Aaron Diamond (Class of 2008) recently became the first licensed Piano Builder in the U.S.A. through a collaboration between the New York State Department of Labor and Steinway & Sons. This is the first time in U.S. history that a publicly standardized licensing program like this exists, and he was the first to complete it. Aaron completed a rigorous apprenticeship and now works at the Steinway & Sons factory in Queens. He also builds his own sculptural musical instruments and recently held a gallery show in Brooklyn. Congratulations!

If you were at Schechter Westchester/Leffell as a Lower School student, you likely remember the thrill of being a kindergartner and spending time with your fifth-grade buddy…. or the excitement of finally being a fifth-grade buddy yourself! The tradition carries on, and the buddies recently spent an autumn afternoon together on a nature scavenger hunt, finding items like acorns, pine needles, and red leaves across our beautiful campus. These buddy relationships last beyond grades K/5. On Rosh Chodesh, our sixth graders had a visit with their buddies, now in first grade, and the two grades collaborated on a moon cycle project in honor of the new month. If you have a favorite kindergarten/fifth-grade memory, please share! We’d love to hear about it.

Liat Friedman Bershad (Class of 2012), the director of student life at George Mason University Hillel, was recently featured in a Washington Jewish Week article, where she discusses how her own upbringing and day school education influence her efforts to engage college students in Jewish life.

Rabbi Jordan Soffer (Class of 2007) was named the incoming head of school at Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy in Stamford, Connecticut, beginning July 1, 2026. Currently the head of school at Striar Hebrew Academy in Sharon, Massachusetts, Jordan is widely recognized as an exceptional Jewish educator who is a past recipient of the Covenant Foundation's Pomegranate Prize, a Wexner Field Fellow, and a Rabbinic Mentor for the Prizmah Day School Leadership Training Institute. Please join us in wishing Jordan mazal tov and much success in his new role.

Middle School Rabbi-in-Residence Lindsay Goldman (Class of 2011) attended the 39th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem as part of the Mercaz party representing the Masorti/Conservative movement. The World Zionist Congress is the legislative body of the World Zionist Organization, and is the platform for delegates from around the world to make policy and funding decisions that impact Jewish life in Israel and globally. Kol HaKavod! 

On B'Tzelem Elohim, the first Jewish Disability podcast, host Rafi Josselson (Class of 2025), a Jewish Autistic inclusion advocate, public speaker, and first-year student at Binghamton University, speaks with people committed to creating an inclusive Jewish community for people of all abilities. Rafi launched the podcast in September 2024, when he was still a Leffell School student. Recently, Rafi and our own Dr. Kay discussed the mission of Jewish day school education and the nuances and challenges of creating an inclusive and supportive Jewish day school community. Listen on Rafi's website,  Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

History comes to life in our Gaming the Government program. Brought to Leffell by History Department Chair Harry Shontz and now used across several grades, this program has students take on the roles of historical characters in role-play and simulation games. Whether they play the Soviet delegation at the Yalta Conference or a sixteenth-century Chinese bureaucrat, students learn about governmental structures and key historical flashpoints as they analyze primary sources and then wheel, deal, scheme, and debate each other – and possibly even change the course of history!

Tali Cohen Carrus (Class of 2008) won a 2025 Pomegranate Prize for emerging leaders in the field of Jewish education from The Covenant Foundation. Tali is the senior director of programs at Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, and oversees Gateways’ specialized Hebrew school and bnai mitzvah program for students whose needs are not met in other Jewish educational environments. Congratulations!

We can't wait to welcome the Class of 2006 back to the Upper School for their 20 year reunion on Thursday, May 7. This will be a wonderful chance to reconnect with each other and to reminisce about the stories you share from your High School days. Click here to add the reunion to your calendar; a formal invitation to follow. We look forward to seeing you in May!

the following alumni on their engagements

• Shelly Seidemann (Class of 2012) and Alon Malaev
  
• Sam Abecassis (Class of 2015) and Ruby Wald
  
• Philip Seidenwar (Class of 2015) and Carly Hoffman
  
• Daniel Kohen (Class of 2016) and Jennifer Fox
  
• Ben Goldberg (Class of 2017) and Allyson Newman
  
• Andrew Liebergall (Class of 2017) and Julia Hakim
  
• Sophia Wolk (Class of 2019) and Sam Forman

the following alumni on their wedding

• Lindsay Goldman (Class of 2011) and Gabriel Richman
• Ari Friedman (Class of 2013) and Aliza Layman
• Justin (Coby) Pellis (Class of 2016) and Leah Sittenfeld
• Yaira Katz (Class of 2018) and Jeremy Somogyi

the following alumni on new additions to their families

• Jenna (Polinsky) Ginsberg (MS 1998) and Scott Ginsberg on the birth of Madison Avery Ginsberg on September 18.
• Samara (Lender) Cohen (Class of 2005) and Pascal Cohen on the birth of Nili Cohen on November 20. 
• Adam Feldman (Class of 2007) and Julia Baum on the birth of Helen Shirlee Feldman on November 22.
• Melissa (Soskin) Feldstein (Class of 2008) and Jason Feldstein on the birth of Efrat Zalma Feldstein on June 29.
• Michael Gelb (Class of 2009) and Raquel Gelb on the birth of Noa Rose Gelb on November 11.
• Melissa (Polinsky) Kosterich (Class of 2009) and Jordan Kosterich (Class of 2007) on the birth of Remi Skye Kosterich on August 5.
• Naomi Podair (Class of 2010) and Yoni Freedman on the birth of Libby Arielle Freedman on September 6.
• Gabe Podair (Class of 2010) and Lizzy Podair on the birth of Simon Birke Podair on November 3.
• Melissa (Goldstein) Hochberger (Class of 2011) and Benji Hochberger (Class of 2010) on the birth of Rome Lavi Hochberger on November 19.
• Liat (Friedman) Bershad (Class of 2012) and Adam Bershad on the birth of Yuval Zimri Bershad on July 28.
• David Shasha (Class of 2016) and Eliana Shasha on the birth of Alfred Ariel Shasha on August 28.
• Rachel (Fortinsky) Rabizadeh (Class of 2017) and Daniel Rabizadeh on the birth of Avrohom Eliyohu Rabizadeh on October 13. 

We were thrilled when members of the Middle School Class of 1985 reached out to help them coordinate a virtual 40-year reunion. More than 20 classmates – out of 29 – joined the Zoom reunion at some point throughout the evening, and now they are discussing an in-person get together in the coming months. 

Next year, we will celebrate reunions for the Classes of 2006, 2016, and 2021. Please contact Jackie Grosser if you’d like to be involved in planning!

Our Lower School STEAM Fair was a wonderful opportunity to showcase student art projects, as well as science, engineering, music, and technology projects. From germinating cherry tomatoes in a variety of environments to determine which is the most ideal for growth to building a marble run to compare speed of objects of various sizes and weights to designing and coding video games that attendees could play at the fair, our students shared projects that demonstrated their diverse interests, skills, and talent.

• Julia Malits (Class of 2012) and Ross Gitlin
• Ari Friedman (Class of 2013) and Aliza Layman
• Jared David Cohn (Class of 2014) and Alexa Weinberg
• Marci Brustman (Class of 2017) and Josh Peyser
• Amber Zedeck (Class 2017) and Jason Deck

the following alumni on their recent weddings

• Josh Grafman (Class of 2010) and Ariel Kreisler 

• Lauren (Wexler) Hazony (Class of 2006) and Dan Hazony on the birth of Hadas NIlli Hazony on November 14.
• Lauren (Polinsky) Shanske (Class of 2006) and Uri Shanske on the birth of Sonja "Sonnie" Mina Shanske on February 15.
• Rachel (Rothman) Sackman (Class of 2006) and Michael Sackman on the birth of Riley Jordan Sackman on April 21.
• Adina (Goldman) Zelman (Class of 2008) and Zachary Zelman on the birth of Lila Melanie Zelman on June 13.
• Alexandra (Picheny) Bernstein (Class of 2009) and Jacob Bernstein on the birth of Blair Layla (Orli Be’eri) Bernstein on March 26.
• Jake Holtzer (Class of 2010) and Lauren Holtzer on the birth of Conner Caleb Holtzer on April 29.
• Melissa Goldman (Class of 2012) and Bezalel Fisher on the birth of Raya Ivy Goldman-Fisher on March 5.