This year, the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva (RPRY) in Edison will feature truly exemplary leaders from its board of directors, parent body, professional staff and alumni at the school’s annual dinner on Tuesday, June 20 at Rutgers Hillel in New Brunswick.
The dinner will honor Sara and Ari Welner, recipients of the Parents of the Year Award. Sara has been a pediatric genetic counselor for Rutgers RWJBarnabas Health at the Child Health Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick since 2015. Previously, she spent 11 years as a prenatal genetic counselor at New Jersey Perinatal Associates in Livingston. Ari works in commercial real estate management and previously was an executive vice president leading the Enterprise Architecture compliance team at Bank of America.
In addition to their professional work, Sara and Ari have been very active within the community. At RPRY Sara served as a class parent, board member and co-president of the PTA. She currently serves as co-chairperson of the RPRY Communication and Marketing Committee. Ari has supported technological advancements, installing smartboards in classrooms, and providing valuable tech support. He serves on the RPRY dinner committee and offers his expertise in video editing.
Sara and Ari stated to the Jewish Link: “RPRY is a central part of our family life as well as a pillar in our community. We appreciate the opportunities that RPRY has given us throughout the years to contribute in ways that are meaningful to us. We are thankful to RPRY for playing a pivotal role in making sure our children have outstanding middot and Torah values, a strong education, and an ardent love of Israel.”
The dinner will also honor Tova and Jeremy Renna as the guests of honor. Tova is a supply chain manager at Johnson & Johnson, with prior experience in accounting and finance. Jeremy, with over 20 years in retail, now runs his own retail consulting business and teaches business communications at Yeshiva University. They joined the RPRY family in 2007 when their eldest daughter started nursery school, and have since been actively involved in the school community. Tova served as RPRY president from 2018-2022, playing a key role in navigating the school through the challenges of a pandemic and the head of school search. Jeremy has contributed as a board member, basketball coach and organizer of the RPRY golf tournament while also engaging in volunteer activities in the broader community.
Tova told the Jewish Link: “Ensuring that we have a strong school in RPRY is key to having strong Highland Park, Edison and East Brunswick communities. I got involved in order to help to ensure the continued success of the yeshiva. I am amazed by the dedication of the teachers and administrators to their students and to the success of RPRY.” Jeremy added: “I agreed to be honored to ensure that my wife’s efforts were recognized; she has earned this distinction with her tireless efforts in leading the school.”
In addition to these two worthy honoree couples, outgoing RPRY Executive Director Josh Caplan will receive the Distinguished Service Award.
Josh worked in the cable television industry, first as a programming manager and then in cable advertising sales, where he spent the bulk of his 35-year career. Josh always found time for volunteer efforts and spent more than a decade co-chairing RPRY’s scholarship breakfast and also co-chaired the original RPRY golf outing. Transitioning to the nonprofit sector full time in 2012, he started as director of development and community relations at Manhattan Day School in New York City and in 2016 took on the role of executive director of Teach NJ.
In 2019, Josh assumed the role of executive director of RPRY and immediately faced the challenging times of the COVID pandemic. Recognizing the financial strain faced by the school, Josh worked diligently to secure PPP loans and personally engaged with RPRY families who were financially impacted by the pandemic, offering support and guidance. Caplan also spearheaded the free kosher meal program for the Edison/Highland Park/East Brunswick communities, where he coordinated the weekly distribution of box meals for all families, regardless of school or shul affiliation.
Josh told the Jewish Link: “I have been blessed that the final stop in my nonprofit career is so close to home emotionally and geographically. I feel so fortunate to have been able to work in a foundational organization that benefits the children of our community. I’m humbled by this honor, really, and feel blessed to have been able to devote this part of my career to advance the cutting edge work and creative chinuch of our yeshiva.”
Commenting on all the dinner honorees, Head of School Rabbi Michael Ribalt stated: “Sara and Ari, Tova and Jeremy, and Josh represent the very best qualities and the highest level of commitment of our parent body, our volunteer leadership, and our professional staff. We benefit from their counsel and their activism often, so it’s really another Chesed of theirs that they’ve allowed us to honor them for their service. We look forward to celebrating the examples they set, and the impact they’ve made, on June 20.”
The dinner will be enhanced with a special feature that draws attention to the strong Zionist spirit of the school. As Elana Kurtz, a teacher at the school, parent of four RPRY students, and co-chair of the annual dinner stated: “This year RPRY is excited to celebrate Israel’s 75th birthday along with spectacular, well deserving honorees. We are specifically focusing on the famous quote, אם תרצו אין זו אגדה, “If you will it, it is no dream,” and celebrating the many RPRY students who have made aliyah. We will be sharing a video of current RPRY faculty and students demonstrating their connection to Eretz Yisrael. The program will also include a special video message from RPRY alum and co-founder of Nefesh B’Nefesh, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass.”
For more information on the RPRY dinner, visit to www.rprydinner.org
Harry Glazer is the Middlesex County editor of the Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected].
