The Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies (BCHSJS), recently held its annual gala at the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel. The event was emceed by Principal-Director, Bess Adler; with the invocation given by Rabbi Ronald Roth, and with a warm welcome by current President, Elayne Kalina. The honorees at the gala were Melvin and Lillian Solomon of River Edge, Susan and Moshe Castiel of Woodcliff Lake. A special recognition award was given to Rabbi Ely Allen of Bergenfield and Walter Ramsfelder of Teaneck received a distinguished service award.

Mel Solomon, a partner in the Hackensack law firm Parsekian & Solomon, P.C., is BCHSJS’ immediate past president. Lillian, a retired educator, volunteers with the Adler Aphasia Center and other community organizations.

Susan and Moshe Castiel were honored as BCHSJS’ Parents of the Year. The Castiels have two children: Alexandra, 18, a senior at Pascack Hills High School who just graduated BCHSJS, and Simon, 15, a freshman at both schools.

Rabbi Ely Allen, of Bergenfield received a special recognition award at the gala. Rabbi Allen taught at BCHSJS for 20 years. He is the Director of Hillel of Northern New Jersey for the Jewish Federation of NNJ, and teaches at Yeshiva University’s JSS Program. He and his family will be making aliyah this summer where he will be the Director of New Initiatives at Yeshivat Lev HaTorah in Ramat Bet Shemesh.

Walter Ramsfelder, of Teaneck, received a distinguished service award. He was one of the founding board members of BCHSJS and served as board president several times during the past 40 years until retiring just last year.