Region By Region: How NCSY Began

Posted on September 9, 2014

Beginning in the late 1940s, Orthodox synagogues across America created Jewish youth groups. In the Midwest, South, and Upstate NY, the groups began to cooperate with each other regionally. In 1954, Harold Boxer a”h convinced the Orthodox Union to create NCSY. Mr. Boxer’s hiring of Rabbi Pinchas Stolper in 1959 led to an intensified effort to create a national youth movement. Orthodox Union presidents Moses Feuerstein and Rabbi Joseph Karasick, and youth commission members Dr. Bernard Lander, Rabbi Ralph Pelcovitz and Rabbi Israel Wohlgelertner were among the member leaders who helped create the contemporary NCSY.

Below are some of the key figures in the founding of each region.

Midwest Synagogue Youth Organization
1951

Founders: Harry a”h and Helen Ostreicher
Harry and Helen Ostreicher, both Holocaust survivors, moved to Peoria, Illinois, in 1954 through a Yeshiva University program that brought students to areas without strong youth leadership. In Peoria, Harry taught in Sunday school and became the youth director for the local Orthodox shul, Agudas Achim. He founded Synagogue Youth Organization (SYO) which merged with NCSY in 1958. In the late 1960s, the Ostreichers returned to New York. Harry died in 2013 at the age of 91.

Cities participating in the region included Denver, CO; Peoria, IL; Des Moines, IO; Minneapolis, MN; St. Paul, MN; Kansas City, MO; St. Louis, MO; and Omaha, NE.

First Part-Time Director: Hyman Flacks a”h
Hyman Flacks worked with the Vaad Hir in St. Louis before joining SYO in 1967 as its first regional director. Following NCSY, he continued as head of Vaad Hir.

First Regional and National President: Cantor Dan Ziff

Southern Region
June 1952

Founder: Abe Rabhan a”h
Abe Rabhan was born in New York and moved to Savannah, GA, after the stock market crashed in 1929. When Rabhan’s younger brother Maier returned from the army in the late 1940s, he told Abe that they needed to start an organized Jewish youth group. Rabhan, together with Abraham I Rosenberg, started Y.O.U (Youth Orthodox Union), which later merged with NCSY. The extended Rabhan family is still actively involved in NCSY.

First Part-Time Director: Peggy Gopin Weiss
Peggy Gopin Weiss was an active New England NCSYer. She married at 19 and moved to Memphis, TN, where she became the first female director of the Southern region. Two years later, Weiss returned to Boston, where she served as the city director of Brockton, MA, for 20 years. Afterwards, she became New England’s regional director. Today, she resides in Teaneck, NJ, with her husband Rabbi Saul Weiss. They have four children, 23 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Baruch Taub

Rabbi Baruch Taub

First Director: Rabbi Baruch Taub
Rabbi Baruch Taub was the founding Southern regional director and associate national director. He succeeded Rabbi Stolper as the national director of NCSY. After leaving NCSY, Taub founded The BAYT of Toronto, one of the largest and most vibrant shuls in North America, where he currently serves as rabbi emeritus. He lives with his wife Malkah in Netanya where he teaches, lectures and writes. They have eight children and many grandchildren.

 

First Youth Commission Chair: Rabbi Jacobson

First President: Judy Rosenberg

Upper New York State Har Sinai
March 1960

First Director: Rabbi Louis Ginsburg a”h
Rabbi Louis Ginsburg was the rabbi at the House of Jacob shul in Utica, NY. He ran a Hebrew school and provided counseling to the community. To combat assimilation and intermarriage, Ginsburg founded NCSY’s Upstate New York Har Sinai region in 1962. In 1967, Rabbi Ginsburg moved to Staten Island, NY, to form Greater New York NCSY. He was also involved with New Jersey NCSY in its early years. This year’s Ben Zakkai diner is dedicated to his legacy.

First Youth Commission: George Kussack (1960)

First President: Teddy Zamore

Greater New York Region
May 1960

Founders:Rabbi Ralph Pelkovitz
Rabbi Ralph Pelkovitz was a board member of the OU when NCSY was created. Pelkovitz was appointed as a member of NCSY’s youth commission and hosted many NCSY Shabbatons at Congregation Kneseth Israel (The White Shul) in Far Rockaway, NY, where he was the rabbi. Pelkovitz developed NCSY into the organization it is today. He is the rabbi emeritus of Kneseth Israel.

First full-time director: Rabbi Louis Ginsburg a”h
013 Rabbi Louis Ginsburg moved from Utica, New York, in 1966 — where he served as the regional director of Upstate New York — to develop a Greater New York NCSY region. For more information, see Upper New York State.

First Part-Time Director: Rabbi Chaim Wasserman
Rabbi Chaim Wasserman was hired as associate national director of NCSY in 1963. He was also the part-time director of New York NCSY, until Rabbi Ginsburg arrived. Wasserman was invaluable in NY NCSY’s early years.

First Regional President: Bonnie Gerzog

Sullivan Ulster
1961

Founder: Rabbi Irving Goodman
While living in Woodridge, NY, in the 1950s, Rabbi Irving Goodman and his wife Lea became involved with NCSY. Goodman arranged housing for Shabbatons at Congregation Ohev Shalom and patrolled the streets on Friday night to ensure everyone arrived home safely. He mobilized the rabbis of Sullivan County to create a formal NCSY region. Goodman is now the dean of the Hebrew day school in Sullivan and Ulster County and the chaplain at the local department of corrections.

First Part-Time Director: Rabbi Nahum Solnica a”h
Rabbi Nahum Solnica a”h was the rabbi in Woodbourne.

First Youth Commission Chair: Rabbi Shalom Morrow
Rabbi Shalom Morrow was a rabbi in Liberty, NY.

First President: Phyllis (Gibber) Victor
As an Orthodox Jew in public school, NCSY was a vital Jewish outlet for Phyllis Victor. At 16, she became the first regional president of Sullivan Ulster. After high school, Victor attended Cornell University and earned a master’s degree in Speech Therapy. She and her husband David have nine children and many grandchildren.

Influential Pioneer: Vivian (Osdoby) Luchins
A national officer in 9th grade, Luchins became regional president of Sullivan Ulster in 10th grade. She served two terms as a national officer before becoming the volunteer regional director and chair of the North American Jewish Youth Council Conference. Luchins was a charter member of Ben Zakkai and is the chair of NCSY Summer and on the national board of the Orthodox Union. She attends NCSY events during the year, often accompanied by her husband David. The two met in NCSY.

Virginia
March 1961

Founder: Rabbi Nachum Bulman a”h
Rabbi Nachum Bulman moved to Newport News, VA, where he served as the rabbi of an Orthodox shul and founded an NCSY chapter and helped build the Virginia region. He later moved to Israel where he and his wife founded an English-speaking community named Kiryat Nachlie. He is survived by five children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

First Part-Time Director: Rabbi Israel Grama a”h
In 1958, Rabbi Israel “Izzy” a”h and his wife Susan moved to Newport News, Virginia. He was the first principal and his wife was the first teacher at a Jewish day school.  As Rabbi Pinchas Stolper and Rabbi Chaim Wasserman expanded NCSY, they reached out to their friend Izzy and he brought the organization to Virginia. In 1964, after building a strong NCSY foundation, the Gramas moved to Englewood, NJ, where Izzy became the first principal at the Moriah day school and founded the NCSY Englewood chapter. He and Susan dedicated their lives to educating Jewish people about their faith. They had four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Izzy passed away several years ago. Susie lives in Monsey, NY.

First President: Carol Feibush

Seaboard
March, 1961

Seaboard region was renamed Atlantic Seaboard in 1967.

Kossowsky, Zalman_medium

Rabbi Zalman Kossowsky

First Part-Time Director: Rabbi Zalman Kossowsky
While learning at Ner Israel, Rabbi Zalman Kossowsky became the first Seaboard NCSY director in 1962. He moved to Denver, where he received his Ph.D. Kossowsky later became the rabbi of the Young Israel of Greater Miami in North Miami Beach and served as a chaplain for the United States Naval Reserve. He become the rabbi of the largest synagogue in Johannesburg, South Africa, after which he became the Chief Rabbi of Switzerland. He and his wife, Danna, have seven children, and live in Boynton Beach, FL.

First Youth Commission Chair, Washington, DC: Dr. Noah Cohen a”h
While working for the CIA, Dr. Noah Cohen a”h served as the chairman of the Washington Youth Commission. He was heavily involved in coordinating Shabbatons and Regional Conventions. He is survived by his wife Dina and their three children.

First Youth Commission Chair, Baltimore, MD: Gilbert Cummins a”h
Gilbert Cummins was a member of Beth Jacob Congregation in Baltimore, MD, and was passionate about bringing youth into the synagogue. As the NCSY Seaboard region grew in the 1960s, Cummins became its first youth commission chairman. Cummins drew upon the resources of two other shul presidents in Baltimore for the youth commission — Manny Reich a”h of Greenspring and Chester Silberman a”h of LJC. Both of whom eventually led the commission.

First Regional President: Hank Cummins

New England
March 1961

Jpaul

Joel H. Paul

First Director: Joel H. Paul
Joel Paul founded the New England region in 1962. In two years Paul organized 28 synagogue chapters in five New England states. Afterwards, he moved to New York and worked for Yeshiva University. In 1971, Paul became the Hillel director at the University of Pennsylvania and served as the regional Hillel director of the Greater Philadelphia area. In 1987, he founded the Joel Paul Group, a national recruiting firm specializing in executives for non-profit organizations.
Paul Klaver and Peggy Gopin served with Paul as assistant directors.
First Youth Commission Chair: Dr. Marvin Antelman a”h

First National Advisor: Rabbi Menachim Gopin
Menachem Gopin was a 10th grader when New England NCSY began. While attending YU, Gopin returned to the region as the first national advisor. In 1972, he was hired as the third regional director. Under his leadership, the region expanded to 20 chapters. He lives in Har Nof, Israel, with his wife Rachel. They have had six children and many grandchildren.

First President: Sheldon “Shelly” Darack

Regional Benefactors: Joe and Julia a”h Macy
After surviving several concentration camps during the Holocaust, Macy moved to Fairfield, CT, where he maintained his commitment to Jewish tradition. When NCSY approached the local shul, Ahavath Achim, for support, Macy and his wife Julia a”h immediately got involved and became pillars of the region.

New Jersey
May 1961

First Part-Time Director: Cantor Aaron Lieber a”h
Aaron Lieber a”h joined Congregation Sons of Israel in Lakewood, NJ, in the late 1950s as the cantor and youth director. In 1958, he created MCOY, the Metro Commission of Orthodox Youth. After a meeting with Rabbi Stolper, Lieber merged MCOY with NCSY in 1961. He expanded NCSY to include Lakewood, Passaic, Linden and Fair Lawn. Lieber remained involved in NCSY until his death in the early 1990s.

Rabbi Grossman

Rabbi Rafael G. Grossman

First President: Dr. Alan Weinstock
Despite growing up in a non-observant home in Long Branch, NJ, the Weinstock family attended the local Orthodox shul, Congregation Brothers of Israel. When the shul launched an NCSY chapter in the early 1960s, Alan Weinstock became involved as a 10-year-old. Five years later, Weinstock became fully observant and served as the region’s first president. He resides in New Haven, CT, with his wife, Joan. They have four children, all of who were involved in NCSY.

Influential Pioneer: Rabbi Rafael G. Grossman
A friend of Cantor Lieber, Rabbi Rafael G. Grossman was the rabbi of Congregation Brothers of Israel. Dynamic and passionate, Rabbi Grossman founded the Long Branch chapter in the early 1960s. He became the rabbi of the Baron Hirsch Synagogue in Memphis, TN. He and his wife Shirley live in the Northeast.

Central East
March 1965

Before Central East NCSY was officially created, teens across the Midwest — Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Southern Ontario — organized informal youth groups. They would spread the word about events by mailing flyers and calling one another. As the cost started to rise, teens began asking synagogues for money to help. While some rabbi’s were extremely supportive of the idea, one rabbi in particular, Rabbi David Stavsky a”h of Congregation Beth Jacob in Columbus, OH, was extremely supportive and believed in the teens. He knew that Jewish teens needed organized programming where they could meet and gain support from one another. In late 1969, Rabbi Stavsky reached out to Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, NCSY’s national director, to hire a regional director for the area.
In February of 1970, a meeting was hosted by Rabbi Stavsky in Columbus, Oh, to interview Ivan and Arleeta Lener. The couple had been serving as the youth/education directors at a shul in Wilmington, Delaware.

The February 1970 meeting held at Beth Jacob in Columbus included:

Rabbi Aaron Brander, educational director of Bnei David in Southfield, MI
Rabbi Chaim HaLevi Donin, Rav of Bnei David in Southfield, MI
Rabbi Louis Engleberg, Rav of Tailor Road Synagogue in Cleveland, OH
Rabbi Sam Fox, Rav of Beth Jacob Congregation in Dayton, OH
Rabbi Ronald Gray, Associate Rabbi and Rabbi Nandor Fruchter, Rav of Bnei Torah in Indianapolis, IN
Rabbi Bernard Greenfield, Rav of Ohav Shalom in Cincinnati, OH
Rabbi David Indich, Rav of Golf Manner in Cincinnati, OH
Rabbi Solomon Rudman, Rav of Anshei Sefard in Louisville, Kentucky
Rabbi Samuel Rubenstein, Rav of Agudas Achim in Columbus, OH
Rabbi Melvin Sacks of Windsor, Ontario
Rabbi Avi Sultanik of Elyria, OH
Rabbi Jerry Wolicki, Rav of Ohr Chadash in Cleveland, OH

First Director: Ivan H. Lerner
In September of 1970, the Lerners moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and Ivan became Central East’s first regional director. In two years, Lerner expanded the region to include Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Indiana. In 1972, Daniel Butler became the region’s associate director, and assumed the role of director after Lerner left. Lerner became a rabbi and psychologist. Butler became a judge and is involved in the region today.

First Youth Commission Chair: Donald Butler, a”h
Donald Butler a”h served as the first Central East youth commission chair. He also served as the region’s vice president from the 1950s to the 1960s. In 1964, Butler became the vice president of the Orthodox Union and then senior vice president in the early 1970s. He passed away in 2013. He is survived by his wife, Chantze, four children, 20 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren.

First Teen President: Marc Shar
Marc Shar grew up Columbus, OH, and served as Central East’s first president, working closely with Lerner. After high school, he attended Ohio State University, and then University of Maryland School of Law. Shar was a trial lawyer for 32 years before being appointed as a judge to the Circuit Court of Maryland. He is on the faculty of University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In 1972, Shar married fellow NCSY advisor, Gwen Abrams, and together they have four children and 9 grandchildren.

Influential Pioneer: Cantor Paul Reiss a”h
Reiss was a youth director in Charleston, West Virginia, where he started a small NCSY chapter in the early 1960s. Reiss brought many local teens to the national NCSY conventions.

Greater Chicago T.S.Y. – Traditional Synagogue Youth
May 1961

When NCSY began, only Orthodox congregations belonged to its youth movement. In Chicago, there were a number of large congregations which, though led by Orthodox rabbis, practiced a more traditional form of Judaism. Traditional Synagogue Youth (TSY) was another youth organization that merged with NCSY.

First Part-Time Director: Eric Rothner
As a teenager, Eric Rothner was an active member of his Bnei Akiva chapter. After returning from a year in Israel, Rothner, 20, was asked to become the first regional director for TSY. Rothner ran the region for two years. Today, Rothner is active in the leadership of the Chicago Jewish community and serves as a board member for many organizations, including the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Hebrew Theological College and NCSY. He is a dedicated financial supporter and advocate of NCSY. He is the owner and CEO at Hunter Management and has four children and 12 grandchildren.

First Youth Commission Chairs:
Anne and Sy Okner a”h, Marce Glass a”h and Lenny Glass ybl”ch
In the early 1960s, there were a number of large traditional congregations with Orthodox rabbis, yet with little framework for youth involvement. The Okner and the Glass families stepped up to the challenge and created the first Traditional Synagogue Youth (TSY) chapter at Congregation Ezras Israel. TSY then expanded to many synagogues around Chicago. Later, with the encouragement of Rabbi Stolper, TSY merged with NCSY. Together, the Okner and Glass families gave endless amounts of time and energy to ensure that Jewish teens stayed connected to Judaism.

Today, the Midwest region still carries the legacy of the Okner and Glass families. The Midwest NCSY Winter Conclave was permanently named the Sy Okner Winter Conclave following the death of the Okners in 2008.

Eastern Canada
Montreal
June 1965

First Part Time Director: David Blank
David Blank first heard of NCSY while spending a year studying at a yeshiva in New York after high school. When he returned to his hometown of Montreal, he saw a need for NCSY and founded the Eastern Canada Region in 1964. Heading an NCSY region was a natural fit for Blank, who had grown up running youth programs. Within one year, he helped to start 15 chapters in various synagogues across Montreal and Ottawa. As the region grew, and after serving for two years as the volunteer regional director, the position needed a full time director. Blank stepped aside from the role to pursue his business career, but served as chairman of the Youth Commission and then later on the Presidium of the newly created Eastern Canada Region of the UOJCA. Blank would later go on to work as an investment dealer. Today, Blank and his wife Gladys live in Jerusalem, Israel, and have three children and four grandchildren.

First Youth Commission Chair: Hyman Baum

First President: Anne (Weinrauch) Merzel
Anne Merzel grew up in Montreal and was the founding regional president of Eastern Canada. During the second year of her presidency, she was elected to the NCSY national board as vice president of programming. While attending Stern College for Women, Merzel helped start the Central Canada region as its first national advisor. Anne worked for national NCSY as a coordinator of regional events and then as the director of national projects in 1978. Today, Anne and her husband David live in Rochester, NY and have one daughter and two grandchildren.

Influential Pioneers: Max and Terry a”h Richler
As Max Richler traveled across America for his manufacturing business, he noticed an absence of young Jewish life. Seeing an ad for NCSY, he contacted Rabbi Stolper and helped found the region. Richler dedicated an enormous amount of resources to Eastern Canada, served as an OU national officer and regional vice president for Eastern Canada.

Woolf

David Woolf

Central Canada
Toronta, ON
May 1968

First National Advisor: Anne (Weinruach) Merzel
See Eastern Canada.

First Youth Commission Chair: David Woolf
David Woolf was introduced to NCSY in the 1970s when, as a teacher, he took some of his students to an NCSY Shabbaton in Cleveland, OH. Years later, he and Zale Newman built an NCSY presence in Toronto. The Canada region created the concept of Torah High and on-campus Jewish clubs.  Woolf served as the first youth commission chair of the region and retired after 40 years. Woolf and his wife Fran have five children and 13 grandchildren. He is being honored at this year’s Ben Zakkai dinner.

First President: Marc Frankel

West Coast
March 1970

Lee Samson

Lee C. Samson

Founder and First Director: Lee C. Samson
Lee Samson joined NCSY in 1967. Three years later, Rabbi Pinchos Stolper recruited him for the position of NCSY’s first full-time West Coast director. That same year, Samson was also awarded NCSY’s National Meritorious Leadership Citation. Beginning in Beverly Hills, Samson created NCSY’s West Coast region and launched NCSY’s first summer program: Camp NCSY West. While working and raising her family, Samson’s wife, Anne a”h, was involved in NCSY and touched many individuals with her warm hospitality and positive counsel. In her memory, a perpetual endowment was established – The Samson Family Jerusalem Journey in memory of Anne Samson. Today, Lee is Chairman and CEO of S&F Management/Windsor Healthcare, a company that operates nursing facilities in California and Arizona. Lee and his wife, Anne a”h, have three children and 14 grandchildren.

First Youth Commission Chair: Manny Rohatiner
When Manny Rohatiner’s sons became involved in the NCSY chapter at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills, CA, he sold their home to move within walking distance of the synagogue. Rohatiner became the region’s first youth commission chair. He passed away in 2007; his six grandchildren continue his legacy at NCSY.

First President: Allan Kandel
In the late 1960s, Beth Jacob Congregation created a youth program to help teenagers in public schools stay involved in the Jewish community. Allan Kandel, a high school junior at the time, was elected as the group’s student president. When NCSY looked to open a branch on the West Coast, Beth Jacob’s youth group became the founding chapter and Kandel was the first teen president.
Kandel worked in both the textiles and health care industries. He and his wife Judy have three children.

Long Island
February 1973

First Director: Rabbi Joseph “Yussie” Lieber
After spending time in the New Jersey and Southern Regions, Rabbi Joseph “Yussie” Lieber founded Long Island NCSY in 1973 and served as the first regional director. Lieber is a rabbi at the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach and an adult kiruv lecturer. He has five children and 15 grandchildren.

First President: Aimee Kintzer

Influential Pioneer: Perry Fish
After hosting NCSY staff members on a Shabbaton, Perry Fish was hooked on NCSY’s ruach. He became the third regional director of the Long Island region. He is still involved with NCSY. Fish lives in Far Rockaway with his wife Deborah. They have raised three children and 23 foster children. He has been practicing law for 45 years and served as a professor for 30 years.

Denver
1989

With many shuls but only one youth group, the Denver community wanted more Jewish programming for their children. Simultaneously, the OU wanted to enhance Jewish culture in shuls across the United States. The two were a perfect match and Denver NCSY was born.

First Directors: Rabbi Avraham Arieh and Rachel Trugman
Rabbi Avraham Arieh and Rachel Trugman were one of the founding families of Moshav Meor Modiim in 1976. In the moshav, Rabbi Trugman was the director of the Center of Jewish Education and part of the SHAL program, which trained educators. In 1988, the Trugmans became the directors of the new Denver NCSY region. They built a strong foundation before returning to Israel in 1995. Today, they run Ohr Chadash, a dynamic Jewish education program based in Israel.

Community rabbis who were instrumental in starting Denver NCSY:
Rabbi Daniel Goldberger a”h
Rabbi Mordechai Twersky, commonly known as the Hornestipler Rav
Rabbi Stanley Wagner a”h
Members of the East Denver Orthodox Synagogue

Financial supporters and initiators:
Rabbi Jay Feder
Rabbi Jay Feder was the only mohel in Denver at the time and owned a jewelry shop. He now resides in Har Nof, Israel.
Ralph Auerbach
Ralph Auerbach was in the meat packaging and distributing business.

Southwest
1996

Southwest was originally part of the Southern region.

Founder: Oscar Rosenberg
Oscar Rosenberg founded Yavneh high school and NCSY.

First Director: Rabbi Israel Lashak
Originally from Mexico, Rabbi Israel Lashak attended Ner Israel and became involved in NCSY’s Camp Sports. Rosenberg recruited Lashak to Dallas to join the kollel and help run NCSY. While there, Lashak helped Rosenberg found Yavneh. Lashak and his wife Bella have two daughters and one son. Lashak is also the director of NCSY Summer’s EURO ICE program.

First Youth Commission Chair: Moshe Rafaelov

First President: Eric Axel

Northwest
2004

The Northwest region was originally founded in 1967 and became part of the West Coast region three years later. In 2004, it was reorganized as a separate region, with a regional office in Vancouver and included Seattle, Portland, Edmonton and Calgary. Today, the US cities are reincorporated into West Coast NCSY, and the Canadian cities into Canada NCSY.

First Director: Rabbi Avi Berman
Originally from Israel, Rabbi Avi Berman and his family moved to Vancouver. He was the director of Congregation Schara Tzedeck’s youth department and a founder of Vancouver NCSY. He returned to Israel to run the OU Israel Center.

Greater Atlanta
2013

First Director: Rabbi Chaim Neiditch
Rabbi Emanuel Feldman helped found the Atlanta chapter in 1952 which continued to be an active chapter in the Southern region for nearly 60 years. This past year, Atlanta became a separate region under the leadership of Rabbi Chaim Neiditch. The region serves more than 2,000 teens in Atlanta and 30 nearby towns. Neiditch began his career with NY NCSY in 1993 and was formerly director of Southern NCSY.

NCSY’s First Ben Zakkai Members
The Ben Zakkai Honor Society was founded in June of 1965 to recognize those who have demonstrated personal Torah growth and a promising future of meaningful service to the Jewish people.

Atlantic Seaboard
·      Barbara Billauer, 1965
Central Canada
·      Jack Copelovici, 1973
Central East
·      Marc Shar, 1969
Denver
·      Julie Geller, 1993
Eastern Canada
·      Anne S. Weinrauch, 1967
Greater Chicago
·      Larry Friedman, 1965
Greater New York
·      Alex Gross, 1965
Long Island
·      Aimee Kintzer, 1976
Midwest
·      Linda Ulevitch, 1969
New England
·      Nathan Berman, 1965
·      Dorri Frank, 1965
New Jersey
·      Jeff Feinstein, 1968
Southern Region
·      Elaine Goldstein, 1965
·      David Luchins, 1965
·      Shalom Strajcher, 1965
Sullivan Ulster
·      Vivian Osdoby, 1965
·      Lea Weiner, 1965
Upper New York State Har SINAI
·      Dvora Abrams, 1967
·      Jerry Cheplowitz, 1967
·      Toni Feltscher, 1967
Virginia
·      Debbie Klaff, 1968
·      Ellen Kurzer, 1968
West Coast
·      Harvey Tannenbaum, 1971