(Courtesy of SINAI Schools) SINAI Schools will hold its Annual Benefit Dinner on Sunday, February 23, 2020 at the Marriott Glenpointe Hotel in Teaneck.
This year’s dinner will honor individuals who have close ties to SINAI. They are Rabbi Yosef Adler, Peggy and Philip Danishefsky and Rabbi Yehuda and Laurie Minchenberg. Brad Ruder, President of BRAD-CORE/Humanism in Building and founder of Senior Source, will accept SINAI’s Community Partnership Award.
Rabbi Yosef Adler is Morah d’Atra of Teaneck’s Congregation Rinat Yisrael and Rosh HaYeshiva of Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC). Rabbi Adler has played a vital role in the success of SINAI Schools’ 30 year partnership with TABC. As a SINAI partner school, TABC embodies the inclusive educational environment that encourages SINAI students to thrive both academically and socially. Rabbi Adler often speaks of the profound benefits and life lessons that TABC’s students derive from having SINAI students as part of the fabric of their school. Both in this way and from the pulpit at Rinat, Rabbi Adler has been a leader in changing community attitudes toward individuals with disabilities.
Philip and Peggy Danishefsky have taken to heart the importance of providing each child with a Jewish education that meets all of his or her needs, and have generously supported SINAI Schools because of the unique role that SINAI fills within the community. To encourage others to give to SINAI, they recently established the Danishefsky Family Scholarship Fund at SINAI Schools, in memory of their parents Rabbi Joel and Jaelene Denishefsky z”l, Marlene Sikes z”l, and their sister Shele Danishefsky z”l, all of whom were vigorous advocates for Jewish education.
SINAI parents for over 13 years, Rabbi Yehuda and Laurie Minchenberg have three children at SINAI, and have experienced firsthand what is possible when a child is provided with the individualized education he or she needs. They are exemplary parents who are deeply involved in the growth of each of their children and who devotedly partner with the educational and therapeutic professionals at SINAI to maximize their children’s abilities. SINAI’s feature documentary at this year’s dinner will tell the gripping story of the Minchenberg family, in a follow-up to SINAI’s acclaimed “Heroes,” which left off seven years ago with their son Tuvia’s deeply inspirational bar mitzvah.
Brad Ruder prides himself in his focus on designing and building spaces to improve the lives of others. Senior Source, the nonprofit he founded, has provided essential vocational opportunities for SINAI students for several years, teaching them the vital skills that will allow them to flourish as independent and productive members of society. As a further testament to his dedication, Brad recently established the BRAD-CORE “Humanism in Building” Scholarship Fund at SINAI.
Operating seven inclusive special education schools across New York and New Jersey for almost four decades, SINAI has served children with a wide range of developmental, intellectual and complex learning disabilities. SINAI is recognized for its excellence in special education and for providing highly individualized programming and extensive therapies to meet each child’s individual needs paired with a Jewish education. The costs SINAI takes on each time they accept a new student are extraordinarily high.
SINAI’s Annual Benefit Dinner is their single largest fundraiser of the year, critical to SINAI’s ability to serve the families who need them. SINAI invites you to be a part of this meaningful evening.
For more information, or to make reservations or a donation, please contact Pam Ennis, director of development, at 201-833-1134 x125, or visit www.sinaidinner.org.
