Julie Higashi & Robin Shaw
Our Migdal David Honorees:
In 2013, as Robin Shaw and Julie Higashi embarked on what was to become a two-year transition to move from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, they were told by many members at their SF shul that: “BDJ is the shul for you.” Robin started going to daily minyan, and the rest of the family traveled down to LA on an occasional Shabbat or for the Yom Tov services during the Chagim. They were struck by the breadth (2 dozen Cohanim on the bimah for Yom Tov!), warmth, and inclusiveness of the BDJ community. They joined, never looked elsewhere, and never looked back. The shul served as an anchor for the Big (Slow) Move with Teen Minyan, Rechov Yeladim, Daily Minyan, Shirat Chana, Teen Girl’s Tefillah, and the fantastic array of davening and learning experiences under the leadership and vision of Rabbi Kanefsky; The BDJ community continues to be an anchor for them and their family of three children: Seiji, Kiku, and Tomomi.
Julie and Robin have enjoyed their part in the effort to expand the BDJ community east of La Cienega. After three attempts over a period of 5 years with a core group of families, BDJ Mincha East now routinely convenes on a monthly schedule. As part of a team of adult leaders with Noah and Sandy Blumofe, they helped establish and support the BDJ based Scouting America Troop 360 Girls for Kiku, Tomomi, and many other young women on the path to Eagle, which was both fulfilling and just plain fun. Robin served on the BDJ Board, securing State funding for facility upgrades to improve BDJ security. Julie provided advice during the pandemic from shofar covers to backyard minyanim and now is serving on the Executive Board and co-chairs the Security (and Emergency Response) Committee with Jamie Garelick.
When he is not schlepping a Sefer Torah, providing input on a medical question to a community member, trying to score a free coffee at Hillel with Tomomi at UCLA, or enjoying a post minyan nosh with Leon Cohen, Robin serves as the Director of the Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Julie continues to enjoy the endless BDJ learning opportunities and a more than occasional Bibi’s kiddush cookie while serving as the Director for the Tuberculosis Control Program for the LA County Department of Public Health.
Sari Abrams
Our Chasdei David Honoree:
Sari Abrams joined BDJ nearly 30 years ago. Having spent just one weekend in LA prior to uprooting her family from the East Coast, she was a little anxious about the adjustment. Her anxiety was quickly quelled as she was embraced by the BDJ community and slowly became involved in so many aspects of the shul. One of her first projects was helping found Shirat Chana, BDJ’s women’s tefillah group, ensuring that women would have a place to lead davening, and read torah and that girls could have the option of reading the torah at their Bat Mitzvah celebrations.
Professionally, Sari is the Director of Parent and Child Education at Pressman Academy, where she has been an early childhood and parenting educator for the past 26 years. She is also an instructor in the Early Childhood Education program of AJU’s Masor School. She has shared her expertise in these areas with the BDJ community - having served on the Rechov Yeladim Committee, teaching Conscious Parenting Classes and volunteering in Rechov Yeladim, both with the children and with the training of counselors.
On any given Shabbat morning at shul, Sari can be spotted turning pages in the front, greeting in the back, or helping coordinate the carrying of the torah on the women’s side. She also oversees the Shiur B’Ivrit program, serves as one of the gabbaim appointing the tefillah leaders, volunteers at the Tikkun Olam lunches and teaches laining to Bat Mitzvah girls.
She volunteers because she knows that together we can make a lasting difference for our shul community, and the wider community beyond. She is inspired every day by the shul’s warmth and spirit of welcoming and inclusion, and by her husband, Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, as he is the living embodiment of what it means to be a Modern Orthodox Jew committed to halacha and to the world all around.
Sari has 3 sons who all grew up at B’nai David-Judea, 2 daughters-in-law and 5 grandchildren who all fill her life with pride, love and joy.
Claire & Zev Hurwitz
Our Tzemach David Honorees:
Zev and Claire Hurwitz have been active members of the BDJ community since the very first Shabbat after their wedding in 2017. Zev has played a significant role in BDJ’s lay leadership, serving on the Board of Directors and contributing to the shul’s vision through his work on the Nosh n’ Drosh Committee, the Shavuot Committee, and the Young Professionals community, which he co-chaired for several years. He founded BDJ’s Civic Engagement Committee and helped organize the shul’s annual visits with Assemblymember Isaac Bryan. Zev also traveled with shul leadership to Houston to assist in Hurricane Harvey cleanup efforts.
Claire’s leadership at BDJ has touched nearly every corner of the community. She has served as BDJ’s Youth Director, supported the Young Professionals minyan as the beloved “YP Kiddush Queen,” and brought her thoughtfulness and steady presence to the Rechov Yeladim Committee and the Nominating Committee. She has also helped grow and enrich Tot Shabbat programming and continues to play an essential role in nurturing BDJ’s expanding young-family community.
Together, Zev and Claire have walked through both joy and sorrow with the support of the BDJ community, celebrating the brit milot of their sons, Dov and Yair, in the sanctuary; leading a live cholent-cooking demonstration on Zoom during COVID; and organizing both a Pregnancy Loss Oneg and Shabbaton after a traumatic loss. “It takes a village,” and Zev and Claire are so grateful to have the BDJ “village” as part of our family.
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