May 2018 ~ Iyar - Sivan 5778
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May 2018 ~ Iyar - Sivan 5778 Page 1 of 5 Kol Bogrei Rambam is the Alumni Committee’s monthly e-newsletter for and about Maimonides School graduates. Each month we share infor- mation on individual graduates’ ventures and accomplishments, as well as general news notes, all reflecting the school’s mission of preparing educated, observant Jews to be contributing members of society. Your ideas and accomplishments will help sustain and strengthen this key com- munications tool; please forward to [email protected]. Alumnus Making an Impact through Jewish Divorce Resource Line Rabbi Jonathan Hefter ’02 is the a program whose purpose is to empower programming for high schools and program director for the Jewish Divorce individuals in this process and equip them colleges. “That experience was very eye- Resource Line sponsored by the Organiza- to make the best decisions possible.” opening for me and made me realize how tion for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA). Jonathan studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion critical ORA’s work is in facilitating positive The program, called One Step Forward, for two years before embarking on change in people’s lives and in the Jewish provides support, guidance and referrals his undergraduate career community,” he said. to hundreds of Jewish women and men at Yeshiva University. He who are going through the separation received semichah from YU’s and divorce process. Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theolog- Ideally, he expressed, “There is nothing ical Seminary (RIETS) in March that we would want more than to go out 2014 and two months later of business.” his Master’s in Social Work “By providing assistance and resources from the Wurzweiler School of early on in the divorce process, One Social Work at YU. Step Forward empowers individuals to “I can trace my decision to effectively advocate for themselves in pursue social work to early the Jewish and civil divorce processes, influences in my life,” he said. ensures the timely issuance of the get, “The core values of social and prevents divorces from degenerating work, which include the into situations of get-refusal,” Jonathan dignity and worth of each explained. person, the importance of “Our work at ORA is focused on creating family relationships, and social social change in an effort to rid our justice among others, reso- community of abuse perpetrated through nated with me as an Orthodox get refusal,” he said. “Before launching Jew and a rabbinical student.” the helpline, ORA was primarily focused “These were also themes on agunah advocacy, as well as on educa- familiar to me from my experi- Jonathan Hefter ’02 and family tional initiatives promoting the halachic ences growing up, both at prenuptial agreement.” (Agunot in today’s home and in the Boston Jewish commu- “The issue of agunot is very much on Jewish world are women not living with nity. In particular, my mother and paternal people’s minds, in Israel, America and their husbands, yet who are not free to grandfather are proud social workers around the world,” Jonathan commented. remarry because they cannot obtain a get, with years of service to their respec- “While many will narrow the discussion to a halachic document of divorce.) tive communities and proven records in cases of documented get refusal, it is clear However, ORA discovered that “many their dedication to improving the lives of that throughout the divorce process there callers did not need advocacy help, but others.” are opportunities for abuse to be perpe- instead needed information, emotional While studying for his ordination at RIETS, trated. Whether this abuse takes the form support, and referrals to other agencies Jonathan said, he accepted a year-long of refusal to cooperate in the get process that could help them in other aspects of rabbinic internship at ORA, where he their divorce process. One Step Forward is was involved in the agency’s educational continued on page 5 Visit Maimonides on Facebook Follow our Twitter feed, KolRambam Subscribe to our YouTube channel, MaimoTube May 2018 ~ Iyar - Sivan 5778 Page 2 of 5 Undergraduate Part of a Team That “Can Change the Lives of Millions” These days, you don’t need advanced promotes the development of social inno- According to the World Health Organiza- degrees, years of experience or powerful vation after extensive research on the key tion, Sarah said, the average person in the contacts to improve the lives of thousands issues affecting the world. developing world needs 12 liters of water of people. Sulis came into being through identifying for all of his or her daily needs, including Sarah Pomeranz ’15 is the co-founder of the gaps between existing measures cooking and cleaning. (She added that Sulis, a fledgling company emerging from in water sterilization and the solutions the average American uses close to 100 the Innovation Lab at Rutgers University needed to resolve the problem, she said. gallons a day.) in New Brunswick, NJ, where she recently The four co-founders are veterans of the The device has been tested in a Rutgers finished her sophomore year. Sulis is Innovation Lab, an incubator for social lab for variables such as turbidity and developing a “simple, innovative piece innovation ventures developed in the direction of sunlight. Sarah and the team of technology” that sanitizes water for Forum course. Now Sulis has evolved from will be traveling to India for two weeks in personal use. a concept to a full-fledged company with July to achieve field test results and speak the goal of to customers on the ground. She said her impacting 10 company has developed connections million lives by with both governments and non-govern- 2025. mental organizations there to establish “We are distribution channels. competing in Later this summer the four will spend six the interna- weeks in a private castle in London in tional Hult Prize the Hult Prize Accelerator, along with 39 competition other teams working on energy-based with other social innovations. The top teams will social entrepre- pitch in the fall at the United Nations and neurs from all the winner will be awarded the $1 million over the world, prize. Meanwhile, the team has launched a vying for a $1 crowdfunding campaign. million prize,” Sarah, a management major with a Sarah said. concentration in entrepreneurship, also In March the carries an academic minor in social justice. Rutgers team As a freshman, she was involved with placed first in another innovation project – a kit for indi- the regional vidual protection from malaria. “Through competition Sulis, I have found a way to apply my Sarah Pomeranz ‘15 and the Rutgers team with their device after winning the among over 50 business skills to my passion for solving regional Hult Prize competition. teams from all global issues and learned more than I ever over the world, thought possible along the way,” she said. “We believe that we can change the lives including Harvard, Princeton and Brandeis. “Clean water is going to be the most of millions around the world cheaply and Sarah described the device as a container sustainably with nothing more than the limited resource in the future,” Sarah that uses reflectors to concentrate solar asserted. “Our device, at $10 per unit, will natural power of sunlight,” Sarah declared. radiation into the barrel of water, where “With the hard work and dedication that have many applications for commercial it then interacts with a metal catalyst to markets.” More information is available has gotten us this far, we will continue to sanitize the water. “It’s easy to use, which expand as a company and redefine ‘liquid at www.suliswater.org or from Sarah at is crucial,” she said. “You put the device in [email protected]. sunshine.’” the sun for seven hours and it will kill the The concept for Sulis was developed in bacteria and pathogens in the water.” the Rutgers Honors College Forum, which May 2018 ~ Iyar - Sivan 5778 Page 3 of 5 Graduate Running for Congress in the Country’s Most Jewish District “I hope to be a Millennial Jewish voice in -- “A tax system overhaul, and on a federal “I am not surprised that I have strong Congress for expanding opportunities for level, less burdensome and de-motivating support in areas such as the Upper West my generation.” taxation, that would exclude items that Side and Boro Park, but many Modern Naomi Levin ’00 is the only Republican do not belong in taxable income and are Orthodox Jews on the UWS are not regis- on the ballot for U.S. House in Congres- especially problematic to New Yorkers.” tered to vote in this district, so voter enroll- sional District 10, which she said is “the (She listed some examples -- rent expense, ment will be something I need to tackle,” most Jewish district in New York City insurance-approved out-of-pocket Naomi observed. and the United States.” She is also on the medical expenses, and dividends paid “Another key challenge I face is reaching Conservative and Reform party tickets. from taxed corporate income.) Naomi said Millennial voters,” she continued. “About The district is composed of most of the she is working with state majority party a third of residents in the district are west side of Manhattan and part of leadership to influence this issue. Millennials. I think that I have the potential Brooklyn. -- Superior educa- to activate them, given that I am also a “Just like my parents, who tional opportuni- Millennial who is running on issues that came here with only one ties “through allo- appeal to them, such as promoting the hundred dollars and two suit- cating funding to expansion of opportunities in emerging cases each, and were able to excellent charter tech and entrepreneurship, and STEM succeed, I want everyone to school programs.” education programs.” have the opportunities our -- “Policies that She added she has launched a special country has to offer,” Naomi keep our city campaign to reach female voters (www.