Featured Student: Danny Gadayev
Danny Gadayev was born in Brooklyn, New York, to traditional but not observant Jewish parents who immigrated to the U.S. from Soviet Russia. At the age of nine, he moved to Queens, where he spent most of his youth. After spending 5th and 6th grades in public school, Danny’s parents sent him to a Yeshiva […]
Featured Student: Roger (Reuven) Goldberg
Roger Goldberg was born in Israel to American and Russian parents, and moved to Columbus Ohio at the age of 5. Both multi-lingual and an avid traveler, Roger took every opportunity available to him to embark on adventures, including a year-long high school exchange program in Venezuela, 2.5 years in Europe that included work and […]
Featured Students: Shapell’s Married Couples Program Students Ari and Jess Lawson
Approximately one year ago, Ari Lawson and Jess (a.k.a. Yisca) McCabe had a dream. As self-made Baalei Teshuva in Storrs, Connecticut who were engaged to be married, they had already committed to live an observant lifestyle and build a Torah home. But they knew that they needed far more knowledge and guidance. So, they dreamed […]
Featured Student: Yaakov Kaufman
Yaakov Kaufman was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey in a home where scholarship was encouraged and Shabbat dinners were known. He attended Conservative Hebrew School even after his Bar Mitzvah and genuinely enjoyed it, but came to realize that the truth lay somewhere else. Starting in high school he attended a small weekly […]
Featured Students: Shapell’s Married Couples Program Students Carli and Raffy Gutman
Carli and Raffy Gutman are students in the Shapell’s/Midreshet Rachel Married Couples Program. Carli grew up in Toronto, Canada, and Raffy was born in Bogota, Colombia and moved to Toronto with his family when he was 9 years old. Carli attended community Jewish day schools until grade 12 and then spent a gap year in […]
Featured Student: Ya’akov Reterink
Ya’akov Reterink was born and raised in San Jose, California. He was brought up in what he describes as “a typical West Coast American Reform family.” He went to Sunday School and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family always had a Pesach seder and, depending on the year, observed some of the other holidays. […]
Featured Student: Yisroel Ragosin
Yisroel Ragosin is a true Shapell’s success story. He grew up in Vancouver, Canada in what he describes as, “A traditional but not particularly religious family. Growing up we always had Friday night dinners as a family and I attended a non-denominational Jewish Day School. Though I was always aware of being Jewish, it was […]
Featured Student: Isaac Ansell Forsyth
Isaac Ansell Forsyth grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland with, as he describes, “my wonderful family – parents and older two brothers. I was not particularly interested in Judaism, so all credit to my mother who made sure we kept involved in the Edinburgh Jewish community, even when it meant dragging us off the football (soccer) […]
FEATURED STUDENTS: SHAPELL’S MARRIED COUPLES PROGRAM STUDENTS BEN AND DANA KEIL
Ben Keil grew up in an Orthodox home in Northeast Philadelphia, and attended Jewish day schools through 12th grade. Ben earned bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and Religion from Boston University, where he was very involved in Jewish life, and met his wife Dana. After graduating in 2010, Ben moved to New York City where he […]
Featured Student: Matt Neubauer
Shapell’s and MRC students are impressive people! This week, we are pleased to present the latest in a series of profiles of some of our excellent students. Matt Neubauer grew up in Springfield, NJ, enjoying both playing and watching sports particularly tennis and hockey (He is a “die hard” Rangers fan.) As a student at the […]
