UAlbany / Shabbos House Alumni - News & Updates

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Alumni News & Updates
January - June 2004

updated 4/15/04
Baby Fisch Bris	On the Friday before Pesach we were excited to go down to NY to participate in Josh and Faith's Simcha, in the Bris of their newborn son - named Yehudah Tzvi. (We felt so comfortable there, we left Mendel's "black hat" in the Young Israel at Avenue J where the Brit Milah was held. Don't worry we got it back...)
Rochel Chaya Lotwin	On the same pre-Passover hectic Friday we wanted to be sure we had a chance to stop off in Kew Garden Hills to see Rochel Chaya, the new Lotwin. Fred was away at work, but it was a pleasure to see Stacey and the baby even if only for a few minutes.
Dan and Atara Marzouk moving to Pittsburgh	Dan got a well-deserved promotion at his company Universal Underwriters (A Zurich Insurance Company) and so they are off to Pittsburgh. While it was wonderful when they were close by living here in Albany, we are excited for them and wish them the very best always. >> Here the Rubin and Marzouk kids are pictured together.
updated 3/29/04
Josh and Faith's Baby Boy	Mazal Tov to Josh and Faith (Zuckerberg) Fisch on the birth of a baby boy, Thursday Night 3/25. May they raise him with in good health, with much happiness and Nachas, and all that they need/desire.
updated 2/22/04
320 Guest Rooms Available	2 Guestrooms are available for alumni and guests at 320 Fuller Road, which we hope will soon be the site of the future Shabbos House. It's 2 doors down (towards Stuyvesant Plaza) than the current one. Just call ahead for availability. We plan to have a few guest rooms in the new Shabbos House as well, so you are always welcome back for a visit!
Baby Lotwin	Mazal Tov to Fred and Stacey (Wolinetz) Lotwin ('01) on the birth of a baby daughter 2/21/04. May we share many Simchas!
Alumni Back for Shabbos	It was exciting to spend Shabbos with alumni Josh ('00) and Faith (Zuckerberg) ('99) Fisch now of Brooklyn, Nadine Kochavi ('00) (former L'chaim President) of the Upper West Side in Manhattan, Kalman Pivovoz ('00) of Brooklyn, and Josh Markoff, now in Newburgh NY.
updated 1/27/04
Gary Metzger engaged	Gary Metzger was director of Jewish Student Services (JSS) which was the forerunner to Hillels NENY or University at Albany Hillel, from circa 1995-1999. He is now engaged to Miriam Goldberg, and a Summer '04 wedding is planned. Mazal Tov!!
Shmuel Greenbaum's Wedding	Shmuel (Steven) Greenbaum ('85) is marrying Hadassa Elkouby on the 5th night of Chanukah 12/23/03 in London. His first wife Shoshana was killed in the Sbarro's bombing in Israel, and in her memory he established two website and e-mail lists dedicated to Kindness - www.partnersinkindness.org (with a universal message) and www.traditionofkindness.org (for the Jewish community). While at SUNY Shmuel founded a group called the "Flame!" promoting Jewish learning and was active at Shabbos House, as well as in the downtown Jewish community.
Ronn Torrosian's Wedding and PR Firm in NYC	Ronn Torrosian married Zhanna Osna on August 17, 2003. Albany alumni at the wedding included Russell Feder ('93), Victor Naar ('94), Harry Rubenstein ('96) and Josh Yablon ('96). He founded and runs a major NYC PR agency: "5W Public Relations" www.5wpr.com. Clients include the Israeli Government, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, and the Christian Coalition of America. Farrah Fidler ('04 and Shabbos House "regular") interned at 5W in Summer '03. Ronn looks forward to hearing from Shabbos House attendees and UAlbany alums: ronn@5wpr.com
Steve Gellerstein remembers "the Chulent"	Steven Gellerstein ('90) is now a lawyer with Meislik & Levavy living in Teaneck NJ with his wife Judy (married 8/8/93) and their children Andrew and Allison. He writes: "The Shabbos House shaliach at that time was Yoel Seliger. Yoel and Ruth were always available and the Cholent was always there Shabbos afternoon after davening.."
Nadine Kochavi's Mitzvah Toy Drive	Nadine ('00) just moved to the City where she works for the Joint Distribution Committee - where she gets a good look at their work with impoverished and underprivileged Jewish communities around the world. At this busy gift season, she's doing her own "Toy Drive" for kids in Moldova, one of the poorest communities of the Former Soviet Union. Contact Nadine and she can connect you with a Mitzvah.
Reb Pinchas Schreiber and Family	The Schreibers were the Shabbos House Family / Directors from 1992-1996. It was very special to have R' Pinchas join us (with Levi and Tamar) at the August '03 Alumni Reunion in NYC. They sent us a more recent picture of their family (taken at a wedding in Florida) which alumni from their time ('92-'96) would especially enjoy. R' Pinchas Schreiber is holding Tamar, Levi has his hands on Mendel's shoulders, Chani is standing in front of Mrs. Yehudis Schreiber, and Batsheva is on the right. The Schreibers now live in Hartford CT, where they are active in the community and R' Pinchas juggles the numbers (well, he is great with juggling and with math) at Hartford Steam Boiler, a specialty insurance company for industrial equipment.
Arie Lipnick - Political Communications	Arie Lipnick ('03) worked on the political campaign of Simcha Felder (NYC councilman) and is now an active member on his staff. Arie was here for Simchas Torah and also surprised us for the big snowy weekend 12/6.
Mike Kashani	Michael Kashani ('03) financial analyst at Standard and Poor's - researching and evaluating non-profit orgs. He's been up here for Simchat Torah and also for the "Dr Laz" weekend.
The Rudichs	Living in Manhattan now - David ('01) is working on something in the Medical or Medicaid field (some federal thing) and Michael is into Midtown Real Estate.
Mazal Tov! Little Miss Muhlbauer	Dr. David ('97) and Adina Muhlbauer had a baby girl (11/16/03) - Mazal Tov! They're living in Manhattan, and Dave is in his residency.
Jerry and Suzie Kahn	Jerry ('90) and his newly married wife Suzie came up for the WCDB reunion and spent Shabbos at Shabbos House. Jerry had plenty to share of his good memories at Shabbos House back in the day, and entertained all of us for Shabbos Lunch with his comedy routine.
The NEXT Generation... bli ayin hara!		<< Michal Seinfeld on left - daughter of Tali ('97) and Eyal ('95) Seinfeld,
		<< Yosef Aryeh Gilbert - son of Gregg/Benyamin ('99) and Shara ('99) growing up near Yeshivat haMivtar not far from Efrat in the Holy Land. >> Shlomo Refael Jaffe - son of Yitzchak / Adam Jaffe ('97) and Maayan, also living in Kiriyat HaMivtar near Efrat. This picture is at his Brit Milah.
Jim Diamond	A criminal defense attorney (and former prosecutor) in Ridgefield CT (living in Stamford) James returned for the WCDB reunion, and spent Shabbos with us. Back in his SUNY days he was the General Manager of WCDB and many of those who worked for the station at that time went far in the industry (SONY Music, major Radio stations) etc. He inspired us with his memorable stories, and for the awe-inspiring Dvar Torah he said for Shabbos Lunch.
Steve Ostrove	Steven Ostrove (' ) came up with his wife Karen Ostrove for the WCDB reunion, and spent Shabbos with us. Steve is a veteran of UAlbany's radio station - dating back to when it was named WSUA (based out of Bleeker Hall on the downtown campus). His wife Karen is an illustrator of Jewish children's books - our kids found books at home which she illustrated.
Kalman Pivovoz	Kalman ('00) just bought a rental property in the off-campus student neighborhood in Albany, and comes off several years working as an accountant for American Express Financial Services in NYC. We wish him luck with the new house - and all his endeavors.
Oren Silvers	See the "Carport Solution" page for a peek at what Oren did for us at Shabbos House to maximize the space available, temporarily - until the new building is built. Oren comes up now and then, to see friends, spent time at Shabbos House and for his business OBS Enterprises selling sports drinks and supplements to Gyms etc..
Rachel Commer	Rachel ('00) now lives in the Upper West Side. She's an accountant for Alpert, Freedman & Green.. and comes up to Albany to recruit on career fair days.
Dean Wegweisser	Dean ('03) has been accepted to a songwriting graduate program at SUNY Purchase.
Dan & Atara Marzouk	Dan ('01) & Atara ('02) live in (and have remodeled) their home off New Scotland Ave in Albany. Their twins, Noach and Binyamin, are growing and adorable - BH! Dan's an Underwriter for Universal Underwriters (a Zurich Insurance Company) and Atara is now a researcher at Albany Medical Center.
Chaim Spilman	Chaim ('02) comes up once a month for his Army (National Guard) service on weekends in Troy. It is always a pleasure to see him. As our honorary Major General of Logistics, it is exciting to show him the latest developments in maximizing space for increasing turnouts.
Chanowitz Marriages	For those who remember the early 80's at SUNY Albany, Rabbi Moshe and Esther Chanowitz were the family here back then. The Chanowitz family now lives in Montreal, where they are active members of the Chabad community, and run the "Plaque Impact" engraving business. Their two eldest children are now married. Fruma married Feivish Rosenberg and they live in Crown Heights (Brooklyn) and commute to work in Tenafly NJ. They have a little son named Mendel. Levi Chanowitz married (Lieberman) and they live now in Florida, outside Ft. Lauderdale.
Alan and Jodi Rosen	Alan ('99) and Jodi live in Albany, where Alan is Residence Director at Alumni Quad and Jodi now works at Key Equipment Financial in downtown Albany.
Richard Green	Lived IN Shabbos House 20 years ago or so (during one of the times when students lived here) and remembers a book explaining how Moshe actually "heard" G-d... anyone know which book that was?