Pam and Bruce Wexler, along with their children, Eric and Michelle, are deeply honored and very excited to celebrate with their Temple Israel Center family on March 4. For more than 25 years, TIC and its amazing community have been an integral part of their lives and always close to their heart. Pam and Bruce have been privileged to have this spiritual home to celebrate important lifecycle events (including their children's b’nai mitzvah) as well as to share in the joy and sorrows of fellow members of the community. Pam and Bruce are truly appreciative of the dedication of our extraordinary clergy, Rabbis Tucker, Isenberg-Grzeda, and Shargel, and Cantors Mordecai and Mendelson, as well as our incredible President Ellen Salant, devoted lay leaders and volunteers, and inspiring staff.Bruce and Pam are active and caring synagogue members. We are privileged that Bruce recently served as TIC President. In his first Kol Nidre speech, Bruce shared that many thought he had to be crazy to take on this role. However, Bruce believed he had to be crazy not to. It has been in that vein that Bruce lovingly has served our community for years. He is currently Chair of the Rabbi Search and Personnel Committees, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. His prior positions include Vice President, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, gabbai for the Days of Awe, Religious School Board member, Co-Chair of the School Board Search Committee, member of the Synagogue 2000 team, and Co-Chair of the Dinner Dance Fundraising Committee. Bruce is a former Simhat Torah honoree. Pam loved being TIC’s First Lady and has also served in the past as Co-Chair of the Gala, TIC’s Social Event, and the Book Fair, and has recently been a member of the Nominating Committee.
Pam and Bruce’s work on behalf of the Jewish community and their enduring passion to heal the world has extended to their longtime involvement with UJA-Federation of New York and its beneficiary agencies. Utilizing all he has learned about synagogues and Jewish education, Bruce is privileged to serve as Chair of UJA-Federation’s Synergy Cabinet, which works to create thriving synagogue communities, and as a Board member of the Jewish Education Project. Pam considers herself a career volunteer and is a member of UJA’s Board of Directors, serves as Westchester’s Legacy Chair, and is involved in fundraising, planning, and allocation efforts. She is a past member of UJA’s Executive Committee and Westchester Regional Chair. Pam is a member of the Nedivot Fund, a UJA Westchester Women’s Impact Philanthropy Group, the Parent Advisory Board of J-Teen Leadership, a teen-led service and leadership initiative, the Board of Westchester Jewish Council, part of UJA’s network, and Jewish Federation of North America’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board. Pam and Bruce were 2011 Westchester Celebration Honorees for UJA, and Pam recently received the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award from UJA Women.
Bruce and Pam are both attorneys. A partner in the law firm of Loeb & Loeb, LLP, Bruce is the National Co-Chair of the Trusts and Estates Department. Pam works as a volunteer attorney for the New York Legal Assistance Group, a UJA beneficiary agency, where she provides pro bono legal services and gives a voice to domestic violence survivors. Pam has been acknowledged by UJA with a 2015 Network Agency Volunteer Award for this work.
Pam and Bruce extend a heartfelt mazal tov to Diana and Craig Sklar, our incredible Young Leadership recipients. They also warmly congratulate the inspiring Director of Congregational Learning, Nancy Parkes, a true innovator and pioneer in the field of Jewish education. Bruce and Pam are thrilled to be honored together with them. Pam and Bruce deeply treasure the many friends they have made and feel blessed by the continuing support and friendship of their beloved TIC community. Bruce and Pam look forward to continuing to be active participants in, and sharing many more simhahs with, the Temple Israel Center community for years to come.
Diana and Craig are humbled and grateful to be honored at this year’s Gala. For several years prior to moving to Westchester, Diana and Craig attended High Holiday services at Temple Israel Center. They knew then that TIC would eventually become their synagogue when they left the city. When they moved to Westchester in 2008, they enrolled their son Zachary in the TIC nursery school. Their daughter Sarah followed a couple of years later, and they are both proud graduates of the school.Diana has been very active at Temple Israel Center since joining in 2008. She held many positions while the kids were in the nursery school, including stints as the PTO treasurer, PTO co-president, and member of the nursery school board. When the nursery school years ended, Diana continued taking on roles in the synagogue at large. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees and on the budget committee. She was co-chair of the fundraising committee for the Gala in 2014 and has participated in other Gala committees, as well as the committee for the 2015 Fall Social and the nominating committee to the Board. You can even hear her read Torah on Rosh Hashanah. Diana and Craig have also served as TIC ambassadors, welcoming new families into the community. Craig served as the music chair for the Gala in 2014 and is also famous (or infamous) for tearing his Achilles tendon on his first (and last) night playing in the TIC Wednesday night basketball game.
Diana and Craig are also involved at Schechter Westchester where their kids go to school. Diana has served as the secretary of the PTO board and is currently one of the PTO board’s Vice Presidents. She is often at school volunteering for school events and activities or serving lunch. Starting early this year Diana will be volunteering in the Care Buddies Program, a joint program run by Seivah: Jewish Life Beyond Memory and Westchester Jewish Community Services. As a Care Buddy, she will be visiting with people recently diagnosed with dementia.
Diana graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with two BAs, one in Psychology and one in Hebrew and Semitic Studies. She later received an MSW from Columbia University and an MA in Judaic Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. As a social worker, Diana’s focus was in geriatrics, first working with clients in adult protective services, and then for many years at Mount Sinai Hospital in geriatric psychiatry.
Craig is a partner and co-head of the Business Transactions Group at Seward & Kissel LLP. He serves as a member of the firm’s management committee. Craig also has served as co-head of the firm’s pro bono committee, overseeing numerous projects, including establishing a significant relationship with Her Justice, an organization that provides free legal help in family law, divorce, and immigration to low-income women living in New York City. Craig graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business with a BS in Finance and Marketing and received his law degree from Fordham University School of Law.
Diana and Craig are thrilled to be a part of the TIC community. Their family has been a part of many wonderful simhas, services, and holidays at TIC and are grateful to the clergy and staff who have always been so warm and welcoming. Diana and Craig are honored to be this year’s recipients of the Young Leadership Award and are so happy to celebrate alongside Bruce and Pam Wexler and Nancy Parkes, who each have contributed immensely to TIC. They extend a huge mazal tov to them and their families.
Before entering the field of Jewish education, Nancy earned a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology and worked as an athletic trainer at the University of Connecticut for the women's field hockey and basketball teams. In 2003, she decided to pursue her love for Jewish learning and enrolled in the graduate program at the William Davidson School of Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She earned her MA degree in Jewish Studies and graduated in 2006.Nancy joined Temple Israel Center in the Fall of 2006 as the Assistant Director of Education and served as the Director of Education from 2007 to 2010. Nancy assumed the role of Director of Congregational Learning in 2011. She has initiated many programs at Temple Israel Center and was part of the visionary process of Shorashim, TIC’s educational program for grades K-6. This innovative model included the hiring of TIC’s full-time community educators. Nancy has also implemented changes in Havurat Torah, Temple Israel Center’s high school program, an academic program that focuses on making learning meaningful and relevant for teens. Nancy also serves as a mentor for graduate students in the William Davidson School of Education at JTS and is a member of its advisory board.
In 2001, Nancy combined her passion for Israel and her love for tennis when she represented the United States and competed in the Maccabiah Games in Israel, bringing home three medals.
She is the originator of a variety of local, national, and international fundraising events including the Time/LIFE Photo Exhibitions for Israel Bonds, the “Yad L’Yad” program in the United States and Israel, and the Dasberg, Joseph, Ramon Scholarship Fund for Tel Aviv University. She is also the co-author of The Little Torah’s Trip to Space, a children’s book about the Torah that Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, took to space. Nancy has written several articles about the necessity for change in Jewish education and delivered an ELItalk on this subject in 2014.
Nancy and her husband, Michael, love nothing more than spending time with their daughter, Rachel, and their son-in-law, Dan; their son, Adam, and his fiance, Jenny; and their youngest daughter, Sarah.