Featured Student: Tuvia Berman
Tuvia (Theodore/Teddy) Berman was born and raised in the Sephardic section of Brooklyn. Although, as he put it, “My last name doesn’t end with a vowel,” he follows Syrian minhagim passed down from his maternal grandfather (jiddo in Arabic) who is also his namesake (Touffic). Despite being blind and confined to a wheelchair in the […]
Featured Student: Yaakov Boxenbaum
Yaakov Boxenbaum grew up in Jupiter, Florida. He earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and policy from the University of South Florida. He then moved out to the “wild, wild West” to be an outdoor educator in Wyoming and then a park ranger in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. This led him to teach English […]
Featured Student: David Kaye
David Kaye was born and raised on Long Island in a conservative Jewish environment, where the importance of keeping kosher and maintaining Jewish pride were strongly held values. His grandfather was a guiding force in enabling David to recognize the breathtaking beauty that Hashem has provided. During David’s teenage years, his grandfather inspired him to firmly […]
Featured Student: Roman – Shimon Motsa
Roman-Shimon was born in February 1995 in Stuttgart, Germany. His parents are originally from Estonia (former Soviet Union) and moved to Germany as quota refugees in 1994. He grew up secular but nevertheless ended up going to the Jewish kindergarten in the community in Baden-Württemberg. During middle and high school, Roman-Shimon had once a week […]
Featured Student: Daniel Glass
Daniel Glass was born in Edgware, north west London, England. He attended Jewish schools throughout his education and grew up in a Modern Orthodox family. His family was involved in the local Orthodox synagogue and Daniel regularly attended the youth services which is where he learnt how to lead a service and read from the […]
Featured Student: Ezra Sackett
Ezra was born and raised in the beautiful city of Denver, Colorado. He grew up attending a Reform Synagogue that his mother worked at for many years. In high school, Ezra became very involved in the Jewish Youth Group BBYO. Through his involvement in BBYO he developed a strong sense of Jewish pride and met […]
Featured Student: Michael Danto
Michael’s family moved often during his childhood. As a result, Michael experienced the diversity of the Jewish community from a young age. Some of his first memories are of the Jewish Community Center preschool in Richmond, VA. Michael’s parents sent him to a Jewish day school for kindergarten, where he learned the aleph bet from […]
Featured Student: Benjamin Birkeland
Ben Birkeland was fortunate in that from a young age his parents and grandparents instilled in him a deep connection with his Jewish roots. His grandparents exposed him to Jewish foods, music, and language, and his parents both sent him to their Reform congregation’s religious school (through high school) and encouraged holiday observance. Ben was […]
Featured Alumni
Zac Miller is from Philadelphia, PA. He came to Shapell’s in 2012. Zac has a Bachelor’s in Business Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He shared: “I have never been, and probably never will be, in such a diverse environment, yet everyone, student and rabbis alike, are all united by a common goal: the desire […]
Featured Student: Cameron Erickson
Cameron Erickson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Growing up, his parents were both judges for the State of Minnesota, and of different political persuasions, which helped contribute to some heated arguments around the dinner table over politics and the ideological direction of the country. After attending DePaul in January of 2013, Cameron was encouraged by […]