Bonnie Dassa is a retired social worker who was employed in New York City high schools for 27 years. Prior to that, she worked at senior centers, adult day-care centers, the New York City Department of Probation, and Metropolitan Hospital. She received a master’s degree in social work from Hunter College School of Social Work and has 45 years of clinical experience and background in the field.

 

Her pastimes include reading, playing Bridge, Mah-Jongg, and Canasta, participating in synagogue services and activities, taking courses, and learning languages such as Spanish, Hebrew, and Yiddish. 

 

Originally from Brooklyn, she has been living in Forest Hills, Queens, for more than 44 years. She calls herself a “snowflake,” and spends time in both Forest Hills, N.Y., and Boynton Beach, Fla.

 

She is an aunt to her terrific nephew, Jason, and his wife, Amanda, as well as to her terrific niece, Sheryl, and Sheryl’s husband, Eric, and is a proud and lucky great aunt to Sofia, Gaby, Aimee, and Owen.

 

Bonnie grew up in a kosher home and enjoyed celebrating Jewish holidays such as Chanukah and Passover. Her mother was Ashkenazi and her father was Sephardic. Bonnie started attending services regularly at Forest Hills Jewish Center after her maternal grandmother died in 1984 and has belonged there for more than 40 years. She became an adult bat mitzvah, volunteered as a “kiddush hostess” for more than 30 years, and serves on the Sisterhood Board overseeing Torah Fund cards, as well as on committees. An active participant in Sisterhood Shabbat, she proudly chants lines from the Haftorah.

 

Bonnie loves Israel and has visited the country 15 to 20 times since 1990, which includes her participation in temple missions. She is also an active member of Temple Torat Emet in Boynton Beach and serves on the Sisterhood Board. She enjoys studying online and in-person with the rabbis of both synagogues as well as the hazzan of Forest Hills Jewish Center.