SINAI Schools to honor leaders, supporters at annual dinner

SINAI Schools — an outstanding provider of Jewish and secular education to children with a wide range of disabilities — will hold its annual benefit dinner on Sunday, February 26, at 4:45 p.m. at the Marriott Glenpointe Hotel in Teaneck.

This year’s honorees are Dr. Michael Stifelman and Dr. Jill Zimmerman, Erica and Tzvi Solomon, and Judi Karp. A memorial tribute to Leo Brandstatter will be held at the dinner, which will also feature parent and student speakers Annie and Julia Miller.

Drs. Stifelman and Zimmerman are accomplished physicians who embrace a mission of healing the less fortunate, which, they said, is why SINAI’s mission resonates so deeply with them, adding, “Supporting SINAI is nothing short of supporting miracles.”

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The Solomons work to expand SINAI’s donor base and leadership pipeline to include younger supporters. They have hosted parlor meetings and encouraged dozens of friends to become ambassadors for SINAI. While a student at Torah Academy of Bergen County in Teaneck, Tzvi formed numerous friendships with SINAI Karasick Shalem High School students. He joined SINAI’s board of directors in 2017 and has been an executive board member since 2019.

Ms. Karp, SINAI’s associate dean and director of SINAI at Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston, will receive SINAI’s Lifetime Achievement Award. For more than 25 years, she has developed curricula, standards, and staff development programs and helped strategize SINAI’s growth. Ms. Karp has been a mentor to scores of SINAI educators and has had a profound impact on the lives of hundreds of students and their families.

Leo Brandstatter (z”l) was SINAI’s founding president and a former board chair. He and his wife, Dossy, lobbied for SINAI’s creation in 1982, and he was instrumental in its growth from a fledgling class of five children into the network of eight schools it is today. His legacy lives on through the generations of children whose lives have been made better by SINAI.

Julia and her parents, Annie and George Miller, will share their SINAI story at the dinner. Julia, a SINAI student for many years, now attends SINAI’s Karasick Shalem High School at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck.

Dinner guests will also watch the premiere of SINAI’s new documentary, “Finding Her Voice,” which tells the inspiring story of Racheli and her dedicated parents, Levi and Jill Friedbauer.

SINAI, based in Paramus, operates eight inclusive special education schools, providing an outstanding Jewish and secular education to children with a wide range of developmental, intellectual, and complex learning disabilities. SINAI offers individualized programming and therapies to meet each student’s needs.

To make reservations and donations, go to sinaidinner.org.