Jews in the News: September, 2015

Washington University recently announced that Maxine Clark and Bob Fox have donated $7.5 million for programs and facilities at the university’s  George Warren Brown School of Social Work. In the couple’s honor, the university will rename the Brown School Policy Forum as the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Policy Institute. In addition, a space in a new Brown School building to be dedicated this fall will be named the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Forum. The couple is also providing $540,000 to the school’s Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement and its Civic Scholars Program. The couple are sustaining charter members of the university’s William Greenleaf Eliot Society’s Danforth Circle Chancellor’s Level.

In other news, Fox, who is founder and board chairman of the nonprofit Casa de Salud, will receive the Niagara Commitment Award at the Niagara Peace & Dialogue Awards Ceremony on Oct. 8. The Niagara Foundation is recognizing him for his commitment to serving the St. Louis community while maintaining a global mindset. The foundation promotes social cohesion through civic conversations and sustained relationships between people of different cultures and faiths. 

Rachel Lubchansky has assumed the new role of director of operations of Epstein Hebrew Academy. She will oversee programming, marketing, communications and admissions efforts at the school. Lubchansky is member of U. City Shul and Young Israel of St. Louis.

Attorney Elizabeth Pack has joined Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale P.C. as an associate working in the trusts and estates departments. She is a member of Central Reform Congregation. 

 Former St. Louis residents Jacob Cytryn, 33, and Justin Lerner, 33, have been named to the fourth annual “Double Chai in the Chi: 36 Under 36” list of young Jewish movers and shakers in Chicago. 

Joshua Spalding was part of the silver-medal winning Team Missouri softball team in the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles this summer. Spalding, who played catcher and right-center field, has been involved with Special Olympics for 12 years. He also competes in basketball and bowling. He has raised $3,771 for Special Olympics Missouri. A member of Congregation Shaare Emeth, Spalding is a production worker at BCI Workshop.

Jonathan Wolff, a lawyer at Armstrong Teasdale Corporate Services, has become a member of the Young Zoo Friends Advisory Board. He will serve on its strategic planning committee. Wolff is a member of Congregation Temple Israel.

Alyssa Shank was honored at the third annual HateBrakers Heroes Awards event. As a target of bullying when she was in middle school, Alyssa eventually overcame her fears and became a role model to help others feel more confident and believe in themselves. While attending Logos School, she produced a powerful anti-bullying music video. Daughter of Diane and Gary Shank, Alyssa is a sophomore at Webster University majoring in video production. Her family belongs to Congregation B’nai Amoona. HateBrakers is a St. Louis-based nonprofit working to end “the hate-breeds-hate cycle” through education and awareness.

Sharon Friedman, Linda Kintz and Jeffrey Korn have joined the board of directors of Miriam: The Learning Disability Experts. Friedman, a retired government professional, is a member of Shaare Emeth. Kintz is a prekindergarten teacher at St. Monica School and a member of Temple Emanuel. Her great-grandmother, Fannie Landau, founded Miriam. Korn, who leads the Marlin Perkins Society for St. Louis Zoo supporters, attends Temple Israel. 

Stephen G. Davis and Sheila Greenbaum, lawyers with Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan P.C., have been selected for the Missouri Bar Pro Bono Wall of Fame, a distinction that honors lawyers for their commitment to providing free legal counsel for individuals and community organizations. Greenbaum is a member of Central Reform Congregation.

Dr. Yuval Asner, a pediatric psychiatrist, recently joined Mercy Clinic, a  multispecialty physician group affiliated with Mercy Hospital and Mercy Children’s Hospital. 

Over the summer, Daniel Freedman served as rabbinic intern at Temple Emanuel. Freedman, a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College, was formerly a student of Temple Emanuel’s Senior Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh while she was serving United Hebrew Congregation. Freedman graduated the scholar’s program at The Ohio State University with a double major in Jewish studies and psychology.  He spent a year with AVODAH, the Jewish Service Corp in Washington, D. C., and he has taught religious school and has served as an intern at Congregation Beth Tikvah, the Columbus