The Moriah School (Englewood, NJ), one of the nation’s premier Jewish Day Schools, educating more than 800 students across Bergen County, will be hosting the Moriah Leadership and Alumni Reunion in celebration and in dedication of the new Rabbi J. Shelley Applbaum Library and Technology Center. The reunion will take place on Saturday, January 10th, at the Moriah Campus in Englewood, NJ at 8 p.m.
Awards will be presented to the prior presidents and board chairs of Moriah, including Max Grobow, z”l, Ralph Warburg, Norman Oppenheimer, z”l, Seymour Bernstein, Gerald Wolf, z”l, Debbie Indyk, Dr. Kenneth Prager, Melvin Lubin, Stanley Turitz, Victor Weinman, David Lew, z”l, Nahum Twersky, Marvin I. Benkler, z”l, Herbert Speiser, Ilan Kaufthal, Alan Jacobs, Rella Feldman, Dov Schwartz, Daniel Straus, Morris Bienenfeld, Moshael Straus, Jeffrey Parker, Nathan Lindenbaum, Sam Moed, Michael Goldsmith and Jeremy Schwalbe. A special tribute to these leaders will also take place at the annual dinner on February 28th.
Special awards will also be presented to Diane Wolf, the Moriah School librarian for the past 34 years and a founding member of MAP. A Special Service Recognition Award will be presented to Emily Trepp, who has been a part of the fabric of Moriah since inception. She was very active in Moriah’s formation, involved in MAP leadership, and for the past 11 years has served as Morah Emily by volunteering in early childhood classes. Moriah will also present an award to its former librarian, Shelly Feit, who was at Moriah 30 years and dedicated her service to the students.
In January of 1964, the Jewish Standard ran an advertisement announcing the opening of the “Moriah School of Englewood, a Jewish Day School serving Bergen County,” offering kindergarten and 1st grade classes. The school had taken root several years earlier in the mind of Rabbi Isaac Swift, the Rabbi of Ahavath Torah, and Englewood’s only Orthodox synagogue at the time. With the nearest yeshivot in Jersey City and Paterson, Rabbi Swift was adamant that a young, growing Orthodox community should not be without its own local yeshiva. Rabbi Swift rallied a small group of dedicated founders and planned to launch the yeshiva. With little money and time to undertake a building campaign, Rabbi Swift moved his office into his home in order to create a needed classroom. In September, 1964, Ahavath Torah opened its doors to 12 children in the first kindergarten class of “The Moriah School.”
Fifty years later, Moriah continues to be one of the preeminent Jewish Day Schools in the country. With a campus spanning over 10 acres, leading-edge support services programs, 21st century technology programming and nearly 3,600 graduates, Moriah owes an incredible gratitude to those individuals whose passion, commitment and dedication created and sustained its existence. Through the years, these individuals gave of themselves to ensure that Moriah remained a leading, viable, and vibrant Jewish Day School.
Rabbi J. Shelley Applbaum, z”l, served as principal from 1977 to 1996. During that period, Rabbi Applbaum led Moriah through its greatest period of growth and development. He enhanced the campus through numerous additions, improved the quality of the education, surrounded himself with the very best educators and created the “Moriah Community” that the school continues to draw support from today. He was not alone in his passion and commitment and was joined by a legacy of incredible lay leaders, many of whom remain as pillars of the community and school today. After five decades, Moriah stands strong in its dedication to the Jewish Community.
For more information on The Moriah School or the Moriah Leadership Alumni Reunion in celebration and in dedication of the new Rabbi J. Shelley Applbaum Library and Technology Center, please contact Nila Lazarus (Director of Development) 201-567-0208 ext. 373 or [email protected]. To register for the reunion, go to http://www.moriahleadershipevent.org/.
