Brandeis Magazine

Judith Adler, P’99, has permanently moved to New York City, her old stomping ground. She writes, “I continue to practice law, solely pro bono now that I’m retired, and have also completed a novel, started during COVID-19 times. I’ve progressed to the point where I’m looking for an agent (gulp).”

Joan Berns, GSAS MA’71, PhD’74, reports three of her grandchildren started college in three different states last fall. The fourth and youngest grandchild is in high school.

Since the pandemic, Marcia Bloomberg, GSAS MA’91, has been getting together with five North Quad compatriots — Ada Demb, Karl Herrup, Bruce Singal, Rob Litrownik, and Artie Gordon (aka Asher Keren Zvi) — via Zoom.

Last summer, Jeff Foust taught a seven-week online class, “Embodying the Kabbalistic Tree of Life As a Daily Spiritual Practice,” through Denver’s Kabbalah Experience center.

Julie Kabat narrated the audio version of her book “Love Letter From Pig: My Brother’s Story of Freedom Summer,” released by the University Press of Mississippi in August 2023. The book tour for the memoir included presentations at such venues as the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, and Stanford University’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice as well as its School of Medicine. Julie, who reports all five of her grandchildren are thriving, took a family holiday on the island of Schiermonnikoog, in the Netherlands.

Eliot Katz, a retired endocrinologist in St. Louis, enjoys photography and collecting antique phonographs. Eliot and his wife, Sally, who have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, are the parents of three married daughters and have seven grandchildren.

Menachem Malkosh and Judy Wolke Malkosh ’71 recently welcomed two great-granddaughters, bringing them to four children, 21 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. The couple has lived in Rehovot, Israel, since 1971.

Dena Rueb Romero’s book “All for You: A World War II Family Memoir of Love, Separation, and Loss” was published in May 2024. Dena describes it as “the story of my German Jewish father, the Lutheran woman he loved, and their commitment to each other.”

Peter Skagestad, GSAS PhD’73, wrote an essay, “The Artist and the Community: The Subversion of the Nude,” that appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of the journal Human Affairs.

Richard A. Kopley’s book “Edgar Allan Poe: A Life” will be published by the University of Virginia Press in March 2025.

Richard Liskov vacationed in Alaska and Seattle in July 2024 with his fiancee, Debbie Hasin, who teaches clinical epidemiology at Columbia University’s School of Public Health and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Richard Sacks reports his novel “Drinking From the Stream” is scheduled to be published by Koehler Books in March. The novel centers on two characters — one a Nebraska farm boy turned oil roughneck, the other a disillusioned Oxford dropout from Cincinnati — who hitchhike across Ethiopia and the East African backwoods during the early 1970s. Richard describes the book as “a meditation on racism and revolution; on escapism, friendship, discovery; the unpredictable, unexpected consequences of personal decisions; and an appeal to the human spirit.”

In July 2024, Leslie Tannenwald, GSAS MA’76, P’05, attended the Wellspring Summit for Educators at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

Rachel Kovacs is an adjunct associate professor of communication studies at Baruch College, CUNY. She also teaches Judaics at Hebrew schools in New Jersey; reviews off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway plays for offoffonline. com; and writes feature articles and reviews for The Jewish Link. During her recent travels, she met up with Jeanne Samson Katz in London and Rebecca Pepkowitz ’73 in Baltimore.

Jordan Tannenbaum retired as chief development officer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in December 2023, following the completion of the museum’s $1.2 billion Never Again: What You Do Matters fundraising campaign. He has now founded his own firm, Jordan E. Tannenbaum and Associates.

No Class Notes submissions this issue.

David Bloomfield was named to City & State New York magazine’s 2024 Brooklyn Power 100 list, which called him “one of New York’s leading — and most widely quoted — educational experts.” David is professor of education leadership, law, and policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. He and his wife have lived in Brooklyn for 37 years and have two sons.

The UMass Chan Medical School Alumni Association honored Arnie Freedman with its 2024 Alumni Distinguished Service Award. Arnie, an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of follicular lymphoma, is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, a member of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Department of Medical Oncology, and an attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Jane Goldman Ostrowsky, P’06, P’13, reports son Jonathan ’13 married Jenna Waldman in San Francisco in August 2024. In other news, Jane and husband Mark Ostrowsky enjoyed a two-week vacation in Italy to celebrate Mark’s 75th birthday.

Last August, Sharon Hammer Rubin wrote in to say, “The biggest upcoming event for me will be our class’s 50th reunion in September. After the reunion, my husband and I will head down to the New York area for a few weeks to catch up with friends and family we’ve missed seeing since our move to California in fall 2022. It will be great to see everyone in person again.”

Last summer, Dan Klein wrote, “Looking forward to the Class of 1974’s 50-year reunion in the fall and to our fourth grandchild, due toward the end of the year.”

Kenny Raskin, who lives in Needham, Massachusetts, reports that although he is contemplating retirement, he “finds semi-retirement more economically pleasing at the moment.” He writes, records, and performs music, both solo and in a duo called the Doppelgängers. He also serves as artistic director of the Hearts and Noses medical clown troupe, which visits five pediatric hospitals and two memory-care facilities in Greater Boston.

David A. Rochefort’s latest book, “Systems From Hell: Problem Definition and the Literary Portrayal of Failure in Our Public Policy and Social Institutions,” was published by State University of New York Press in December 2024.

Betsy Sarason Pfau and Dan Pfau ’73 welcomed the arrival of their second granddaughter, Eva Charles Alhena Pfau, born on June 21, 2024, in London. The following month, the couple enjoyed dinner with Francine Ladd Sohn, Don Friedman, and Ilene Miller on Martha’s Vineyard.

Hugh Schwartz launched a new career as book author with the publication of “The Grand Entrance,” a political thriller. He also manages two not-for-profit organizations. “Retirement is not in the foreseeable future,” he reports.

Michael Wien retired in February 2023 after 44 years of practicing commercial real estate law in New York City. He and wife Miriam Shire, a retired NYC prosecutor and federal administrative law judge, have lived in New Rochelle, New York, for more than 35 years. Daughters Simone and Elise work in epidemiology and write plays, respectively. Michael and Miriam enjoyed a monthlong vacation in Europe, which included a bike trip from Bruges to Amsterdam, and visits to Normandy and Paris.

Gary Zellerbach had fun at a July 2024 mini-reunion at Ninigret Park, in Charlestown, Rhode Island, with Bobbie Binder ’76, Steve Bober, Joel Fiedler, David Katzen ’75, and Michael Kusevitsky Gould.

Eric Brenman, who practices estate planning and tax law, sold his home in Newton, Massachusetts, and moved to a condo in Chestnut Hill. He enjoys visiting his daughter and grandchildren in California, and spending time on Cape Cod.

Joshua Copel, P’11, is a professor of obstetrics, gynecology, reproductive sciences, and pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. He writes, “While most of my rational classmates are considering retirement, I am still working full time at Yale and even started a new company. Dr. JOJO Vitamins are the world’s first prenatal vitamins designed by specialists in high-risk pregnancy, with unique formulas for each phase of pregnancy.”

Phyllis (Glick) Kosminsky, Heller PhD’83, received the Association for Death Education and Counseling’s 2024 Clinical Practice Award.

Maria Rodriguez is finalizing the construction of a home in Puerto Rico, where she hopes to spend most of the year. With the help of Naomi Vega ’73, Maria translated her 2023 children’s book, “A Midnight Symphony,” into Spanish to expand its distribution. She also paints and exhibits her artwork.

Michael Bogdanow and Margie Freedberg Bogdanow ’78, both P’16, have moved to Needham, Massachusetts. Daughter Alyssa Arens, Heller MA/MPP’16, and son Matt live nearby. Son Dan is not too far away, in Pelham, New York. Michael’s sculptures, created from semiprecious stone chips, wood, motors, and acrylic paint, were featured in a solo exhibition at Gorse Mill Gallery in September 2024.

Dana Cohen, who lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, retired in 2024 after 47 years in the optical business. He stays busy playing trombone in the Cape Ann Big Band and a classic-rock band called Garfish. He and wife Virginia, a retired nurse, have celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary. They have two daughters, and are still the “American mom and dad” to the 18 children they hosted through the American Field Service exchange program.

Douglas Katz and wife Kim Storey, both P’12, celebrated the birth of their second grandchild, Cora Bea Katz, on June 5, 2024. Cora lives in Brooklyn with her parents, Dan Katz ’12 and Julie Boor.

Marc Kornblatt’s picture book for children, “Mr. Katz and Me” (Apples & Honey Press, 2024), earned an award from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, which supports initiatives that strengthen Jewish values. The book was inspired by a true story that happened when an elderly man from the former Soviet Union, who hadn’t been able to celebrate his coming of age as a boy, asked Marc, who was working as a b’nai mitzvah teacher, to tutor him.

Arnold Goldberg, P’04, retired as associate program director of the Brown Family Medicine Residency Program at Kent Hospital/Warwick, in Rhode Island. He’s now concentrating on teaching geriatrics, and having fun with his wife of 43 years, and their children and six grandchildren.

Iroka Joseph has retired as a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics in the College of Medicine at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, in Nigeria. He also founded and directed a pharmaceutical company, Rocitus, which manufactured antiretroviral and antimalarial drugs. (One of the drugs, Iroka reports, was made possible by a grant from Peter Malkin, the son-in-law of Lawrence and Mae Wien, founders of Brandeis’ Wien International Scholarship Program.) Last summer, Iroka spent time with his children and grandchildren in Atlanta.

Victoria Kanrek retired in June 2024 after 32 years at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Large Business and International Division (in the Manhattan field office), where she managed a practice group of attorneys. She plans to work with husband Frank on his new venture, a global B2B e-fair.

Robert Blau married Hana Chaim during an Alaska cruise in June 2024.

Ellis Verdi writes, “Proud of the work we did the past couple of years to promote Brandeis in a series of ads in The New York Times and online. If anyone wants a copy, send a request to everdi@devitoverdi.com.”

Dan Feier, who has been retired since 2018, reports son Joel is in the second year of an ENT residency in Southern California and daughter Natasha has a year left in her veterinary studies at Tufts.

Elisa Schindler Frankel is working on a series of projects to honor her father, Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, including raising funds for his biography, “Above All, We Are Jews,” which will be published by CCAR Press in 2025, and supporting the digitization of his archival collection at the American Jewish Archives. In collaboration with her sister, Rabbi Judith Schindler, she is also organizing events that celebrate her father’s 25th yahrzeit and what would have been his 100th birthday.

Susan Friedman Berman is co-founder and CEO of the Help Group, a nonprofit that provides educational, residential, vocational, and therapeutic services across Southern California. She enjoys spending time with her adult children and grandchildren in Los Angeles and New York.

Jonathan Hirst, P’18, has been admitted to the bar in New York and New Jersey. He specializes in wills, trusts, estates, and civil litigation.

Movie production designer Steve Saklad writes, “Even as the work dries up here in Hollywood, I can happily announce I am now a proud member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. If we can’t spend our days working on movies, my husband and I are happy to put on a suit and at least enjoy a red carpet or two.”

Alan Spatrick and wife Kaj Wilson traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, in May 2024 to attend Jeff Neuman and Sherry Bokser’s wedding.

Paul Sullivan has retired as a professor at the National Defense University. He writes, “I continue to teach about energy and environmental security at Johns Hopkins, and about supply chains, shipping, international trade, and other topics at Yale Alumni College. I also advise on issues and policies related to natural gas and oil, nuclear power, energy storage, environment, and geopolitics.”

Cynthia Zabin and David Wean, who live in the Roslindale section of Boston, retired four years ago (Cynthia worked as a SNAP program coordinator for Massachusetts and David as an actuary at John Hancock). These days, Cynthia teaches English language learners, David is active with bicycle advocacy and recreational groups, and they both volunteer with groups working to address food insecurity. They hosted their two daughters’ weddings in 2022 and 2023, and in February 2024 welcomed their first grandchild, Veronica Dawn.