Former resident Dr. David T. Rudman, was recently elected to Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee of Kansas City. He is the son of Bob and Sandy Rudman and Maureen Rudman of St. Louis.

Former St. Louis resident Barbara (Zwick) Sander, has been elected by the Brandeis National Committee to become its next National President and to serve on the University’s Board of Trustees. Prior to moving to Sarasota, Fla., Sander served as President of the St. Louis chapter of BNC.

After more than 25 years of being the driving force behind Midwest Martial Arts Academy, Charlie Foxman announced the launch of “Charlie Foxman’s Personalized Programs”, which is dedicated to teaching fitness, nutrition and personal safety to corporations, groups and individuals.

Barry Feldman of Frontenac has joined First Bank Mortgage as a Home Loan Specialist. His office will be located at First Bank’s Creve Coeur branch at 11901 Olive Boulevard. Feldman, who has more than 14 years of banking and financial service experience, will be responsible for originating residential mortgages in 40 states.

Zachary Heiman, a Congregation United Hebrew member, was elected Regional President of NFTY-Missouri Valley for 2013-2014. His region of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) covers seven states and is affiliated with Reform Judaism. Zachary, a junior at Parkway Central High School, is the son of Samuel and Catherine Heiman.

Betsy Heller Cohen has been named the first Project Director of the Immigration & Innovation Initiative for the St. Louis region. She will be based at the Economic Council within the World Trade Center-St. Louis.  Cohen’s role is to attract and retain foreign-born talent, at both the high-and-low skill levels, to keep our neighborhoods and schools filled, retail entrepreneurship going and build a dynamic, diverse community. A member of Temple Emanuel, Cohen previously served as vice president at Nestle Purina and has worked with many international associates.

Ed Reggi, a local entertainer and producer, and congregant of Central Reform Congregation, spoke in front of the National Press Club in Washington D.C. in early April about how social media is revolutionizing the way we communicate in a democracy as a part of a joint project between Channel 9 and the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

St. Louis University professor Jack Strauss accompanied a nine-member local delegation of business leaders who visited Washington, D.C. to meet with Missouri and Illinois members of Congress over two days. The delegation was advocating reforms to spur immigration in the area, based on the results of Strauss’ June 2012 report, which found that boosted immigration would increase overall income rates and increase housing prices in St. Louis. Strauss is Simon Chair of Economics at SLU and part of the region’s Immigration Steering Committee that is promoting immigration.

Susan Fadem and Elaine K. Alexander received first-place awards from the Missouri Professional Communicators organization for articles they penned for the Jewish Light. Fadem was honored with two first-place wins in the ‘Religious Publications’ category for her “Cherished Judaica” features in two issues of the Light’s Oy magazine: her September, 2012 article on Harriet and the late Rabbi Bernard Lipnick’s 12 needle-pointed Chagall windows; and the December, 2012 article on Carol Rubin’s Kiddush cup collection. Alexander’s two first-place awards were in the “Specialty Articles” category for two book reviews: a May 2012 piece titled “History of Inquisition aims high but falls short” and a July 2012 review titled “New Hitler bio is worthy and accessible supplement.”  

This summer Claudia Montague, a freshman at Parkway North High School, and Ben Diamond, a senior at Clayton High School, will be performing with the MUNY Teen Touring Troupe. Both teens will be in “Shrek” and “Mary Poppins” and Claudia will also perform in “Nunsense.” Daughter of Sheryl Breadman and Eli Montague, Claudia is a member of Temple Israel. Ben is the son of Beth and Marc Diamond.

Hilary Cedargreen will be honored with the Michael and Barbara Newmark Jewish Community Relations Council Emerging Leader Award at the JCRC annual meeting luncheon on May 22. A member of Congregation Shaare Emeth, she is an active volunteer in the Jewish community, having been in the first class of Millstone Fellows and participated on the Rubin Israel Experience. Cedargreen is currently a JCRC board member and is the board liaison of the Student to Student program.     

Joe Goldberg, a junior at Parkway Central High School, was elected President of the USY EMTZA region for 2013-2014. He is the son of Pam and Kenny Goldberg.  Emma Barg, a sophomore at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, became the USY EMTZA region Membership and Kadima Vice President. She is the daughter of Abby Kelman and Peter Barg. Both are members of Congregation B’nai Amoona. EMTZA, the midwest region of United Synagogue Youth (USY), covers seven states and Manitoba Canada and is affiliated with Conservative Judaism.

Sue Lapp, a teacher at the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School, was recently awarded a scholarship to attend a one-week national teacher workshop at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.  The title of the workshop is “But for Birmingham…the Rise of the Magic City and the Evolution of the Civil Rights Movement.” Lapp is a member of Congregation B’nai Amoona.

Ladue Horton Watkins High School senior, Max Schindler, placed third in the North American Computational Linguistics, which qualifies him for the International Linguistics Olympiad. Schindler and three other members of the U.S. team will head to Manchester, England, in July for the international competition. The Olympiad challenges high-school students to solve linguistic puzzles while learning about the diversity and consistency of language and exercising logic skills. He is the son of Hadley and Josh Schindler and is a member of Congregation Shaare Emeth.

Kim Carney is the recipient of the International President’s Elite Designation Award for being among the top two percent of Coldwell Banker sales associates internationally. She has also been listed as the  No. 1 Coldwell Banker sales agent in Missouri for 2012. The top team award for Missouri went to The Gellman Team, Mark and Neil Gellman, who also earned the International President’s Elite Designation Award for being among the top 8 percent of Coldwell Banker sales teams internationally.

Shep Hyken, of Shepard Presentation, earned second place in the 2013 Man & Woman of the Year fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He raised $75,000 for the campaign (he said his driving force was his father-in-law, Jerry Pass, who passed away from cancer in 2007).  Hyken was recognized during a Grand Finale Celebration in April.

Local Sinatra-style crooner Mark Richman signed on for a regular Sunday gig from 5 to 8 p.m. at the new Marshall’s Bistro, (The old Panda Restaurant) at 141 and Manchester. He will be singing requested songs by Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin and Michael Bublé.

Local volunteer, community leader and author, Diane Bleyer has written a book entitled “A Mother’s Right.” It is a futuristic story addressing social issues we are facing today, climate change and abortion. A member of United Hebrew Congregation, Bleyer currently serves on a renewable energy/green team committee and is a member of the St. Louis Writers Guild. Her book is available on amazon.com.

Parkway North Middle School eighth grader, Kaitlin Jespersen, has two poems that will be published in the anthology, “A Celebration of Poets.”  Daughter of Stacy and Jon Jespersen and member of Congregation Shaare Emeth, Kaitlin entered a writing contest sponsored by Creative Communication, a company devoted to the promotion of creative student writing. Less than 50 percent of the entrees are accepted and only the top entries are published.