Julie Gold and Marc Dinkin
Honorees

Julie and Marc are thrilled to celebrate Temple Israel Center at this year’s gala, a place that has served not only as their synagogue, but also as their greater Jewish family over the last 15 years.  When they returned to Westchester after three years in Boston, Julie discovered TIC, which was known for its strong, warm community and vibrant preschool and Shorashim programs.  After trying out their first Shabbat, they were invited to the Bermans for dinner – by the time they finished the soup, they knew they had found their shul.  Since then, the friendships and bonds made at TIC have lived up to that first dinner.  Their children enrolled in the TIC Nursery School where, almost miraculously, each of them seemed to find a Lebwohl child to become best friends with.  And soon after, they discovered Sam Kohn’s beautiful Parsha Class that kept their kids, Max, Ben and Sophia, coming to shul (and not just for the cookies). 

Marc grew up in Harrison, New York, the grandson of an Orthodox rabbi, and attended Westchester Day School and The Ramaz Upper School, and was a member of the Jewish Community Center of Harrison.  In the summers, he attended Young Judaea camps, and after high school went on Young Judaea’s Year Course where he developed his love of kibbutz life and Naomi Shemer songs.  He spent his college summers as the Music Director of Camp Herzl in Wisconsin and taught Hebrew school throughout the year.
After completing his medical training and Neurology residency at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he was also lucky to meet Julie, Marc trained as a neuro-ophthalmologist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.  After two years at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Marc returned to Cornell, and is now the Director of Neuro-Ophthalmology, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Neurology and Director of the Neuroscience Course, Brain and Behavior.  He is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology and has won numerous teaching awards, but his greatest joy remains patient care. Outside of his day job, he enjoys writing musicals.

Marc’s involvement at TIC has played a pivotal role in his life over the last 15 years.  Determined to help make Shabbat services more accessible to young children like his, Marc’s first volunteer work at TIC was to help lead the children’s youth service.  He was a member of the Rabbi Search Committees that hired Rabbi Matthew Futterman and Rabbi Annie Tucker.  More recently, he enjoyed working on the Belonging Committee, a cause that he remains passionate about – that every member of the community should feel recognized and appreciated.  He now serves on the Cantor Search Committee and Kiddush Committee as well as the Board of Trustees.  But perhaps the most joyful TIC activity for Marc has been playing with the Kabbalat Shabbat band.  With this group of talented musicians previously led by the amazing Cantor Rabbi Shoshi Levin Goldberg, Marc felt the power and joy of tefillah in new ways.  When Marc was asked to lead Rosh Hashanah Shacharit for the Tent Service in 2023, he knew it would be a challenge to prepare for it.  But, it turned out to be one of the most meaningful Jewish experiences of his life and he is grateful to TIC for giving him the opportunity. 

Julie grew up in Tarrytown, NY, where she attended Temple Beth Abraham.  After her freshman year of college, she participated in Volunteers for Israel, where she worked on an army base and was first exposed to the beauty of Israel.  After receiving her medical degree and completing residency at Weill Cornell Medical College, Julie trained as a hematologist-oncologist at The Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.  She currently practices hematology-oncology at Optum Medical, where she focuses on the treatment of breast and gynecologic cancers, is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and is Chief of Hematology-Oncology at Northern Westchester Hospital.  She serves on the Professional Advisory Board of the Cancer Support Community of Greater NY and CT (formerly known as Gilda’s Club).  Julie cherishes her community at TIC, where she has served on the Nominating Committee and enjoyed volunteering at events like the Purim Carnival.

Julie and Marc grew close while studying pediatric cardiology in medical school and were married during residency.  All three of their children, Max, Ben and Sophia, attended the TIC Nursery School and the Shorashim Program.  Max and Benjamin both became b’nai mitzvah at TIC, and Sophia is about to join them in May of this year!  And where would they be without that Shabbos morning parsha class?  Benjamin and Sophia are students in Scarsdale Public Schools and Max is a freshman at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is studying Horticulture and Food Science.  Julie and Marc want to thank their parents, Lois and Herman Dinkin and Barbara and Jerry Gold, as well as their siblings, Kenny, Beth and Jason, for their constant support and inspiration.

The Dinkin family is grateful to TIC for its dedication to prayer, social action, education, and community, and for the tireless efforts of its clergy, staff, lay leaders, and volunteers.  This includes the spiritual guidance of Rabbi Gordon Tucker who welcomed them in 2009, Rabbi Dina Shargel who helped keep Jewish education joyful and musical and prepared Max for his bar mitzvah, Rabbi Matthew Futterman and Rabbi Adir Yolkut who prepared Ben for his bar mitzvah, Rabbi Ari Isenberg, Rabbi Josh Bender, and particularly Rabbi Annie Tucker, whose leadership inspires them every Shabbos.  And of course, TIC’s wonderful cantors over the years, Jack Mendelson, George Mordechai, and Rabbi Shoshi Levin Goldberg, whose musical mentorship of both Marc and Sophia will be sorely missed. They also wish to thank all the incredible Nursery School and Shorashim educators, with a special thank you to Michelle Steinhart, as well as Georgia Davis and Leora Cohen for being amazing b’nai mitzvah tutors.  Finally, they are thrilled to share this year’s honor with those families who have been members of TIC for 40 years or more – truly the backbone of this everlasting community.