Alumni Stats
Total
1529

Demographics:
541 in Missouri
131 in Israel
116 in New York
74 New Jersey
59 in Illinois
51 in California
44 in Maryland
29 in Florida

569 known marriages

Involvement:
14 student parents
5 Epstein teachers
11 Board of Dirs.

'08-'09 Giving
63 particpants
$60,000 pledged
Epstein Alumni: Since 1943
In The Spotlight: Heschel Raskas, '54

Heschel Raskas is nominated for one of three top volunteer offices for United Jewish Communities/Jewish Federations of North America.  Read more at this link.
Tanya Fredman, class of 1999, teaches art to children at the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village.  The village, which is located in rural Rwanda, is a community for orphans and traumatized youth. It is based on the Israeli youth village model and provides a combination of therapy and education to help the youth move towards a successful future.  Tanya runs the Art Center and leads the kids in creating murals and mosaics to beautify their village, while also creating her own painted portraits of the people she meets.  It is captivating to read Tanya's blog posts about her experiences in rural Rwanda, a country still recovering from the 1994 genocide against the ethnic Tutsi people.
Featured Profiles
On Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Chiyya Smason, class of 2002, was awarded with the Ot HaNasi (Medal of Outstanding Achievement) by Israeli President, Shimon Peres, for his service as an IDF commander. Chiyya entered the IDF at the beginning of 2009, having just married Hagit Caspit of Yokneam in December 2008. Chiyya currently serves in the IDF as a commander of an artillery unit that engaged in heavy combat in Operation Cast Lead. Chiyya's description of the ongoing war to defend Israel speaks to the perspectives of those on the front line.  In one of his letters home he writes, “when my soldiers get tired I remind them that in this war our strength is not human.  In this holiest of wars our strength is that of angels fighting in the name of God – in the name of God we will be victorious.”  The remainder of Chiyya's letter depicts the war to defend Israel as difficult and enduring, but necessary and ultimately fulfilling. We wish Chiyya the utmost safety, and anyone who wants to send him a letter may do so through the Academy.
Morris Hartstein, class of 1978, along with family, friends, and volunteers from the organization Stand Together, put on a BBQ for soldiers at an army base near Jenin during Yom Ha'Atzmaut.  Morris lives with his wife Elisa and four children - Eliana, Dalia, Zack and Jonah - in Raanana, Israel.  Raanana is home to several other Epstein alumni such as Joseph Wolf, Benjamin Waltuch, and Michael Raskas during the summer.  In a recent interview Morris said, “it is nice having fellow cardinal fans around and seeing others wearing [Cardinals] hats or Pujols jerseys.”
Morris is the current director of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Zerifim located near Ramla and Lod, one of the poorest areas in Israel.  The Medical Center treats a diverse group of people including Israelis from Arab countries, Indians, Ethiopians, Russians, Arab-Israelis and prisoners.  In addition, Morris operates a private practice at the Herzliya Medical Center (which is not far from Raanana), and his wife, Elisa, is about to launch www.Milknursingwear.com, which is a line of fashionable clothing for nursing mothers.
Shoshana (Scheide) Hurwitz, class of 1990, has a great job that has enabled her to combine a lifelong love for the written word with her background in Jewish education.  Her business, Hurwitz Indexing, specializes in the extremely rare art of writing indexes for Judaic texts.  In conversation, Shoshana described how she attributes much of her “almost-monopoly” on the field to the Jewish education she received at Epstein.   “I got my start to this unusual yet rewarding career volunteering for EHA’s very own Mrs. Wolf in 6th grade,” she said.  Post-Epstein, Shoshana cultivated this rare interest by working in several St. Louis libraries before obtaining her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Master's in Library Science.  In graduate school she discovered the art of indexing, and the rest was history.  Last summer Shoshana, along with her husband Ezra and their two daughters Mandy and Jordana, made aliyah to Maale Adumim, which was aided by the success of Hurwitz Indexing.

Throughout the Torah we find constant reminders to be kind to the stranger,
to the widow and the orphan, and the reason given? The Jewish people were
slaves in Egypt. It is the common experience of suffering that creates a
moral imperative to sympathize with and act on the behalf of others. I have
never seen this more clearly than in Rwanda. (tanyafredman.blogspot.com)

There is plenty more information about Tanya's work at her artist website, www.tanyafredman.com, as well as a link to her blog and online store which supports her efforts in Rwanda.  Let’s give her our support!