Brandeis Magazine

Susan Abramson, P’17, celebrated her 34th year as rabbi of Temple Shalom Emeth, in Burlington, Massachusetts. She reports she’s gotten the TV bug, having developed a YouTube series titled “Spiritually Speaking.” The short documentaries on local faith traditions and houses of worship aim to dispel myths and stereotypes, and increase understanding of and appreciation for the diversity in communities. Susan is the proud mother of Aaron Lev Dvorkin ’17, who earned a BA in economics and political science at Brandeis. Davis Baird is Clark University’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. His son, Ian, is a U.S. Army captain working in military intelligence, currently deployed in Kuwait. Davis’ wife, Deanna Leamon, practices massage therapy in Worcester, Massachusetts. Jum-Phot Chuasai retired from Leadership Management International in Thailand. He is currently secretary general of the Fund for Classical Music Promotion, based in Bangkok, and is involved in several Rotary projects in rural areas in Thailand. He lives in Geneva and Bangkok. His son, Sarin, graduated from a hospitality management school in Switzerland two years ago and is now working as product adviser at Mini Cooper in Bangkok. “Two years ago, my son and I trekked to Mount Kailash, in Tibet, then on the Camino in Spain,” Jum-Phot writes. “Last year, we walked in the Bernese Alps, and this year we plan to join a pilgrimage walk on Shikoku Island, in Japan.” Rabbi Amy Eilberg is happily back in the Palo Alto, California, area, where her husband is director of undergraduate advising at Stanford. Amy is coordinator of Jewish community engagement at Faith in Action Bay Area. Elfie Harris sculpts and takes photographs, working in her studio in Philadelphia. In her sculpture, she is focusing now on modeled clay instead of the marble she worked with for the past 30 years. The Dov Hyman and Linda Snitkof Hyman clan has had many milestones to celebrate, welcoming two granddaughters and one grandson; celebrating eldest daughter Jenn’s wedding, which was officiated by her siblings; sending their youngest, Josh, off to the Yale School of Medicine; and soon marking their 41st wedding anniversary. Linda has taken a break from work to provide love and TLC to the grandchildren, and Dov hosts meetings and provides advisory services to global companies engaged in industrial partnership and offsets. Rabbi Bonnie Koppell received this year’s Jewish Military Professional award, presented at the Jewish Community Centers of North America biennial. Bonnie was the first female rabbi to serve in the U.S. military, earning the rank of colonel. A member of the U.S. Army Reserve for 38 years, she was deployed to Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. She retired from the military in 2016, and currently chairs the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ delegation to the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council. Rachel Greenberg Levenberg reports her daughter Julia graduated this spring with an MSW from NYU and older daughter Ruth was married on June 30. Their brother, Aaron, agreed to wear a suit to all the happy occasions. Jonathan Miller and Judi Schulman Miller, P’06, moved to Bethesda, Maryland, to be close to their three children and two grandchildren, all of whom live in the D.C. area. Jonathan is rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham, Alabama. Judi has expanded her psychotherapy practice to include tele-psychotherapy. Joani (Krieger) Mitchell writes, “Life is fantastic, living at the beach in Santa Cruz, California, and traveling the world — up to 70 countries. Hope to make it to 100 in the next five to 10 years.” She is a part-time travel agent and became a grandma in June. Renée Louise Robin, formerly in-house counsel at SunPower Corporation for the Americas, has returned to private law practice at Allen Matkins in San Francisco, where she represents solar, energy-storage and other sustainable-development projects. She is also the proprietor of a startup in Sonoma County, Pepper Lane Farm, which grows apples, olives, tomatoes, lemons and indigo. She has been married for 34 years to Scott McCreary, who runs CONCUR, a firm that mediates science-intensive disputes. Their son Aaron, who had a near-fatal car accident in 2015, has completed his MBA and now works at Investec in NYC. Son Miles, who majored in sustainable agriculture and food systems at Evergreen State College, has a residency in pottery at the Penland School of Crafts, near Asheville, North Carolina. Rosina Lida Rubin writes, “Twenty years ago, when I began cataloging the work of my late aunt, painter Anna Walinska (1906-97), I was told that it was nearly impossible to ‘re-emerge’ an artist who was not exhibiting at the time of death, especially if that artist was a woman. Two exhibitions featuring her work opened this year in March — one at San Francisco’s Chloe Gallery, the other at the Nassau County Museum of Art. In addition, two of her works depicting women reading, one of her favorite subjects, are installed at Brandeis’ Women’s Studies Research Center.” Jonathan Weiss is medical director for maternal-fetal medicine at UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians, in Berkeley, California. He just celebrated his 31st year in practice. Jonathan and his wife, Kiyo, have 12-year-old twins. Marc Wine authored a widely read two-part article titled “Global Disaster, Mobile Health IT and Blockchain” in response to health-care systems’ needs in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Marc works in the U.S. government, advising senior officials on health technologies.