On Sunday, May 22, at 6 p.m., Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva of Edison, NJ, will host their annual dinner at the Chabad House in New Brunswick, NJ. This year’s guests of honor are Susan and Hillel Raymon, Melissa and Leeor Jerushalmy will receive the Community Leadership Award and Ariella Noveck will receive the Distinguished Alumna Award.
The Raymon name has been synonymous with the Highland Park/Edison Jewish community ever since Rabbi and Rebbetzin Pesach Raymon, z”l, put in place an infrastructure that would ensure a Jewish presence here decades ago. Susan and Hillel have devoted their lives to making certain that this vision continues to flourish.
Hillel (aka Hilly), born and raised in Highland Park, attended Moriah Yeshiva Academy, which was later re-named RPRY in honor of his father, its founder. Hilly’s service on the RPRY Board of Education, including chair and co-chair, and on the board of directors, including treasurer, vice-president and chair of the finance committee, has provided continuity, caring and a commitment to the highest standards. His concern for the children, teachers and administrative staff has always been the driving force behind his years of stewardship.
Susi’s parents, the Gottdieners, a”h, were among the philanthropic lights of the Elizabeth Jewish community and were major supporters of RPRY. Susi earned a master’s degree in education from NYU and a master’s in social work from Rutgers. She had a long career as a public school teacher and school social worker. She was active for many years in the RPRY PTA and co-chaired several successful art auction fundraising events.
Melissa and Leeor Jerushalmy are constantly involved in community work such as serving on the board of RPRY, coaching sports, running programs for the PTA or fundraising. They have stepped up to leadership roles and set an example for the rest of the community.
As their boys made their way through RPRY and beyond, the Jerushalmys have become increasingly more involved in the school. Melissa has long been an active member of the RPRY PTA. She has led and coordinated the school’s dairy lunch program for the past decade. This is also her second year as the RPRY dinner co-chair. Leeor is currently a vice president on the executive board of RPRY. He has been a board member for the past six years, working tirelessly on the annual raffle, the scholarship breakfast and other financial initiatives.
In addition to their efforts on behalf of RPRY, Melissa and Leeor serve the greater Jewish community. Leeor is a member of the board of directors of Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, for which Melissa does volunteer outreach and recruitment. Melissa runs Congregation Ohr Torah’s sisterhood’s tribute card program, and Leeor is a member of the shul’s security team. Melissa has served on the Middlesex/Monmouth County Jewish Federation Board of Directors for the past eight years. She is a Tanzman Fellow, has served on the allocation committee and has chaired numerous successful events for which she has received a leadership award. She is also on the Women’s Philanthropy Board.
Noveck, currently a Teaneck resident, grew up in East Brunswick, NJ, and attended RPRY through the 8th grade. She went on to attend the Moshe Aaron Yeshiva High School of Central Jersey, and Midreshet Moriah in Jerusalem post-high school.
Noveck attended Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business, where she earned a degree in Business with a concentration in Finance and Economics. During college, she beat out 500 other applicants to become the first YU student to intern at the popular WABC News program “Live! With Regis and Kelly.” In that exciting position, Ariella had the opportunity to collaborate with seasoned producers and to meet celebrities from the world of pop culture as well as news headliners on a daily basis.
Ariella’s enthusiasm for the medium of television and the valuable experience she gained during her internship led to 4+ additional years of working in television production. Throughout her years in television production, she remained in contact with YU’s Career Center, speaking about her experiences at Career Night, and sharing contacts that have helped other students find internships in the industry. She has been a real trailblazer in opening doors and changing longstanding views regarding potential careers for Orthodox Jews in TV production.
For the past year, Ariella has been working as the North Jersey Field Director for the Orthodox Union’s Advocacy Center. As a valued member of the Teach NJS team, she works to help increase Jewish political engagement in North Jersey and to develop communal support for critical legislation. Teach NJS works with New Jersey state legislators to help increase state funding on behalf of our day schools and synagogues.
RPRY congratulates the honorees on their many accomplishments, and conveys genuine hakarat hatov to them for directing their talents and energy toward nobly serving the needs of the Jewish community.
