Teaneck— Netivot Shalom will honor Robin & Justin Straus with the Sema Heller Memorial Award at Netivot Shalom’s annual dinner. Debra Passner will receive the Service Award.

Teaneck residents for more than 30 years, Robin and Justin Straus are founding members of Netivot Shalom and have been extremely active at the synagogue since its inception in 1997. Justin has also served on the boards of the Jewish Center of Teaneck and UJA, and is a founding member of Shirah chorus at the JCC on the Palisades. He is the owner of Referral Veterinary Associates in Fairfield, NJ, and is a board certified veterinary internist.

Robin also served on the board of Netivot Shalom, where she was the first chairperson of the chesed committee. She also served on the dinner and membership committees. Robin serves on the board of Yad Lakashish, which works with needy elderly in Jerusalem. She is outreach and education coordinator at the Adler Aphasia Center in Maywood, NJ, where she was an active volunteer before joining the staff three years ago.

Debra and her husband Jonathan began attending Netivot Shalom when they moved to Teaneck nine years ago. She soon joined Netivot Shalom’s youth committee, which she later chaired for three years. For the past several years, Debra has organized Mitzvah Day collection drives at Netivot Shalom and at the Ben Porat Yosef School. She is currently on Netivot Shalom’s membership committee. She has also delivered meals for Tomchei Shabbos and is registered as a mentor for the Mentoring Moms Program of the Bergen County Volunteers Center. Professionally, Debra is executive director of communications and marketing for Baylor College of Medicine.

Congregation Netivot Shalom’s dinner will take place on Saturday night, February 22, 2014, beginning at 8:00 pm, at Congregation Beth Shalom in Teaneck. For more information, contact: [email protected]