Meredith Jacobs
Meredith Jacobs is author of The Modern Jewish Mom’s Guide to Shabbat: Connect and Celebrate—Bring Your Family Together with the Friday Night Meal(HarperCollins), host of "Connecting Family" on WYPR 88.1 fm (NPR in Baltimore, MD), parenting advice columnist and co-founder and editor of www.ModernJewishMom.com. She hosts the video series "Faith in the Family" available on www.Beliefnet.com. Her monthly parenting columns appear in The Baltimore Jewish Times. She has writen for various national Jewish publications including JewishLiving, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles and JTA and Jewish Woman and has been interviewed for her perspective as a Jewish mom for articles in such publications as Parenting magazine and The Forward. Jacobs speaks to various women’s and Jewish groups across the country, has cooked potato latkes live on 9News Now (CBS in Washington, D.C.) and hosts "Modern Jewish Mom" on XM 108 Radio Hanukkah.
Most significantly, Jacobs is wife to Jonathan and mother to Sofie and Jules. She is proud to have a traditional home, while still being considered quite hip and cool (at least she considers herself to be so!) She admits to an addiction to Starbucks Iced Venti Skim Lattes, and enjoys cooking, entertaining, reading, running, Pilates, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (the kind of guy she would have had a crush on in high school), comedy, music, family and her crazy Wheaton Terrier named Mac.
Representation:
(writing) Joanne Brownstein, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents
(management) Evan Weiss, Handprint Entertainment
(speaking events) Jamie Brickhouse, HarperCollins Speakers Bureau
Jennifer Kagnoff
WWMJMD, Modern Jewish Menus, ModernEcoMom
Proud sister of big-time author Meredith Jacobs (see above), Jen is stepping back into the biz world after a 5 1/2-year hiatus, during which time she sat around devouring Krimpets and running up huge phone bills to the East Coast (and, oh yeah, giving birth to and raising two amazing little boys).
A long-time high-tech marketer, Jen is now actively involved in her community. One of her favorite organizations is Jewish Family Service of San Diego for which she co-chaired a very successful auction. When Meredith decided to become the "Jewish" Martha Stewart, Jen suggested she start a company. Their mother, the Modern Jewish Grandmom (see below), is so kvelling.
In her spare time (ha!), Jen loves to read, play outside with her kids, and cheer on her favorite sports teams (from SD to Philadelphia). Oh, she likes to bake as well, which is probably the reason she now likes to run!
JORDANA JAFFE
Advice for an Organized Mom
Jordana Jaffe created live ORGANIZED to help moms reinstate a sense of order and simplicity in their homes, offices and calendars. Passionate, supportive and down-to-earth, Jordana exudes an excitement for life – and organizing – that’s simply contagious. A native of New York City, she understands and appreciates the limited space available to most New Yorkers, and the pressing need use it to its fullest potential. Clients will be inspired by Jordana’s out-of-the-box thinking, positive spirit, and her commitment to living organized.
Dana Sacks
Advice from a Jew-By-Choice Mom
Dana became a Jew by Choice six months before she married her husband, Jeremy Sacks, in 1994. She and Jeremy moved to Portland, Oregon, six months after they had their daughter, Hannah, in 1998. Not wanting only her daughter to enjoy all that she and her husband can offer, they produced a son, Jonah, in 2000. Dana went from working 50 hours a week as a writer/editor for associations in Washington, DC, to working 24/7 for tiny despots that have grown into lovely (cough) young children.
Living in the land 'o coffee, there's not many days that go by when she doesn't enjoy a quad venti hazelnut latte (yes, I said "quad"). In the nine and half years of living in Portland, Dana has slowly become a part of the Jewish community: from small synagogue committees to chairing community-wide events. She feels grateful that they entrust so much in her (uneducated) hands.
Ellen Levin
Advice from a Modern Jewish Grandmom
Grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest of four sisters. She graduated from Towson University and taught second grade until her marriage to Ralph Levin in 1966. They have two daughters.
Ellen served as President of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) for her daughters’ elementary, middle and high schools. She served on various school district committees and made a major impact on the lives of Jewish children in school—from not having teachers schedule exams on Yom Kippur, changing the Christmas Concert to the Winter Concert and having Jewish holidays included on the school district calendar. After serving many years as a volunteer, Ellen accepted a professional position directing the public relations for the school district.
In 1974, her husband started a manufacturing representative and distributor firm. What was to be a one year involvement for Ellen became a 30-year partnership of a very successful business. They retired in 2004.
A member of Temple Sinai synagogue in Dresher, Pennsylvania, Ellen has served on the Board of Directors was Executive V.P. and chaired numerous synagogue events. She and Ralph are students in Hebrew University’s Florence Melton Mini-School.
Ellen loves to knit, play mah jongg, read and especially, to spend time with her four grandchildren.
Rachel Sarah
Advice from a Modern Single Jewish Mom
Rachel Sarah is the author of Single Mom Seeking: Play Dates, Blind Dates and Other Dispatches from the Dating World (January '07, Seal Press/Avalon).
Her heartfelt, laugh-out-loud memoir shows the pitfalls and rewards of balancing parenting with her search for a Jewish Mr. Right.
Jewish relationship author Susan Shapiro-- "Secrets of a Fix-Up Fanatic" and "Five Men Who Broke My Heart" -- says: "Rachel Sarah offers a sexy, edgy, honest expose of single parenthood."
Sarah is the romance columnist for San Francisco's j., the Jewish news weekly of Northern California. Her columns received a "Simon Rockower 2005 Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism." She has also written for Interfaith Family, The Forward, Ms., Parenting, Pregnancy, and Family Circle.
Rachel lives in the S.F. Bay Area with her daughter, Mae.
Please visit her at: www.singlemomseeking.com
RAchel Rosner
Rachel Recommends (Book Reviews)
Rachel Rosner grew up as an RK (rabbi’s kid—for those of you not in the know) in Indianapolis, Indiana, absorbing all her Jewish knowledge by osmosis and day school. Her love for books was solidified in second grade when she transformed her small closet into a reading “cave,” complete with a desk lamp and bean bag. She read everything from Sydney Taylor to Judy Blume, not to mention the required VC Andrews phase in high school.
During her teens, Rachel was involved in NFTY (the Reform youth movement), spending all her spare time protesting apartheid and the plight of Soviet Jews. She graduated from Syracuse University with a dual degree in Early Childhood Education and Child and Family Studies in 1991. It was there that she met the nice Jewish boy who would become her husband.
Today, Rachel is the Director of the Jewish Book Festival and Family Programs at the JCC in Rochester, New York. Previously, she spent 12 years as Director of the JCC’s day camp and children’s programs. She lives with her husband and two children, (Andrew, 9 ½, and Leah, 5 ½) and is living the life of her dreams—wife, mother, Jewish communal professional, and columnist for www.modernjewishmom.com!
Lily Yacobi
Hebrew 101
Lily Yacobi is the founder of Sarah and David Interactive, a Jewish educational media company specializing in Hebrew reading, writing and language. Lily founded the company in 2004 after spending several years tutoring tens of children (and their siblings and their parents) to prepare them for Bar/Bat Mitzvah. While having lunch with the mother of one of her students, Lily mentioned the idea of sharing her teaching method with children everywhere. The mother’s eyes lit up…and Lily knew she was on to something.
Lily earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She had been running an event production team in Manhattan when her mother, a Jewish educator, asked Lily to tutor one of her special needs students, who was preparing for her bat mitzvah. “One student became two, then many,” recalled Lily, who ultimately abandoned her career and New York City address to turn the successful tutoring formula into a business, with her mother as partner. She also relocated to northern New Jersey, where Sarah and David Interactive is now headquartered.
During her years as a bar/bat mitzvah tutor, Lily developed what she called the “Lily Method,” consisting of a unique set of reading and chanting techniques that her students learned quickly. Rote memorization was replaced with easy-to-learn skills, thus making preparation for the simcha more fun and less stressful. Her success was reflected in the progress of youngsters, some of whom progressed in eight months of study, from little or no Hebrew reading to the point where they were able to chant prayers and their haftarah at their bar mitzvah. As a bonus, Lily also has a beautiful singing voice, so lessons became a treat for her students. You can hear her on the story book CD.
By combining her business background with her creative approach to Hebrew reading a Jewish business was born!
Diana Yacobi
Hebrew 101
Diana Yacobi co-founded of Sarah and David Interactive and has created the Sarah and David program for Hebrew reading, writing and language together with her daughter, Lily (she was a star Hebrew reader in the first grade!). Soon after Lily founded the company and began to create materials for Hebrew reading and Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation, Diana jumped on board as collaborator, partner and cheerleader.
With a Master’s degree in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and years as educational director in synagogue schools, Diana’s world has been about creating curriculum, working with teachers and making Jewish education enjoyable for students. Over the years, helping students succeed with Hebrew reading became one of her passions, since students spend many years working on the process. Sarah and David was a natural extension of curricula she had piloted in her schools.
As a product of synagogue school education and later as a professional, Diana has published a number of articles on topics related to supplementary Jewish education. Her professional goals continue to be creating curricula, materials and techniques that will ensure the success of both teachers and students involved in the synagogue school system.
Currently Educational Director of the Religious School at Temple Emanu-el in Closter, New Jersey, she is a member of the Jewish Educators Assembly (JEA), The Network for Research in Jewish Education, and the Coalition for Advancement in Jewish Education (CAJE), and has served as a presenter at several CAJE conferences.
Jaclyn Ross
Illustrator
Illustrator and Jewish mom, Jaclyn Ross, is an award-winning animator who has worked with Klasky-Csupo, Sesame Workshop, Fisher-Price and Vtech.
Amy kramer
Website design and development
Marketer, website designer and also a modern Jewish mom, Amy is a partner at Counterintuity - a marketing and strategy company.
The purpose of www.modernjewishmom.com is to demonstrate how our traditions, when incorporated into our homes, can be wonderful parenting tools.
We encourage you to email us at info@ModernJewishMom.com with your ideas, projects, words of wisdom and wonderful stories. www.modernjewishmom.com is a site for all moms trying to make a Jewish home. We welcome your input.
