Brandeis Magazine

My daughter, Ariella, married her fiancé, Tyler, over Labor Day weekend. They started dating their senior year at Harvard. Ariella works in the social-impact investing field as a senior associate at The Impact. My son Mathew works at the law firm Akin Gump. Their father, Mark Rotenberg, my ex, is equally proud and happy for them.

Michael Bogdanow, P’16, was named a 2017 U.S. News/Best Lawyers Boston Appellate Attorney. His painting “Imagine” was one of six pieces chosen in an international art competition held by Harvard Law School’s Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program. Michael’s painting, which imagines peace in the Middle East, is now on exhibit at the law school. Laura Kassner Christa writes, “I went to Penn Law School and then headed back to Southern California to practice, where I became a litigator with an international practice, in part, I suppose, because both my parents had left European countries and gave their children an understanding of permeable borders. I have two great kids, one a lawyer, the other in law school — I consider this a lack of imagination. Their father (my wonderful husband) passed away too young.” Janet Kolodner, P’07, who has lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, for the past two years, started a half-time position at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education. She would love to renew relationships with local Brandeis folks. Marc Kornblatt reports his two children have made aliyah, and he and his wife, Judith, are spending the year in Israel with them. Marc is immersed in film projects, including a short documentary about life in the disputed territories, and another featuring people of different backgrounds and languages (Armenian, Arabic, English and Hebrew) who live and work in Jerusalem. Marc also completed a web series, “Rock Regga,” featuring short pieces about “everything”: matkot (beach paddle ball), antique cameras, tattoos, homeless dogs, mixed marital arts and medical clowns. Ruth Pernick, P’09, P’10, still teaches Hebrew school and sings in the New York Zamir and the Shirah Community Choir. Daughter Sarah and her husband, Joel, have two children. Son Ben ’09 is a music/recreation therapist. Son Josh ’10 is finishing his second year at an Orthodox rabbinical school. And son David is in LA working on his music. Ruth writes, “Looking forward to slowing down a little next year to spend more time with the grandchildren.”