Center for Jewish Living

Rabbi Jason Leib:

A native of Chicago, Rabbi Jason Leib attended Yeshiva University and made aliyah in 2000. He studied for three years at Beit Morasha in Jerusalem and went on to teach at Yeshivat Hakibbutz Hadati in Ein Tzurim. In addition to teaching Talmud and Jewish Thought, Jason served as a mentor at the Daroma student beit midrash at Ben Gurion University for the past four years, where he taught a wide array of Jewish topics. Jason's experience has instilled in him a special love for teaching, and his favorite part of teaching is his interactions with students both inside and outside of the classroom.
Jason's hobbies include playing with his children, reading, and watching TV. He is married to Chana and they have two children, five-year-old Betzalel and three-year-old Nitai. Although he has spent ample time abroad, Jason will never shake his Midwestern roots. So, when it comes time for football season, Go Bears!

Chana Leib:

Chana Leib was born in Cleveland, Ohio and made aliyah as a young child. As a teenager, Chana was frequently involved with various informal education programs. She studied Talmud at Migdal Oz, the Bet Midrash for Women, and subsequently earned a degree in Law and Liberal Arts (LLB) from Hebrew University. Since graduating in 2004, Chana worked in the legal field, most recently as a legal assistant for a judge in the District Court of Be'er Sheva. Chana is almost finished with her Masters in Law (LLM) through a joint program between Tel Aviv University and Northwestern University.
Throughout the years, Chana never gave up her love of learning Talmud and Jewish law. She specifically became involved with ethical issues in Jewish law.
Chana enjoys playing and baking with her sons, Betzalel and Nitai, and she especially enjoys reading to them. She knew her time spent baking with her sons was well spent when Nitai saw snow for the first time and exclaimed, "Flour! There is so much flour outside!"

Rabbi Nasson Kielski:

Nathan "Chicken Slayer" Kielski is our resident Mashgiach from Holland. You can find Nathan learning with students in the Kosher Dining Hall 24 hours a day 7 Days a week. You can also find pictures of him online with his favorite Aunt, Mary Jane.

Jared Sues:

Although you may see Jared Sues, a senior Mech E., slaving away in Duffield Hall, what you don't know is that he has actually spent much of the last three years plotting his takeover of the Cornell Jewish Community. When he's not haning around the CJL -- literally, we have pictures-- he can also be found performing with his dance troupe Beketsev. Jared is more than just our president; he is famous throughout campus as "That guy who deosn't wear shoes." Yes, that is right, even in the frozen tundra of Ithaca, Jared can be seen crossing the engineering quad barefoot, in little more than shorts and a t-shirt. Though we may call him crazy, he's still our fearless leader.

Aaron Meller:

Women love his hair. Men wish their women had his hair. It glimmers in the sun like Tennessee road-kill on a warm summer' s day. This hair belongs to Aaron Meller. No one can match Meller's shiny mane except for his arch-nemesis (and possible romantic interest) Aaron Sarna. But that's a different story.
As a young child he soon made the headlines when he sued Huggies for a leaky diaper. This lawsuit eventually reached the Supreme Court where Meller, at just the young age of 8 months and 3 days, issued his famous proclamation against Soupy Poopy (A. Dershowitz, "Historic Judicial Cases in America" pg. 157) It is rumored that the cause of the soupy poopy was too much mushed peas.
Aaron Meller is the true mystery man, a man of many names, some call him "Aaron", others call him "Meller", others "Dr. X" and of course the ladies know him as "Ooh H. Arder."
Meller has always been a true public servant. He has served as Vice President of the United States with the pseudonym of "Dick" and as Deputy Assistant Helper to the Under-Secretary to the Sherriff of Nottingham.

Lazar Polovoy:

The first word out of Lazar's mouth being "Harvard," his father had no choice but to give him a forceful slap. That set things straight. An avid ping-pong guru, Lazar is always there to yell angrily about the flaws of other drivers, or to ferry students back and forth from the CJL...while yelling angrily about the flaws of other drivers. On his quest for a PhD in "Union Suppression" from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Lazar likes to spend his evenings watching disaster movies, such as "Titanic," "Deep Impact," and "Air Force One" over and over again, thinking to himself, "better them than me." Despite his stern demeanor, Lazar is as kindly inside as he is outside. With no known heart to speak of, he will do well yelling at other drivers...and maybe being house manager. He has but one question: Why can't we all just get along?

Aaron Sarna:

Aaron Sarna's hair was well on its way to being considered a "National Treasure" and therefore another excuse for Nicholas Cage to act, until Belgium and Moldova protested claiming that the hair should not belong exclusively to the United States, rather it should be considered a "Universal Treasure." U.N. resolution 696969 said as such, and added that on the few days that the hair is not up to par, the U.N. will condemn Israel.
However Mr. Sarna has more to share than just his hair, he also has a world famous voice, a voice that is surrounded by legend. Legend has it that at age 5 Aaron's voice was so deep and soothing that bears would instantly procreate after hearing it. Legend also has it that he is the illegitimate child of Robin Williams and thus the world's second Jewish leprechaun. Go figure.
Regardless, it is through his voice and hair that Aaron has slowly risen to power to become Vice President for Communication at the CJL. He also ran for Treasurer and said that he had "special access to a certain pot of gold."

Aaron Levy:

There are many Aaron Levy's in the world, or as the CJL calls them "Jimmies." The Cornell Jewish community is blessed to have Aaron Levy, one Jimmy. He claims to be of Sephardic origin, or at least he reads from the Torah like it. However in truth Jimmy is part Ashkenaz and part Sefard. He belongs to an exclusive group called the "Ashkefard(t)" This small but tight-night groups counts among its members such beloved dictators like Robert Mugabe and Jimmy Carter, and other celebrities like Lance Bass and Rosie O'Donell. Before becoming Vice President of Communication, he founded the non-partisan initiative for "Union Rights for Ashkefard Students and more Students" Commonly referred to as URASS.
He is currently single ladies, and enjoys long walks on the beach, scented candles, pistachio ice cream, and Montel. The problem is he prefers walking in solitude, the scented candles are for when he farts, he eats a lot of ice cream but he is lactose intolerant, and well... he watches Montel. But don't let that stop you! Call 301-922-3475 today!

Rina Wagman:

"How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Rina Wagman has no F-ing idea, and truth be told, anybody that says that they know is full of B.S. In fact, Rina knows very little and thus the confusion on why Rina is actually on the board.
Rina was born in the little town of Wilmington, Delaware and felt the need to move to a big city and therefore came to Ithaca. She was sorely disappointed. However she knew that she was born to be great and great she will be... maybe. One day. Hollywood executives realized her potential made a fictionalized account of her life through film, entitled "Being Rina Wagman." It is currently in post-production.
Rina is an active community member and therefore felt compelled to become a Vice President of Programming for the CJL. Her other interests include Beketsev, Cornell's Latin-Israeli dancing troupe, and being an oil baron. She can be held directly responsible for the energy crisis the United States is currently in.

Tamar Weinstock:

Nathan Cohen:

Born to parents Zeus and Hera in 1989, Nathan T. Cohen had greatness written all over him since he soiled his first diaper. Tragedy struck Nathan T. Cohen when a radioactive spider bit him, but it's OK, don't worry, it just gave Nathan T. Cohen superpowers. After the incident only kryptonite could defeat him, and even then, there would need to be a lot a lot of kryptonite. Nathan T. Cohen grew to love all animals and soon made a costume that resembled a bat, earning him the nickname "BatSpiderMan" however after a tragic accident with military trained barracudas Nathan T. Cohen earned the superpower to swing in all liquids, water included and became "BatSpiderBarracudaMan." After freeing the whole world Nathan T. Cohen or "BatSpiderBarracudaGrizzlybearMan" decided to become Vice President of Programming and Chesed at the CJL because, after all, what could be more exciting?! Each night Nathan T. Cohen downs an entire 2 liter bottle of Dr. Pepper telling himself he did not make a mistake... Oh and he's a really cool guy.

Lauren Schneider:

Lauren Schneider is Human Ecology Class of 2011, with a major in Human Development, a concentration in Social/Personality development, and a minor in Education. In her spare time, she loves to go Israeli folk dancing. She loves to read graphic novels and about Tudor England, watch Will and Grace and Law and Order, and spend time with her friends.

Becky Schur:

Rebecca Schur is a nice person. She enjoys cattle herding. However she is also a communist. A pinko. A Marxist, a Maoist, a Hollywoodist, a [insert evil institution/person]ist. She began her political activity in the 19th century when she served as a copy editor for Karl Marx and is quoted as saying "Karl! You nimrod! You want to champion the cause of the proletariat not write like them! Freakin' "I" before "E"!"
She actually held the treasurer position for another government-the USSR. And as we all know the Soviet Union's economy was just soooooo successful. Why was a communist elected as treasurer of the CJL? Nobody knows.
In addition to her communist activities and cattle herding she has been an outspoken supporter of the CJL moonbounce. Even though she is a communist this is a good idea. Her reasons for the moonbounce are as follows: 1st it will give something for the proletariat to look forward to, after all they do lead miserable lives 2nd it will offer the leaders of the revolution a convenient office to "bounce" ideas off each other of how to further screw capitalism and finally moonbounces are scientifically to be awesome.

Ayelet Notis:

There is no one you will ever meet who is as belligerent, openly hostile and loud as Ayelet Notis. You will also "notis" that she is the treasurer and ipso fact is also a communist. Her positions differ from Ms. Shur's because Ayelet is the more evil communist. She is the communist that doesn't believe in the ideology but rather sees the position as the means to rise to power, overthrow the government in a military coup, lead the country into economic depression as a dictator, and call Mr. Bush a donkey.
As a KGB agent for over 36 (that's Chai times two for all you math majors) Ayelet is a master of deception. She says that she's from "Allentown" Pennsylvania, well isn't it convenient that the numerical value associated with the word "Allentown" in the game of Scrabble has the exact same numerical value of KIEV! (Assuming there are no added bonuses) This is not a conspiracy theory. Ayelet Notis also killed John F. Kennedy.