JEC gala marks ‘dream’ anniversary

Six hundred friends and supporters came together at MetLife Stadium on May 25 to “Celebrate the Past and Embrace the Future” of the 75-year-old Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth. 

The JEC includes the Yeshiva of Elizabeth elementary division, Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy, and Bruriah High School for Girls, with a total enrollment of 900 students. 

Historical presentations included a tribute to the late JEC founder, Rav Pinchas Mordechai Teitz, and his son, JEC dean Rav Elazar Mayer Teitz. 

“Jewish Education is really the best way to ensure a Jewish future, to make sure our children and generations to come receive Torah education, and the JEC represents the best of those values,” JEC alumnus Mark Wilf told the gathering. 

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The guest of honor was Dr. Steven Singfer (RTMA, class of 1973), a longtime supporter of the JEC and community who is serving his second term as board president. 

The Lev Tov Award went to Edward and Cecile Mosberg, survivors and philanthropists who this year donated a Holocaust-era Torah they had refurbished to RTMA. 

The Distinguished Service Award was conferred upon the Early Childhood Division’s coordinator, Morah Lisa Bond, and its faculty. 

The event featured a dinner, a display of vintage and current photos, an Alumni Network area, selections from the 2016 Bruriah Holocaust Museum, interactive STEM displays, and a photographic slideshow of the history of the JEC.

Cantor Ira Heller performed, singing “My Yiddishe Mama.” 

The emcee, Brian Ness, who is a JEC parent and a board member, said it was an evening to remember the “vision, legacy, and dreams of our founder…and for us to begin to dream together — a dream of a future where every child exceeds their greatest potential, a future where a life of learning extends beyond the classroom, a future where Judaism thrives because Jewish education is a lifelong pursuit.”