Individuals who've visited our synagogue to address one of
our various adult groups, the Nursery or Religious Schools.

 

  Shawn Ohara, hosted a wine tasting event for a joint meeting of the Men's Club and Sisterhood in 2012. In addition to her advanced certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, Shawn earned a certificate in French Wine and certificates in Module I and Module II Wines of the World from the Le Cordon Bleu Academy in Paris. She has also completed the French Wine Society’s The Wines of France and Introduction to Wine courses. She is a member of the Linked-In Wine Business Network, Vins de France and The French Wine Society. She regularly holds wine tasting events and private tastings for her friends and clients.
  Hanan Harchol, Animator & Classical Guitarist, appeared at B'nai Tikvah for our annual S'lichot service presenting "Jewish Food For Thought". Thought-provoking and entertaining, incorporating Jewish wisdom into evocative and funny conversations on Jewish themes such as apology, forgiveness, and gratitude. Hanan Harchol distills major Jewish teachings, making them humorous, accessible, contemporary, non-preachy, and engaging.
  Dr. Ron Wolfson is the Dean of the Center for Jewish Education, American Jewish University was L’dor Vador scholar in residence here at B'nai Tikvah, .
  James C. McClosky served in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for his valor under fire, Jim worked for a consulting firm in Japan where he later established the Hay Group's management consulting business in Tokyo. At age 37, he entered Princeton Theological Seminary and earned a Masters of Divinity. While serving as student chaplain at Trenton State Prison in 1980, he became convinced that one of the inmates, sentenced to life for murder, was innocent. He founded Centurion Ministries, devoting the rest of his life to freeing the imprisoned innocent. Since 1983, he has helped free over 22 innocent people who have spent an average 15 years serving life or death sentences for crimes they did not commit.
  Joseph R. Merry is Director of Fund Development for the New Jersey Region of the National Conference for Community and Justice (founded in 1927 as The National Conference of Christians and Jews). Mr. Merry presented an overview of the mission of the NCCJ and spoke about the Anytown Partners in Education program. He presented us with a video of the Anytown Program and brought a program facilitator (from South Brunswick High School) and a student participant who will shared their experiences.
  Sue Wicks and Gary Waters former Assistant Coach for the Scarlet Knights, and former Rutgers Basketball Men's Head Coach visited us during our opening week of festivities for a few rounds of fun and instruction when we opened the new school wing.
  Susie Fishbein Susie Fishbein is the author of the wildly successful cookbooks, Kosher by Design, Kosher by Design Entertains, and the forthcoming Kosher by Design Kids in the Kitchen. She has spent this past year on a media tour traveling around the country giving cooking demonstrations.

She has appeared on The Today Show with Katie Couric, Allie & Jack, Sheila Bridges Designer Living, as well as several network news show cooking segments. She has taught at the prestigious Degustibus cooking school in New York. Susie Fishbein is a mother of four children — three girls and a boy.
  Phil Mushnick has been covering sports for the New York Post for almost 30 years , Mr. Mushnick has covered the New York Cosmos (soccer), the New York Rangers (hockey), and the New Jersey Nets (basketball). In addition, for the past 21 years he authors the Sports Radio and TV column for the Post. In addition, for the past 7 years, he also writes the weekly sports column for TV Guide.

His columns are always written to protect "the fan" in the business end of the sports world. His presentation covers many topics from baseball, football, basketball to the business end of sports.
  Dr. Fredrick Streit (our local congregant) is executive director and CEO of National Development & Research Institutes, Inc. located in New York City. His special abilities to deal with enhance interpersonal relationships between parents and their children is reflected in his book " Do Your Kids Know You Love Them?."
  Jamie Novak ,Clutter Expert Workshop, is the author of the bestseller 1,000 Best Quick and Easy Organizing Secrets and the newly released book "1,000 Best Quick and Easy Timesaving Strategies". She is often referred to as the "Oprah of Organizing" and has been featured on Home and Garden Television's (HGTV) Mission Organization and is the resident organizer for NBC's iVillage.
  Dave Kaplan is executive director of the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center, a nonprofit sports education entity on the campus of Montclair State University. Founded in 1998, the Museum's mission is to highlight the history of baseball, while reflecting the lifelong commitment of Yogi Berra to the education of young people.
Mr. Kaplan was a reporter and editor, having worked at the Associated Press and New York Daily News. He also collaborated with Yogi Berra on the book, "When You Come To A Fork In The Road, Take It!", Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes.
  Alan Freeman has been the Director of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, since its inception in 1993 as The Long Island Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. When the hall of fame began, Alan was the Health & Phys. Ed. Director of the Suffolk Y JCC, the home of the hall of fame. Since then, the hall of fame has expanded to become a national organization, and Alan (hasn't expanded), but has become the Assistant Executive Director of The Y, responsible for not only the hall of fame, but the day-to-day operations of the agency.

Alan, who has a Master of Arts in Applied Physiology from Teacher's College, Columbia University, has been at the Y since June, 1986. He is married to Marilyn, a Tax Attorney with UBS in Weehawken, NJ and is the father of David, a teenage Maccabi basketball player and Rachel.

  Mandy Linden's teaching experience includes the Claremont Children's School in NYC, where she taught Acting and Musical Theater. As an actress, Mandy performed in commercials, summer stock, and regional theater, and is toured with Pieces of 8, a professional a cappella jazz group. Mandy received her BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan and continued her training in NYC with Terry Schreiber and Tim Corcoran. She was a Casting Assistant and Associate for Theater, Film, and TV at Miramax, Judy Henderson Casting, and Theatreworks/USA, America's largest touring theater company for young audiences. Mandy also worked as the Assistant to the Musical Director for the original version of The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway.