At its annual scholarship dinner this June, Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim, located in Beit Shemesh, a leading yeshiva that cultivates a passion for learning and a powerful commitment to the Jewish people and the land of Israel, will be celebrating its 22nd anniversary. Reishit will be honoring an amazing family that devotes itself to the betterment of humanity; an outstanding alumnus who is making aliyah; an extraordinary couple dedicated to the community and Israel; and a beloved rebbe’s rebbe.
Reishit will be paying tribute to the extended Muller family as Family of the Year. Dr. David and Freeda Muller, of Teaneck, NJ, their parents, Yaakov Yehuda and Zahava Muller of Queens, NY, and Harold a”h and Marcia Ribakow, of Baltimore, MD.
Yaakov Yehuda (Miklos) Muller, originally from Hungary, survived World War II by hiding in the ghettos of Budapest. While yet a young boy, he was sent to Israel where he met and married his wife, Zahava, who was born and raised (one of 13 children!) in Jerusalem’s Bukharian quarter. The Mullers immigrated to the United States in 1969.
Mrs. Marcia Ribakow was born and raised in Frederick, MD. She has worked at several executive administrative jobs, in recent years at Ner Israel Rabbinical College.
Freeda Muller studied mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland and has worked as director of financial management at Project Ezrah of Bergen County (www.ezrah.org), a chesed organization she helped to establish. She is also a board member of TABC and delivers Tomchei Shabbos every week.
Dr. David Muller attended Johns Hopkins University, NYU School of Medicine, and continued to Mount Sinai Hospital for residency in Internal Medicine. At Mount Sinai, David established the Visiting Doctors Program, which takes care of homebound seniors who can no longer make it to the doctor. Since 2005, he has served as dean for medical education of The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, overseeing the school and all its training programs.
As its Alumnus of the Year, Reishit will be honoring Jaimie Stadtmauer, who joined the Reishit family for its first year (’99-’00) in the then-developing town of Beit Shemesh and made the most of his time with his chevra in the brand-new Beit Midrash. Jaimie continued his studies at Yeshiva University where he attended Rav Shalom Rosner’s shiur before Rav Rosner joined the Reishit faculty.
After graduating from YU, Jaimie and his wife, Daniella, moved to the Teaneck-Bergenfield area. Jaimie has pursued a career in real estate, while Daniella works as an occupational therapist for the New York City Department of Education.
Jaimie, Daniella and their three boys, Shlomo, Akiva and Azarya, plan to make aliya to Beit Shemesh, with God’s help, this coming summer.
David and Michelle Margules, who are intimately involved in all aspects of the Jewish and pro-Israel community in the State of Delaware, will be presented with Reishit’s Jewish Communal Service Award. Ever since they moved to Wilmington in 1983, David, a Columbia grad and corporate litigation partner in the Delaware office of Ballard Spahr, LLP, and Michelle, a Barnard alum who holds an MBA from Columbia, have focused on three priorities: their four sons, strengthening Delaware’s Jewish community and advocating for a vibrant U.S.-Israel relationship.
David and Michelle are active in Jewish Federation and Chabad of Delaware, and, on a national level, in the JNF and AIPAC. They both regularly advocate for Israel with a broad spectrum of members of Congress, and are also associated with Camp HASC—where their son Will was a counselor—and with Ohr Somayach, Mayanot and Oro Shel Adam.
Rav Yehoshua Landau, who has been devoted to the students of Reishit since 1999, is universally respected as a master teacher, who brings creativity and clarity to the shiur room, insight and patience to personal discussions, and his trademark smile to everyone.
Originally hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Rav Landau joined the Reishit family after a decade on the West Coast as a rabbi and director of student activities at both YULA’s boys’ and girl’s divisions. Rav Landau immediately made his mark among both students and staff as a warm, caring and energetic rebbe, available to his students at all hours.
From “Table Talk” to “Blatt Drives,” Rav Landau is always pioneering ways to encourage, inspire and enlighten his talmidim. Years after leaving yeshiva, students speak of Shabbat at Rav and Rebbetzin Landau’s home as a “highlight” of their Reishit experience.
