Brandeis Magazine

Jeffrey Roth, a cosmetic surgeon in  Las Vegas, works with many boxers promoted by Top Rank, including WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and challenger Juan Manuel Marquez. “It truly has been a dream come true to combine my passion for boxing with my professional experience as a plastic surgeon,” he told an interviewer. “I have been fortunate with every opportunity I have had, as the fighters I have worked on have all been true champions.” Mari Cartagenova has been very busy running around with her kids. On March 12, 2011, Mari and Joseph Zahavi joyously celebrated the bar mitzvah of their oldest child. The event was held at the Museum of Science in Boston, with a beautiful sunset havdalah service and dinner and dancing in the museum afterward. A few Brandeis alumni came out to celebrate, including Caren Fierverker Boroshok ’83 and Susan Goldman-Kreithen ’83. Writes  Mari, “It was great to see everyone at the festivities and celebrate such a milestone together!” Mari’s second child, Mimi, rides horses competitively (hunter-jumper) and is rated seventh in New England in one of her divisions — at only 9 years old! Eli, the youngest at 6 years old, is a happy (giant) kid who loves to laugh. The Ruderman Family Foundation, which is headed by Jay Ruderman, has created the Ruderman Prize in Disability. This global initiative will distribute up to $200,000 a year to as many as 10 organizations that demonstrate inclusion and increase public awareness around the issue of disability within the Jewish community. For more information, updates and insightful commentary from leaders in the fields of disability and the Israel-Diaspora relationship, sign up for the foundation’s blog. Rabbi Jeffrey Kurtz-Lendner and his wife, Robin Kurtz-Lendner ’87, were invited to the White House for President Obama’s Hanukkah celebration. Robin and Jeff were able to meet the president and first lady. Jeff is the senior rabbi at Temple Solel, a 700-family congregation in Hollywood, Fla. Elliot Herman joined the board of advisers at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Needham, Mass. The hospital is about to begin a campaign to finance the building of a new state-of-the-art cancer center and surgical suite. Pamela Ritzer works in advertising as a senior editor at Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare in New York.

Mari Cartagenova ’88 celebrated the bar mitzvah of her oldest child, Gavi, on March 12, 2011, with some fellow Brandeis alumni. From left: Claudia Tarr, Anne Rosenburg, Mari, Alyssa Himelfarb, Caren Fierverker Boroshok ’83 and Susan Goldman-Kreithen ’83.