of using art to teach students. Andrea visited recently with David Solomon, Debra Herman Berger Director of Arts Education, and learned how far the arts program has come since her days at CESJDS. We are grateful to Andrea and Mel for their vision and passion for arts education at CESJDS.

• Dorothy Kotler Professional Development Fund

  

  Dorothy Kotler Professional Development Fund

  Donated by Roslyn "Zozzie" and David Golden

  CESJDS is pleased to announce that Zozzie and David Golden have established the Dorothy Kotler Professional Development Fund to support professional development for our faculty and staff. They established this fund in memory of David's mother, Dorothy Kotler (z"l), who was a visionary leader in Jewish education as a teacher, principal, and curriculum coordinator of United Talmud Torah Schools in Montreal. CESJDS is grateful to Zozzie and David for their vision and generosity and continuing support of our school, both financially and through their volunteer leadership.

  Zozzie and David are the parents of Rachael (Ryan) Spiegel and Ira Golden, who attended Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in Baltimore. They are the proud grandparents of CESJDS students Jack (2nd grade) and Dalia (kindergarten).

  Zozzie and David are strong advocates of Jewish day school education and have been longtime supporters of Beth Tfiloh and now CESJDS, since Jack entered kindergarten. They served as chairs of the Grandparent Leadership Team and Ma'ayan Campaign for the past two years, helping us to substantially increase grandparent engagement and giving.

  Wanting to support CESJDS beyond the Ma'ayan Annual campaign, Zozzie and David were inspired by other grandparents who have given to CESJDS through endowments and planned giving. They decided to establish this current endowment in memory of David's mother as well as provide for a planned gift to CESJDS in their wills.

  David and Zozzie told us about Dorothy:

  Dorothy Kotler was the epicenter of our family. She was loving, bright, and encouraging. From 1961 to 1987 she dedicated herself to the students and teachers at Talmud Torah Schools of Montreal, where she began as a teacher, led as a principal, and then served as curriculum coordinator. She was truly devoted to Jewish education, leading with care and commitment, fairness and respect.

  The tribute honoring Dorothy Kotler upon her retirement in 1987 noted that she "believes that learning is a lifelong process, and that an educator's main role is to help students to develop to their full potential by giving them the tools to explore their interests, develop their talents, and find answers to their questions."

  With our gift, we encourage teachers to rise to this credo.

  Our grandchildren never met their great-grandmother. We want them to know how proud she would be that Jack and Dalia, who is named after Dorothy, are going to a school just like the one to which she devoted her life—a school that gives you roots and gives you wings to take you into the future. Our children and grandchildren will grow with a moral compass that will define who they are as human beings and as members of society. They will have a strong foundation that will guide them through their lives. Watching our grandchildren thrive at CESJDS gives us great pride and joy. An excellent Jewish education is the greatest gift we can give our children, and this is why we believe in supporting CESJDS.

  See a full list of named endowment funds and members of the Bonim Society, which was created to celebrate those who have made a commitment through an endowment, bequest, or other planned gift. Learn more about how to make a planned gift that costs you nothing today. For more information, please contact Sharon Metro at 301.692.4861 or smetro@cesjds.org.

• CESJDS Guidance Department Dedicated by the Landy Family

  

  CESJDS is pleased to announce that Roz and Chuck Landy have created a fund to dedicate the High School Guidance Department through their generous gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We are grateful to the Landys for this thoughtful expression of support of CESJDS.

   

  When Roz and Chuck began to consider their gift to the Building Our Future endowment campaign, they looked back at Roz's 39-year commitment to CESJDS to determine what was most meaningful to her. Since 1977, her first year at the school, Roz and Chuck have been impressed with the outstanding academic program, the superior faculty, the values education, and the strong sense of community they feel blessed to have been a part of over the years. The most impressive aspect of the CESJDS education, according to the Landys, is the focus on educating the "whole child." The counselors play a significant role in addressing the students' academic, social, personal, and emotional concerns and guiding, supporting, and encouraging them throughout high school. For these reasons, the Landys knew they wanted to make their commitment to support the High School Guidance Department.

  Roz and Chuck have a long history at CESJDS. They are grateful for the fine education their three children received at CESJDS: Jennifer Landy ’90 (Patrick Bailey), Jonathan Landy ’91 (Tammy Glatz Landy ’89), and Benjamin Landy ’98 (Kelley). Roz and Chuck are blessed with seven grandchildren: Matthew (17), Alex (14), Emma (12), Brooklyn (6), Bryce (4), Henry (3), and Clara (9 months).

  Roz began working at CESJDS in 1977 as a reading specialist. Throughout her 39-year career, she also worked as an English and ESOL teacher, guidance and college counselor, and director of both departments. She has served as dean of students for 28 years and intermittently as interim principal for eight of those years.

  Roz and Chuck are grateful to their parents, Ruth and Bernard (z'l) Siegel and Florence and Lewis Landy (z'l), who, by their own actions and deeds, have been extraordinary role models. Their parents were guided by Winston Churchill's statement: "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Their extraordinary commitment to and support of their communities have been an inspiration that Roz and Chuck hope to emulate.

  This special gift is funded through the Landys’ current gift and pledge to the Building Our Future endowment campaign as well as through their future planned gift. Roz and Chuck have made plans to provide for CESJDS in their wills so that their family's Jewish legacy will continue long after their lifetimes.

  CESJDS is a proud partner in the Federation of Greater Washington's Create a Jewish Legacy program, which encourages members of our community to provide for the organizations they hold dear through a bequest in a will or trust, or through an IRA beneficiary designation, life insurance, or other planned gift.

  Upon establishing a planned gift or endowment, donors will be enrolled in the Bonim Society. See a full list of members of the Bonim Society and learn more about Endowments and Planned Giving at CESJDS.

• Eli, Lena, and Shevi Lerner (’16, ’18, ’22) Endowment Fund for Upper School Kabbalat Shabbaty

  We are pleased to announce that the first Upper School Kabbalat Shabbat of each school year will be named the Eli, Lena, and Shevi Lerner Kabbalat Shabbat in recognition of Aliza and Jon Lerner’s gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We express our sincerest gratitude to Aliza and Jon for this thoughtful and generous expression of support of CESJDS.

  Upper School Kabbalat Shabbat is our weekly gathering that is a hallmark of our warm k’hilah – community. Every Friday morning our Upper School comes together for a D’var Torah and talent performance. Kabbalat Shabbat highlights our students’ passion for learning, love of Torah, and dedication to extracurricular activities. From musical numbers to tai kwon do and everything in between, our CESJDS k’hilah is rich with energy and talent—and Kabbalat Shabbat features it all.

  Aliza and Jon made this gift to CESJDS because the school has been and will continue to be an important part of their family’s life. “In 2016 our oldest child graduated as a JDS ‘lifer,’ and our youngest child will move from the Lower School to the Upper School, while our middle child will continue in the Upper School. CESJDS has been a central part of our family for the last 13 years and ongoing.”

  Aliza and Jon chose to name the first Kabbalat Shabbat of the year because “Shabbat is foundational to Jewish family life, and its treatment at CESJDS helps instill its importance into the future leaders of our community.”

• The Sara and Samuel J. Lessans Jewish History Department

  We are pleased to announce the Jewish history department at the Upper School will be named the Sara and Samuel J. Lessans Jewish History Department in recognition of Drs. Stuart and Ellen Lessans’ gift and commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign. The Drs. Lessans decided to increase their endowed fund by making an additional commitment as they were learning more about the school’s plan to launch the campaign that coincides with the 50th Anniversary of CESJDS.

  A retired ophthalmologist and eye surgeon, Dr. Stuart Lessans grew up in Baltimore as part of a close-knit family steeped in Jewish values—the son of a father who had degrees in law and social work and a mother who was valedictorian at the famed Jews Free School of London. In a modest household his parents instilled lessons in charity and justice, a deep respect for learning, and a love of community causes.

  By endowing the Sara and Samuel J. Lessans Jewish History Department, Dr. Lessans and his wife, Dr. Ellen Lessans, a clinical psychologist practicing in Rockville, Maryland, honor the memory of his parents and the values they instilled and set an inspirational example for their teenage twins, 8th-graders Matthew and Faye.

  "I feel so fortunate to be able to send my precious kids to this very special school where they can get a superb secular education combined with the study of who we are as a people—our language, literature, culture, history, and traditions.

  “My mom once told me that, when I have a family of my own, it would give her great happiness if I would send my children to the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School. I know without a doubt that she and my dad would feel so fulfilled and honored to have the CESJDS Department of Jewish History named in their memory."

  —Dr. Stu Lessans

• Belinda, Adam, Dahlia, and Jessica Lehman Endowment Fund

  We are pleased to announce that Belinda and Adam Lehman have made a gift and commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign to provide support for the Lehman Annual Day of Service. On that day each year, aligned with our core value of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), CESJDS students in grades 6-9 volunteer at a variety of different nonprofit organizations around Maryland and Washington, D.C.

  We express our sincere gratitude to Belinda and Adam for this thoughtful and generous expression of support of CESJDS.

  The Lehmans have been active members of the our community since 2004, when their daughter Dahlia began kindergarten at CESJDS—soon followed by her sister Jessica, who began at CESJDS in 2006. The entire family is extremely grateful for the unique educational opportunities and warm, welcoming community that CESJDS offers.

  Tikkun Olam is one of the core values at CESJDS. We define it as passionate desire, active engagement, and individual/collective commitment to repair the world and make it more compassionate, just, and peaceful. The Lehmans value the way in which the school and community have taught and modeled Tikkun Olam and the many specific opportunities CESJDS has afforded Dahlia and Jessica to actively pursue community service for organizations such as Kids@Heart, Arts Alive!, and Friendship Circle. Belinda and Adam appreciate the opportunity to support the CESJDS community's ongoing commitment to Tikkun Olam through the Lehman Annual Day of Service.

  CESJDS is grateful to the Lehman family for their continuing support of our school and their commitment and passion for serving this community.

• Sara and Samuel J. Lessans Fourth Grade Havdalah Service

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the naming of the Sara and Samuel J. Lessans Fourth Grade Havdalah Service, and we express our sincerest gratitude to Stuart Lessans for his tremendously generous gift and commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign.

  Stuart explains why he decided to send his precious twins to the Charles E Smith Jewish Day School:

  I grew up in Baltimore during the period immediately following the end of the Second World War. My parents of blessed memory, Sara and Samuel Lessans, worked extremely hard and spent very little on themselves so that I could have the benefit of a very strong Jewish education. This was a major priority for them as it was for their parents—Dor L'Dor (generation to generation). They especially emphasized the mitzvah of giving tzedakah. My dad always told me that if Jews don't support their own community and institutions, who else will?

  My mother was a great admirer of Charles E. Smith, and she especially lauded his visionary leadership and generosity in supporting the center of Jewish and secular education that bears his name: the Charles E Smith Jewish Day School. She had told me on many occasions that, later in life, if I ever moved to the Washington area, it would make her and my father very happy—in her words, "give us great nachas"—if I sent my children to CESJDS. So that is exactly what I did, and my precious twins, Faye and Matthew, are now in 10th grade!

  Since, over the years, I've witnessed for myself what a fabulous educational experience my kids were getting, I felt it incumbent on me to express my appreciation and gratitude by making a meaningful gift and commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign. Ellen and I have lovely memories of the Fourth Grade Havdalah Service, and I remember thinking, as I saw the kvelling of the many grandparents in attendance, how wonderful it would have been if my parents could have been a part of that special evening. So this special gift will honor the life of my parents of blessed memory, and it's as if they ARE a part of it.

  Stuart made this gift partially with a cash endowment and partially through a planned gift. Planned giving is a way to make a substantial commitment today through your will, trust, retirement plan, or life insurance policies. Stuart has designated CESJDS as a beneficiary of his individual retirement account (IRA).

  One of the simplest and easiest ways to make a planned gift is as Stuart did—by designating CESJDS as a beneficiary of your retirement plan. Your plan administrator can provide you with the necessary form.

  You can also make a bequest in your will or trust by using the following language:

  I specifically bequeath $ _____ or _____ % of my gross estate to Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School with administrative offices located at 1901 East Jefferson Street, Rockville, MD 20852.

  Our CESJDS development team will work with you and your attorney, accountant, and/or other advisors to help you reach your philanthropic goals.

  When you tell us about your planned giving commitment, you will be enrolled in The Bonim Society—which was created to celebrate those who have provided for the future of CESJDS and to help generations of children benefit from our commitment to facilitate a rich and meaningful life for our community. You can have an enormous and meaningful impact on Jewish education by including CESJDS in your charitable planning.

  Inform us of your commitment.

• Lieberman Family Endowment Fund and the Ruben D. Silverman Memorial Mock Trial Program

  We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Sharon, Steven, Rachel, Jessica, and Benjamin Lieberman Family Endowment and the naming of the Ruben D. Silverman Memorial Mock Trial Team and the Ruben D. Silverman Memorial Mock Trial Program. This is in recognition of Sharon and Steve Lieberman’s gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We express our sincerest gratitude to Sharon and Steve and their family for this thoughtful and generous expression of support of CESJDS.

  CESJDS has participated for many years in the Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition of the Maryland Bar Association. The Citizenship Law Related Education Program of the Bar Association (CLREP) prepares a fictional trial case book each year. This includes witness affidavits, a statement of facts, documentary evidence, and excerpts of statutes and case law to teach the students how to prepare for and conduct a trial. Mock trial is an eight-month commitment of time for students that requires between three and 20 hours of focused work each week. It is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop expertise in a wide array of skills, including attention to detail through careful reading of the casebook and application of the facts to the law, analytical skills through the development of a trial strategy, writing, public speaking, acting, thinking on their feet, and working together as a team.

  The Lieberman family has designated this gift to support the Ruben D. Silverman Memorial Mock Trial Program in recognition of Sharon’s father. Ruben D. Silverman z”l was a practicing lawyer in Lakewood, New Jersey, for 55 years. Together with his wife of 60 years, Phyllis Silverman, he raised three children and had seven grandchildren—five of whom are graduates of CESJDS. He always enjoyed CESJDS events for his grandchildren but took particular interest and pride in Rachel and Jessica’s participation in the Mock Trial team as attorneys and traveled from New Jersey to see each of them “advocate” in court. He was a trial lawyer of great skill, a “lawyer’s lawyer,” respected and admired by judges, colleagues, opponents, and his clients alike.

  CESJDS is looking forward to more great success with the newly named Ruben D. Silverman Memorial Mock Trial Team and the Ruben D. Silverman Memorial Mock Trial Program and is grateful to the Lieberman family for this meaningful gift to help our students graduate with enhanced confidence, compassion, leadership, and knowledge.

• Rhona and Eddie Longman Family Endowment for Dor L'Dor

  We are pleased to announce the creation of a new endowed fund to support Dor L' Dor, Intergenerational Day. We express our sincerest gratitude to Rhona and Eddie Longman for establishing the Rhona and Eddie Longman Family Endowment for Dor L' Dor, and we appreciate their gift and commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign.

  Rhona and Eddie are the grandparents of Ella Longman (2nd grade) and Eva, Noa, Ethan, Hannah, and Eden. Their three children, Ryan ’90, Robb ’94, and Randy ’96 all attended CESJDS.

  Rhona and Eddie are committed to supporting Dor L'Dor, Intergenerational Day, at CESJDS because it gives grandparents and other relatives an opportunity to experience CESJDS as a dynamic expression of contemporary Jewish life in America. Our guests love to interact with the students and teachers on that day and experience our welcoming, inclusive community.

  Rhona and Eddie said, "We are committed to CESJDS because we feel fortunate to have been able to give our sons a wonderful education at CESJDS. Now we are so happy that Robb has also chosen to educate Ella in this exceptional school community. We know she will not only have an excellent secular and Judaic education but also will be a part of the warm and growing CESJDS community. Our hope is that this will continue to be passed down from Dor L'Dor, generation to generation."

• Margolius Family Endowment Fund

  We express our sincerest gratitude to Philip Margolius for establishing the Margolius Family Endowment Fund. We are pleased to announce the debate team will be named the Margolius Family Debate Team in recognition of Phil’s gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign.

  Each year more than 40 students in the CESJDS high school hone their public speaking skills as members of the debate team. Debate is an activity that promotes teamwork, critical thinking, and global awareness. Each month students work together to research issues of contemporary import—everything from the question of whether the U.S. should adopt a carbon tax to whether U.N. peacekeepers should have the ability to engage in offensive operations to what a government's responsibilities are in responding to the ongoing refugee crisis.

  Students compete in pairs against other teams from all over Montgomery County, strengthening their abilities to construct and deconstruct arguments. In a league with more than 500 students competing, CESJDS consistently has students qualify for the county's sweet 16 finals tournament and has sent students to the national tournament twice in the past five years.

  Phil is the proud grandfather of Jesse (2nd grade) and Jocelyn (kindergarten) Fisher.

  Phil and his family are champions of Jewish education and community. Phil is a past president of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Washington, the United Jewish Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Centers Association. Phyllis Margolius z’’l was a community leader in her own right. She was also a past president of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Washington and the United Jewish Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.

  Phil and Phyllis passed this legacy to their children. Jennifer (Jimmy) Fisher is a CESJDS parent and past president of Jewish Foundation for Group Homes. David (Iris) Margolius and his three Israeli children reside and participate in local charities in Israel. Kenny Margolius resides in Virginia. Jennifer, David, and Kenny are each directors and advisory board members of Washington private family foundations supporting local and Jewish causes.

  Phyllis believed and Phil continues to believe that access to a well-rounded Jewish education is vitally important for every Jewish child. Therefore, Phil is designating the use of funds from the Margolius Family Endowment Fund to the Educational Support Services program at CESJDS to make sure that local Jewish children (regardless of their learning differences) can fully participate in the CESJDS experience and community.

• Adina and Sander Mendelson Planned Gift

  We are pleased to announce that Adina and Sandy Mendelson have made their generous gift to the Building Our Future endowment campaign. Adina and Sandy made their commitment by designating CESJDS as a beneficiary of their individual retirement accounts (IRAs). CESJDS is profoundly grateful to the Mendelsons for this thoughtful expression of support for CESJDS.

  "We have been involved in CESJDS since its inception and are privileged to see fulfillment of so much of its early promise. Our school has always focused on educating young Jews to become contributing and knowledgeable members of the Jewish community and of society at large. It is crucial that these opportunities continue to be available to future generations. We are proud that our children and five grandchildren have benefited directly from CESJDS. We are also delighted that our son Dan and his wife Jen have been so active in the leadership of the school. Dan is the third generation of our family to be an officer.

  “We look forward to seeing continued dynamic programing and growth of the school. By giving to CESJDS through our IRAs, we are making a special contribution to the school’s endowment to help ensure its future."

  —Adina and Sandy Mendelson

  There are many ways to support CESJDS through a planned gift, and if you are aged 70+, your gift will help us meet our goals in the Building Our Future endowment campaign.

  One of the simplest and easiest ways to do so is as the Mendelsons did—by designating CESJDS as a beneficiary of your retirement plan. Your plan administrator can provide you with the necessary form.

  You can also make a bequest in your will or trust by using the following language:

  I specifically bequeath $ _____ or _____ % of my gross estate to Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School with administrative offices located at 1901 East Jefferson Street, Rockville, MD 20852.

  Our CESJDS development team will work with you and your attorney, accountant, and/or other advisors to help you reach your philanthropic goals.

  Learn more about the Building Our Future endowment campaign and tell us about your planned gift commitment by contacting contact Director of Development Sharon Metro Roll at sroll@cesjds.org or 301.692.4861 or a member of our Planned Giving Committee.

  When you make your commitment to CESJDS through a planned gift, you will be enrolled in the Bonim Society—which was established to thank our donors, like Adina and Sandy, who have established an endowment or planned gift to support the future of CESJDS.

  See the full list of members of the CESJDS Bonim Society.

• Missner Family Israel Scholarship Endowment Fund

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the establishment of the Missner Family Israel Scholarship Endowment Fund. The purpose of this gift is to provide scholarships to ensure all JDS students who want to attend are able to participate in the Irene and Daniel Simpkins Senior Capstone Israel Trip. We express our sincerest gratitude to Shani ’87 and Jonathan Missner for this thoughtful and generous expression of support for CESJDS.

  Jonathan is a 1986 alumnus of The Alexander Muss High School in Israel Program and a past CESJDS Board member. This gift will become part of the Jewish National Fund USA and Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Scholarship Fund for the Alexander Muss High School in Israel Program. Jewish National Fund USA will match this gift and will match all endowed funds designated for this purpose, dollar for dollar, up to $5 million. Through this partnership, CESJDS can provide double the amount of scholarship funds available so that more students can participate in this once in a lifetime signature experience at Alexander Muss High School in Israel.

  Jonathan and Shani (’87), along with their CESJDS lifer children Alexander (’17), Anna (’18), and Ethan (’19), have a lifelong passion and deep family connections to the State of Israel. The Missner family is deeply committed to supporting the safety and security of the State of Israel and strengthening the U.S-Israel relationship. Shani’s grandparents, Philip and Leeney Cohen z”l, were Holocaust survivors from Holland, and Philip was one of Israel’s first veterinarians at Israel’s founding in 1948.

  Many of Shani’s relatives currently live in Israel. Jonathan served as managing director of AIPAC for more than a decade and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the AIPAC Super PAC, United Democracy Project, as well as a variety of lay leadership roles currently at AIPAC and in several Jewish and pro-Israel organizations. As managing partner of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner, Jonathan has led and overseen many noteworthy and pressing legal battles, including recently uncovering post World War II Nazi accounts in Swiss banks as well as leading a recent Federal Court victory against Iran, Syria, and Iranian banks on behalf of Israeli and American victims of terror.

  Jonathan and Shani’s children bring them pure nachas. Alex is currently a second year medical student at Georgetown and, among other things, doing research on medical ethics and genocide. Anna is pursuing her doctor of psychology in clinical psychology at George Washington University, and Ethan is graduating Georgetown's McDonough School of Business next week and will be an investment analyst at Insight Partners (venture capital and private equity) in New York City beginning in September.

  The Missner family travels often to Israel and is elated to invest in future CESJDS students who have the passion and desire to study in Israel with the magnificent Alexander Muss High School in Israel Capstone journey. As Jonathan understood in 1986 after attending The Alexander Muss High School in Israel program, and the Missner kids have experienced during their many educational and other experiences in Israel, there may be no better guarantee of a lifelong support and unquestioning devotion to the Jewish people and its homeland Israel than studying in Israel in one’s formative years. The Missner Family’s great hope and desire is that this new CESJDS endowment match opportunity with JNF-USA will entice others to make an investment in the Missner Family Israel Scholarship Endowment Fund, or establish their own named fund, to ensure that every CESJDS student who wants to can experience this crucially important and deeply fulfilling experience. Am Yisrael Chai!

  Contribute to the Missner Family Israel Scholarship Endowment Fund

  See all of the CESJDS Named Endowment Funds

  Contact the Development Office for more information

• Morgan Family Endowment for World Languages

  Lynn and Randy Morgan have established the Morgan Family Endowment for World Languages, and we express our sincerest gratitude to them for their generous and thoughtful support of the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. Concurrently, we are pleased to announce the naming of the Morgan Family Award for Excellence in World Languages, which will be awarded to a graduating senior each year at Siyyum.

  Lynn and Randy have designated this fund to be used for education in world languages at CESJDS because multilingual training enhances students’ analytical and cognitive abilities and fosters intercultural and international communication and understanding. Randy and Lynn are the co-owners of Morgan Language Services, a preeminent global provider of translation, localization, interpretation, cultural training, and multilingual role-playing services. Randy and Lynn have named this endowment and award to honor the preceding generations of the family for their example of giving as well as to charge future generations with the responsibility of continuing this tradition.

  Jewish education is important to the Morgan family, and Lynn and Randy chose CESJDS for their three children, Natalie (grade 11), Daniel (grade 9), and Kate (grade 5), because of the school’s dual-language curriculum, its pluralistic mission and community, and its commitment to excellence in education.

  Lynn served on the Board of Trustees of CESJDS for eight years and was the co-president of the Parent Association. Randy and Lynn are both active volunteers at CESJDS and in our greater community.

• Yosef and Sima Nagler Endowment

  We express our sincerest gratitude to Herlene and Yaacov Nagler and to Yael Nagler ’96, Asaf ’99 (Hana Hausnerova) Nagler, and Tali ’00 (Shachar) Nagler for the generous addition they made to the Yosef and Sima Nagler Endowment. The Nagler family established this fund originally in 1989 to endow the first grade Haggigat HaSiddur ceremony, where each first grader is presented with a siddur, at the culmination of their first-grade studies.

  CEDJDS is appreciative of the Naglers’ gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign and will name the ceremony the Yosef and Sima Nagler Haggigat HaSiddur Ceremony.

  The Naglers established the fund in loving memory of Yosef and Sima Nagler, Yaacov's parents, to remember their personal sacrifices to help build Eretz Yisrael. Yosef and Sima left their families in Europe prior to World War II and came to Israel as halutzim guided by their abiding love of Zionism.

  Sima Nagler lived to see Yael's (’96) Haggigat siddur ceremony at CESJDS, which brought her great joy and proud tears. With that in mind, the Naglers created the fund to provide a siddur to first graders to celebrate their accomplishments as students of CESJDS and to bring joy to their parents, grandparents, and community.

• Nechin Educational Support Services Department

  We are pleased to announce the Educational Support Services Department at the Upper School is named the Nechin Educational Support Services Department in recognition of Annette Bicher and Ken Nechin’s generous gift and commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign. We also want to recognize Annette and Ken as founding and substantial donors to the new Sulam@JDS program, an innovative model where students with learning differences receive the highly specialized support they need while attending a rigorous, pluralistic, independent Jewish day school.

  Annette and Ken had previously supported the CESJDS endowment over many years through the Henrietta and Herbert Nechin Endowment for Faculty and Staff Development. Henrietta and Herbert were supportive grandparents at JDS and believed wholeheartedly in the power of education.

  Annette and Ken added to their commitment to support the Educational Support Services program and created a new fund: the Annette Bicher and Kenneth Nechin Endowment for Educational Support Services. When the new opportunity arose to support Sulam@JDS, Annette and Ken stepped up as thoughtful and passionate donors—as always. They also continue to make a significant gift to the Ma’ayan Annual Campaign each year.

  We are grateful to Annette and Ken for their extraordinary gifts and their wonderful family. They are the proud parents of four CESJDS students/alumni: Julianna ’14, Hannah ’16, Zoe ’20, and Hailey (11th grade).

  By directing their gifts to educational support, Annette and Ken are donating to the programs at CESJDS that enable our school to educate a wide range of learners and ensure that our faculty have the expertise and training to accommodate students that process and share information and express creativity in different ways.

  For more information about Educational Support Services, Sulam@JDS, or donating to these programs or to the CESJDS endowment, please contact Sharon Metro at smetro@cesjds.org or 301.692.4861.

• Joan and Marvin Rosenberg High School Musical

  

  Joan and Marvin Rosenberg have made their gift to the Building Our Future endowment campaign and will name the Joan and Marvin Rosenberg High School Musical. We express our sincerest gratitude to the Rosenbergs for this thoughtful and generous expression of support for CESJDS.

  Joan and Marvin Rosenberg are parents of Jeff ’86 and Todd ’89, who attended CESJDS through 8th grade, and grandparents to Lily Rosenberg (rising 9th grader). They relocated from Virginia to Maryland when their children were young in order to be closer to CESJDS and their children’s friends. Their sons are still friends with many people they met while they attended CESJDS.

  Now that they have a granddaughter who also attends CESJDS, they have been impressed with how much the school has expanded its arts and cultural options. Their granddaughter Lily loves the theater program and has been a part of the Middle School musicals Shrek and Lion King. She played Sarafina, Nala’s mother, in the latter.

  The theater has always been important to the Rosenberg family, and they often go to the Kennedy Center, National Theater, and Arena Stage with their grandchildren.

  Marvin and Joan did not have the opportunity to attend a Jewish day school, and they believe day schools are the best way to ensure Jewish continuity. This endowment allows them to support CESJDS and their passion for the theater.

• Jay M. and Dorothy S. Rosenthal Cultural Arts Endowment Fund

  We express our thanks to Norman and Joanne Goldstein and to Alan, Eliot (’90), Aileen (’96—now academic dean of our Upper School), and Michael (’97) for their sustained and future commitment to support the Jay M. and Dorothy S. Rosenthal Cultural Arts Endowment Fund.

  The Goldstein family established this fund in 1992 in honor of the children's maternal grandparents to support cultural arts publications, such as the Upper School’s The Lion's Tale student newspaper, Reflections literary magazine, Loa Ha'ari Hebrew magazine, The Melting Pot world languages magazine, and other publications representing original literary efforts of students enrolled at the school. The award-winning publications are made available to the student body and extended community.

  The Goldsteins are thrilled that since the inception of the fund, many students have been able to demonstrate their creative writing skills—nurtured under the guidance of our committed faculty members. An added source of nachas to all is the fact that so many of the publications have consistently received national recognition for the quality of our students' creative writing.

  CESJDS is most appreciative of the fact that the Goldstein family has added annually to the endowment and has committed to continue their support through a planned gift commitment to the fund, made in honor of the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building our Future endowment campaign. The Bonim Society was created to acknowledge and honor all members of our community who make planned gifts to support the future of CESJDS and Jewish education.

  This multi-generational effort is a true representation of Dor L'Dor, of passing the torch from generation to generation in continuing support of Jewish education and the cultural arts. As a result of the Goldsteins' regular additions to the Rosenthal Cultural Arts Endowment Fund, the fund has continued to grow while also being able to help support the underwriting of these creative publications through the years.

• Ruth and Samuel Salzberg Science Department Chair

  We are pleased to announce that the science department chair at the Upper School will be named the Ruth and Samuel Salzberg Science Department Chair in recognition of the Ruth and Samuel Salzberg Family Foundation’s commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We express our sincerest gratitude to the Salzberg and Exelbert families for their thoughtful and generous expression of support of CESJDS.

  Ruth and Samuel Salzberg were first-generation Americans who grew up in the great depression. They lived on the Lower East Side of New York, with little means. They grew up poor financially but rich in values, education, and Jewish study. Ruth and Samuel were forward-thinking and believed that education in all areas was of the utmost importance.

  Ruth and Samuel Salzberg are the late parents of three children and would be so proud of their children and grandchildren!

  Ellen (Stephen) Exelbert

  Rachel Schreiber ’89 (Daniel Schreiber ’89) - Benjamin and Samuel
  Caren Sadikman ’92 (Jesse Sadikman) - Sophia, Drew, and Reed
  Jessica ’97 (Justin) Rubin - Emma and Levi

  Arthur (Jill) Salzberg

  Jacob Salzberg ’15
  Zoe Salzberg

  Michael (Deborah) Salzberg

  Anna (Eric) Salzberg

  This commemorative naming of the CESJDS Ruth and Samuel Salzberg Science Department Chair is a particularly fitting tribute to them because Ruth and Samuel Salzberg were great believers in moving the world forward through thought, innovation, and discovery. Three of their grandchildren, all graduates of CESJDS, went on to become medical professionals.

• Legacy of Joe and Nancy Schifrin

  

  CESJDS recently received generous bequests from trusts set up by Joe and Nancy Schifrin (z”l), who were the grandparents to CESJDS alumna Jacqueline Gutierrez ’99 (z”l). We are grateful for their generosity and their vision for the future of our school. The Schifrins were members of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, and the family was close with Rabbi Jack Moline. Below is an excerpt from Rabbi Moline’s blog post that invites us to get to know this extraordinary family and we are happy to share it with our community:

  Joe Schifrin thought he would be a bachelor his entire life. He was especially devoted to his elderly mother despite the fact that his childhood had not been a halcyon time. Later in life he met Nancy, and, before they married, she embraced the Judaism that was so important to him. Nancy’s daughter had a complicated life. So when her two oldest children were still little, Joe and Nancy took them in and raised them as their own. So there was Joe—just a few years earlier quietly resigned to life as a single man—now raising grandchildren he hardly knew, I know it was not always easy for Joe. Though he was possessed of a gentle demeanor, he never had a good role model for dealing with frustration. I was the family rabbi, and Joe and I had many discussions about childrearing. He was reluctant to believe he was doing as good a job as I assured him.

  Luis is one of those children. His gentle and beautiful sister Jacqueline died tragically young as his grandmother Nancy declined into dementia. In the end, Luis was all the family Joe had. When Joe died, Luis had become the remarkable and successful young man Joe had raised him to be.

  Jackie's classmate at Gesher and JDS, Ilana Garon ’99 shared with us about Jackie:

  She was a super talented distance runner and a really good athlete in general–she also played soccer and softball as I recall—but running was her specialty. In 4th or 5th grade, for instance, she ran the mile in 6:48, which is an outrageous time for an elementary school student, and just blew everyone else out of the water. I'm amazed I still remember this 30 years later—but that goes to show it made an impression!

  She was also hilariously mischievous; she'd be the one suggesting to me that we should TRY to get lost on class trips, for instance. She constantly drove me crazy (and in hindsight, I love remembering this because it makes me laugh) by breaking into my locker—for whatever reason she always knew my locker combination—and "borrowing" my books, which I would then think I lost only to have them suddenly reappear in my locker days or weeks later. Oh, and my snacks, and occasionally spare/clean gym shorts—she'd help herself to those too. It was hard to be bothered about it because she was so cheeky—she'd be like, "Oh, this book? I looked at your schedule, you weren't using it this week!" And there was no question that if I'd needed something, she'd have been perfectly happy for me to raid her locker for it too. It was very much a "what's mine is yours and vice versa" type of thing.

  Jackie was interested in science, and she was actually pretty good at biology—definitely better than I was. She was helped by the fact that she had an extremely good memory. At one point she told me she had the goal of being an osteopath because she was always interested in bones.

  It's one of the great tragedies of our community that Jackie didn't manage to become all the amazing things I believe she could've been.

  Ilana and her husband named their baby daughter after Jackie.

  Judaism was very important to Nancy and Joe. They enrolled Luis and Jackie, as young children, at Gesher and then Jackie continued at CESJDS. We are in touch with Luis now and thank him for the extraordinary gift his grandparents made to our school. Joe and Nancy were blessed to raise two wonderful grandchildren, and the Schifrin's legacy will live on at CESJDS forever through their gift.

  For more information on how you can make a bequest or other planned gifts to CESJDS, please contact Sharon Metro at smetro@cesjds.org or 301.692.4861. Learn more about the CESJDS planned giving program.

• Ethel and Irving Schilit Innovation Lab

  

  We are pleased to announce the iLab at the Lower School has been named the Ethel and Irving Schilit Innovation Lab in recognition of Diane and Howard Schilit’s gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We express our sincerest gratitude to Diane and Howard for this thoughtful and generous expression of support of CESJDS.

  The Ethel and Irving Schilit Innovation Lab is a place for sparks of innovation, collaborative interdisciplinary teaching, and open exploration. It is the home-base for technology such as robotics, large screen design computers, 3D printing, and a smart board on wheels. Students interact with exciting materials on the cutting edge of scientific and engineering understanding and technology and are encouraged to take the initiative in their learning and to open doors to increased critical inquiry and design thinking.

  Diane and Howard are the proud parents of three CESJDS graduates: Jonathan ’01 (Jenna) Schilit, Suzanne Schilit ’04, and Amy ’07 Schilit Benarroch (Aquiba), and they have one grandson, Levi Schilit, ’31. Their daughter-in-law, Jenna, works at CESJDS as a Lower School Hebrew learning specialist.

  This gift is made in loving memory of Howard’s parents, Ethel (z”l) and Irving Schilit (z”l). They were from Forest Hills, New York. Ethel was born and grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Irving was born in Poland and moved with his family to Brooklyn as a young boy.

  Howard and Diane chose to name the Innovation Lab in memory of Ethel and Irving Schilit because of their passion for learning and new discovery that they imbued in their four children: Audrey, Howard, Warren, and Robert (z”l).

• Evonne and Elliot Schnitzer Family Jewish History Department Chair

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the naming of the Evonne and Elliot Schnitzer Family Jewish History Department Chair. Evonne and Elliot have made their contribution to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign, and CESJDS is grateful to them for this generous gift and meaningful naming opportunity.

  Evonne and Elliot are the parents of Debbi ’93 (Aaron) Cooper, Rebecca ’95 (Aaron) Kotok, and Dan ’98 (Alex Frommer ’98) Schnitzer. Their eight grandchildren are Ella, Gabe, Ruby, Judah, Eden, Asher, Noah, and Eli.

  Elliot and Evonne shared, “Jewish history tells the master story of our people. It encompasses Torah and Talmud, exile and return, Israel, America and world Jewry, and disaster and triumph. We believe that it is vitally important for every Jew to understand our shared history in order to create a vibrant future. Our children were blessed with wonderful Jewish history teachers at CESJDS, and we want to ensure that every CESJDS student, including our grandchildren, has the same experience.”

  Elliot served on the Board of Trustees of CESJDS, and Evonne is a current and beloved kindergarten teacher.

• Silberg Family Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the naming of the Silberg Family Yom Ha’atzmaut Celebration in recognition of Ruth and Jay Silberg’s generous gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We express our sincerest gratitude to Ruth and Jay for this thoughtful expression of support of CESJDS. Ruth and Jay are proud parents of three alumni: Eric ’95 (Mira) Silberg, Karen Silberg Richman ’96 (David), and Joanne Silberg ’03 (Gerry Atkinson) and grandparents of Alec (4th grade) and Lyla (1st grade).

  Ruth and Jay’s naming of the annual Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration is particularly meaningful to them because through CESJDS their children developed a love of learning, a strong commitment to Jewish tradition and values, and a deep connection to Israel. They look forward to their grandchildren and all present and future CESJDS students joyously celebrating the land and people of Israel.

  Ruth and Jay are pleased to support the Building Our Future endowment campaign in order to ensure that the opportunities afforded their family will be available to all who desire a day school education.

• Irene and Daniel Simpkins Senior Capstone Israel Trip

  We are pleased to announce the naming of the Irene and Daniel Simpkins Senior Capstone Israel Trip and the establishment of the Irene and Daniel Simpkins Israel Education Fund. Irene and Dan made a remarkably generous lead gift to the Building Our Future endowment campaign last year. The school expresses its sincerest gratitude to the Simpkins for their vision and generosity and their expression of their love of Israel and Jewish education.

  By endowing the Senior Capstone Israel Trip, which includes our Jewish Heritage Trip to Europe, the Simpkins' support the education of our students about Israel's role as a Jewish Nation, about the challenges that we face as a community because of anti-Semitism, and about how our students can stem this tide. With this gift they also provide aid to future generations of CESJDS students who want to visit Israel without financial hardship and see firsthand what Israel means to them and the Jewish people.

  Irene and Dan are the parents of Nina Simpkins, CESJDS Class of 2015 and who is now a sophomore at Cornell University. The family began their CESJDS journey 15 years ago when Nina said, "I want to come to THIS school, Mommy!" Embraced by a loving, caring community, Nina benefited from an immersion in Judaism that enabled her to become comfortable, proud, and passionate about her background and beliefs. CESJDS provided Nina with the immeasurable value of an exceptional Jewish education.

  Irene and Dan were active members of the parent community when Nina was at school and experienced CESJDS as a place where students and families joined in the learning process and grew together. All the things Nina experienced on the trip to Israel, Czech Republic, and Poland were the culmination of her CESJDS education and their family's Jewish life. Today Irene and Dan serve as chairs of the Building Our Future campaign, and Dan is a vice president of the Board of Directors.

• Charles E. Smith Family Foundation Makes $5,000,000 Commitment to CESJDS

  “What is a Jew? What is his purpose in the world? It’s important. Jewish survival.” —Charles E. Smith

  CESJDS is pleased to announce that the Charles E. Smith Family Foundation has made a $5,000,000 commitment to the Building Our Future endowment campaign.

  We express our sincerest gratitude to the Smith and Kogod families for their generous and ongoing financial support of CESJDS. Over the past 50 years Charles E. Smith and many other visionaries worked tirelessly to raise funds to build our great school, which is like no other in the nation. Our school was named for Charles E. Smith in recognition of his extraordinary contributions and fundraising activities on our behalf. He believed the survival of Judaism depended on educating Jewish youth, and he worked tirelessly to ensure the future of that vision. Today there are more than 2,500 CESJDS alumni who lead purpose-driven lives that engage the world with Jewish values.

  On behalf of the students, parents, alumni community, faculty/staff, and our entire Jewish community, we thank the Smith and Kogod families for their continuing support and close relationship.

• David Bruce Smith English Department Chair

  We are pleased to announce the English department chair at the Upper School will be named the David Bruce Smith English Department Chair in recognition of Mr. Smith’s gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We express our sincerest gratitude to Mr. Smith for this thoughtful and generous expression of support of CESJDS.

  Mr. Smith, formerly a senior vice president at the Charles E. Smith Companies, and editor in chief/publisher of CRYSTAL CITY etc. magazine, is now president of David Bruce Smith Publications. The firm specializes in the writing, editing, and publishing of limited, fine-edition books. During the last half-decade, Mr. Smith has written about Abraham Lincoln, John Marshall, Tennessee Williams, Charles E. Smith and others—11 books in total. Mr. Smith is the founder and chairman of the Grateful American Foundation, whose purpose is to restore enthusiasm about American history for children and adults via videos, podcasts, and interactive activities.

  Mr. Smith is a member of the boards of the Washington DC Jewish Community Center, George Washington University, and Hebrew University and is president of the National Institute of Psychobiology in Jerusalem.

  Given his love of books and his extensive background in publishing, this named endowment is very fitting and illustrates Mr. Smith’s commitment to CESJDS and to building the writers and readers of the future.

• Barbara and Allan Topol Middle School Musical

  Barbara and Allan Topol have made their gift to the Building Our Future endowment campaign and will name the Barbara and Allan Topol Middle School Musical. We express our sincerest gratitude to the Topols for this thoughtful and generous expression of support for CESJDS.

  Barbara and Allan Topol are longtime members and supporters of the CESJDS community. They are the parents of four alumni: David ’84, Rebecca ’86, Deborah ’89, and Daniella ’92. They have seven grandchildren: Sam, Ben, Alex, Hannah, Sophia, Jessica, and Leora.

  Barbara and Allan said:

  We made this gift because of our appreciation for the superb education that CESJDS provided to our children and is providing to our grandchildren. Our hope is that with an increased endowment, this incredible education will be made available to more children. The music selection was a natural for us. Barbara has always studied and played the piano, and the creative arts are a major part of our lives.

  The current Barbara and Allan Topol Middle School musical is The Lion King, and their grandson Ben is playing the part of Banzai the Heyena.

• Larisa and Sean Trainor Family Endowment Fund for Female Athletics

  We are the proud parents of three strong, confident, and well-rounded young women, Jane and Sasha (11th grade) and Mischa (10th grade), and CESJDS has been an instrumental partner in their development. To ensure the future strength of CESJDS and to recognize the tremendous benefit our children have received from their years at CESJDS, we have established a permanent endowed fund to support athletic programs for young women at JDS—and we have also made a provision through our retirement accounts to support the future of JDS.

  As some in the CESJDS community know, neither of us was raised particularly Jewish: one a Soviet-era refugee and the other a convert. We moved from Northern Virginia to Bethesda shortly after Jane and Sasha were born because we wanted to raise them in a thriving Jewish community, and Bethesda clearly fit that bill. Although the girls attended Beth El Preschool, we were not thinking of CESJDS as the next step; after all, who pays a premium to move to Bethesda with its well-known public schools and then sends their kids to a private school? One visit to the local elementary school and we knew immediately that it was not the right fit for us at that time.

  We investigated options and picked CESJDS. When we arrived at CESJDS with our first two kindergartners back in 2008, we did so not know what to expect or how long they would be at the school. It quickly became clear that CESJDS was a warm, nurturing environment that would allow our young girls to blossom and that we were in it for the long haul. Along the way, our girls have been blessed to have a number of strong, female role models as teachers and coaches—from Hamora Rhonda to Ms. Kotler and Ms. Schilit in the lower school to Ms. Ball, Ms. Batson, Ms. Fisanich, Ms. Munteanu, Ms. Agzigian, Ms. Nassau, and to coach and now Athletic Director Becky Silberman, at the upper school, to name a few.

  And, yes, there have been a number of great male teachers, including Mr. Watkins-Chow, Mr. Silberman, Dr. Apter, and Mr. Hodges. The love of learning that these talented professionals have helped instill in Jane, Sasha, and Mischa will remain with them long after they leave the halls of CESJDS.

  “Go Lions!”—a cheer we have yelled many times over the years. All three of our girls have played multiple sports at CESJDS, volleyball, softball, and some basketball. Their participation in school sports has been a valuable part of their growth. They have learned to win gracefully and lose without soreness. They have learned to be good teammates and have developed critical leadership skills. They have developed stronger friendships with their classmates through the shared fun of practicing, competing, winning, and (yes) losing while developing the hearts of a Lion.

  We could not be happier with our choice, and we know it costs more than just tuition to maintain CESJDS as a thriving and innovative school. We are happy to make CESJDS a part our charitable giving to help ensure its financial health for years to come.

  —Larisa and Sean Trainor

  CESJDS is grateful to Larisa and Sean for their thoughtfulness and generosity. Learn more about how you can create a lasting gift to CESJDS. For more information or for a confidential conversation, please contact Sharon Metro at smetro@cesjds.org or 301.793.0837.

• Peggy Wilchins Memorial Endowment Kallah Support Fund

  CESJDS is pleased to announce the establishment of the Peggy Wilchins Memorial Endowment Kallah Support Fund in recognition of the Wilchins family’s generous gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign. We are grateful to the Wilchins family for this thoughtful expression of support of CESJDS.

  The Wilchins family established this fund in loving memory of their late wife and mother, Peggy, to support an annual kallah for the Board of Directors of CESJDS, including past presidents, their families, and special guests. Peggy valued the idea of a leadership group learning together, including spouses and other relatives who composed their support system.

  The first Peggy Wilchins Memorial Endowment Kallah was held in October 2015 and featured Dr. Jenna Weissman Joselit who discussed "In the Frame: Snapshots of American Jewish Life.” Thank you to the Wilchins family for providing our community with this meaningful opportunity to learn together.

  The Wilchins family remembers that Peggy was often as frequently engaged as her husband, Howard, who served as president of the Board of Directors of CESJDS from 1988 to 1990. Howard remarked, “Peggy was a wonderful sounding board for me. You want to know how smart she was? Every morning she did the New York Times crossword puzzle at the breakfast table in ink. More important, though, she had a heart of wisdom. And we were all blessed by it.”

  Howard and Peggy’s children are Daniel ’94 (Rebecca Phillips Wilchins) and Julie ’90 Wilchins (David Schor). Howard has three grandchildren, Abraham, Ezra, and Benjamin. Howard is now married to Sue, and they share four other grandchildren, Magnolia, Max, Kelly, and Henry.

  This special gift is funded through Howard’s current gift and pledge to the Building Our Future endowment campaign as well as through his future planned gift. Howard has thoughtfully and generously provided for CESJDS in his will so that his family’s Jewish legacy will continue long after his lifetime. CESJDS is a proud partner in the Federation of Greater Washington’s Create a Jewish Legacy program, which encourages members of our community to provide for the organizations they hold dear through a bequest in a will or trust or through an IRA beneficiary designation, life insurance, or other planned gift.

• Zitelman Family Fund to Educate Against Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic Sentiment on College Campuses

  CESJD is pleased to announce the creation of the Zitelman Family Fund to Educate Against Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic Sentiment on College Campuses. We express our sincerest gratitude to Cindy and Rick Zitelman for this generous gift and commitment to the CESJDS 50th Anniversary Building Our Future endowment campaign.

  Through their gift, Cindy and Rick will support preparing our students for the onslaught they are likely to receive on college campuses and when they go out in the world on sensitive issues related to Israel and the Jewish people. The CESJDS experience provides students with the education and knowledge to engage positively with respect to Judaism, Israel, and Jewish History while also responding to anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment. Providing students with this knowledge enhances their ability to engage, anticipate, and respond to arguments and counterarguments when challenged.

  In addition to providing meaningful support for specific program areas, the Building Our Future campaign also provides donors with the opportunity to create commemorative naming opportunities. In recognition of the Zitelman’s gift, CESJDS will name the annual senior Kedushah (holiness) Award in honor of Rabbi Reuvane Slater. Rabbi Slater is a righteous person who understands and appreciates the wisdom, spiritual depth, and ethical guidance of Judaism. The Rabbi Reuvane Slater Kedushah Award, given by Cindy and Rick Zitelman and family, will be presented to a graduating senior each year at Siyum who exhibits the qualities of “a good soul,” with a commitment and passion for Judaism. The student will be a leader and role model and dedicated to Jewish studies.

  Cindy and Rick are the proud parents of three alumni – Shelby Zitelman ’03, Jackie Zitelman Horvitz ’06, and Amy Zitelman Hersch ’07. Cindy and Rick have seven grandchildren.

• The Cindy and Rick Zitelman Planned Giving Challenges

  Dear Friends and Supporters of the CESJDS Community,

  We are pleased to announce our commitment to the future of CESJDS through the purchase of a life insurance policy. Once the proceeds of the policy are received by the CESJDS Endowment Fund, the annual earnings will provide ongoing support for tuition assistance.

  We support CESJDS because it provides students with an excellent Jewish education built on a solid foundation of Jewish values, ethics, and morals as well as an excellent general education. We have seen through our three daughters and their friends how students bond and maintain close and supportive relationships throughout their lives.

  The annual insurance premiums are being funded with tax-deductible charitable contributions, which result in a very cost-effective and easy way to leave a meaningful legacy gift to CESJDS.

  With our gift we are challenging CESJDS to secure 25 new planned gift commitments throughout 2018 and hope that you will participate.

  We urge you to “Create Your Jewish Legacy” at CESJDS using life insurance, your will, trust, or retirement account. Feel free to contact us or professionals at CESJDS at plannedgiving@cesjds.org or 301.692. 4861. Please learn more about planned giving at CESJDS here.

  We have made a significant commitment to fund the future of CESJDS and encourage you to do the same.

  Thank you.

  Cindy and Rick Zitelman