After October 7, 2023, Mona Goldstein believes that none of us can write the same “bio,” nor should we. Both Mona and her husband, Stephen, grew up with parents who were lifelong synagogue members — at the Israel Community Center in Levittown and Farmingdale Jewish Center, respectively. She felt it was only natural for herself and her husband to choose a community with a strong Jewish presence — Stony Brook, then East Setauket — and North Shore Jewish Center (NSJC) in Port Jefferson Station became their spiritual home. 

Mona and Stephen have three wonderful sons and daughters-in-law who have given them eight magnificent grandchildren — seven girls and one boy, ages one to 20. Two families live in New York, and one lives in Jerusalem. Mona and Stephen stayed in the safe room on October 7^th of their son and his family’s Jerusalem apartment as the sirens blared and the intercepted missiles boomed overhead.

Mona and Stephen have been members of NSJC since 1976 and Mona has been an active and involved member of Sisterhood for almost as long. Her connection with Sisterhood began when two “older” members asked her and a close friend to join a committee to design the new Sisterhood dairy kitchen. “Did they need our help?” Mona asked herself. “Probably not,” she thought, “but they knew that involvement generated commitment.”

While remaining active in Sisterhood and on her congregation board, she returned to work after raising their three boys. The Sisterhood event planning, organizing, and committee work that she did gave her the skills she needed to work for a small, higher-education, non-profit organization.

In addition to NSJC, Mona and Stephen have been active in UJA. They were honored for their work in 2022 and are both thankful and proud of UJA’s support for Israel as well as the Jewish community’s immediate, overwhelming generosity to the Israel Emergency Fund.

 

Mona has held many positions on the NSJC Sisterhood and congregation boards, but she is particularly gratified to receive recognition as a Woman of Achievement in the same year that she is serving as Sisterhood’s vice president for Israeli Affairs. She says that it affords her a unique opportunity to keep Israel in the forefront of synagogue and Sisterhood life.

As she prepared her “bio” on February 17, 2025, the 500th day of hostages in Gaza, Mona prayed that by the time of the Woman of Achievement Gala in June, the remaining hostages will have been released, the IDF will have prevailed, and Israel will know peace with secure borders.