Exciting developments are on the horizon at The Moriah School of Englewood along with the appointment of a new president and chairman of the board. Moriah is proud to introduce Aaron Yunis and Zvi Rudman who have assumed these leadership roles with the start of the school year.
Aaron Yunis, originally from Roslyn, Long Island, has lived in Englewood for the last ten years with his wife Lynn, a Moriah alumna, and their four children, all enrolled at Moriah since 2010. As a family, they are very invested in the advancement of the school. Lynn’s family dates back to the original founders of the Moriah school. Her father, Mr. Weinstein, signed a personal guarantee on the loan to buy the original property on North Woodland Street and expended much time and effort to ensure the success and growth of the school.
Yunis has served on the Moriah board for four years, originally working on the financial side under the leadership of previous president Seth Gribetz. When Gribetz moved on to become the board president, Yunis assumed the role of head of the finance committee. Prior to serving on the Moriah board, Yunis served on the board of the East Hill Synagogue in Englewood. One of the many benefits of assuming his new leadership role as board president was, perhaps, the opportunity to be relinquished of his synagogue leadership obligations, joked Yunis.
Zvi Rudman, originally from Staten Island, has lived in Englewood since 2004 and has been a Moriah parent since 2006, with three kids currently enrolled in the school. His wife Sharon has also been an active member of Moriah and has served on the board of directors for four years. Prior to assuming his position as chairman of the board, Rudman was president at the East Hill Synagogue where he had an opportunity to work with Yunis as well as many Moriah families.
Both Yunis and Rudman believe in order to achieve success one must offer to help. Yunis comes from a family of doers and plans to continue the chain. “To maintain a strong community, people need to offer time.” Whether for a shul or school, if you could do it— you should do it, he added. Rudman describes this position as a gratifying experience. “The reward outweighs the challenges,” he remarked.
Our local communities are welcoming new families with elementary aged students on a very regular basis. Bergen County is home to many impressive Jewish day schools, offering parents a range of choices for their children. The board appreciates that there is a lot of competition in the academic arena. “At Moriah we welcome the competition as a way to enhance our platform. We want to compete by offering the best possible education,” articulated Yunis.
Rabbi Daniel Alter, head of school, believes in “setting the bar for excellence.” Moriah is often showcased as the educational model to emulate. Throughout the years many schools have looked to Moriah for help with their own academic strategies. “We look at ourselves as pioneers and models of how a school should run,” commented Rudman.
During their leadership, Yunis and Rudman plan to focus on growth and recruitment. They believe Moriah has a great deal to offer to communities throughout Bergen County. 82 new students have enrolled this year alone. Additionally, their plan is to make a substantial capital improvement to the campus which includes a brand new state of the art early childhood center. To that end, they have launched a capital campaign with a goal of raising 18 million dollars. This encompasses the financial aid program, campus improvement and the new construction. The plan is to break ground next summer and complete the new facility within five years. This will be the most significant renovation to the Moriah campus in decades. Other notable changes around the Moriah school include a new STEM center, a multimedia recording studio and a Sephardic beit midrash.
At Moriah, the board and the faculty are constantly striving to offer students the best programming available. From the earliest age, special curriculums have been implemented to help kids succeed. For example, despite some resistance, Rabbi Alter spearheaded a Hebrew immersion program for the early childhood program. The objective of the program was to teach Hebrew language skills from the earliest point of education. While many parents were skeptical, Rabbi Alter remained determined, passionate and most of all patient. Over time, the results became apparent, as three year olds could be heard speaking Hebrew with an unmistakable level of confidence. Furthermore, this curriculum instilled a love for Israel amongst preschoolers, which is a core principle of the Moriah school.
“When I first arrived at Moriah I was immediately struck by the extraordinary partnership between lay leadership and professionals. Our lay leadership was always supportive of our efforts and initiatives, always there for us and incredibly dedicated to our school, our faculty and most important, our students,” Rabbi Alter commented. “It was important to Aaron and Zvi to continue to build on this relationship and they hit the ground running. Their first actions as our new lay leadership were to show their confidence and trust in our faculty and let our faculty know that they are here to support them in any way possible. The warm and gracious tone that they have already set for their leadership term resonates, and reflects the warm and nurturing Moriah culture.”
Yunis and Rudman believe in order to succeed, the trifecta of faculty, parents and students must work together. Thus far they are proud to report that the faculty has been one hundred percent engaged in their ideas and goals for the coming school year. With that sort of partnership, they are optimistic they will achieve great success for the Moriah family.
Enthusiasm for school is not always easy to cultivate. At Moriah, they try hard to engage students from the moment they enter the building, quite literally. Students are greeted by music and sometimes dancing which serves to enliven the mood around school. The faculty at Moriah is prepared to go to any length to make sure a student is comfortable and confident, said Yunis. Whether that means outside support or learning needs on both ends of the spectrum, they are constantly striving to offer the best program possible. He also highly recommends taking advantage of the one-hour tour offered by the school. It’s a worthwhile opportunity to get an inside look at the magic that is Moriah! For more information or to schedule a tour of Moriah, please contact Livia Marcovici at [email protected] or 201 567 0208 ext. 322.
By Andrea Nissel
