One Minute With... Debbie Gerber

By Libby Barsky
Special to The Jewish State

Name: Debbie Gerber

Occupation: Elementary school teacher

Family: Three children: son, Benjamin, is a teacher in the Jewish community of Stockholm. He's married to Alisa, a daycare center teacher. They are the parents of Zipporah Channah, 9 months, and live in Stockholm, Sweden.

Son Jeremy is studying at the Jewish Theological Seminary for the rabbinate. He's married to Rebbeca, an urban planner for the city of New York. They live in Caldwell.

Daughter Nomi works and lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Brother Darryl Dobin is married to Mavis; they are the parents of two children and live in Denville.

Brother Neil Dobin lives in Phoenix, A.Z.

Cousin Ivan Saiff, owner of Saiff Drugs, Highland Park, is married to Bobbi. They have two children, Bill and Barry. Grandparents Morris and Dina Gibbs were long time members of the Highland Park community and supporters of Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva. Uncle Abe Dobin was Mayor of South Brunswick and a founder of Congregation B'nai Tikvah, North Brunswick.

Community activities: A member of the Highland Park Conservative Temple. On the board of the Organizing Committee for the Egalitarian Service and minyans. Sisterhood Co- Vice President of programming and co-Vice President of fundraising for Hadassah. An alto member of Makhelat HaMercaz Jewish Choir of Central New Jersey.

Hobbies: "I love to cook and travel."

Self portrait: "I speak fast and do things quickly. I like to keep active and do different things."

Motto: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

Greatest achievement: "My three children are my greatest achievement. They are wonderful, good people, and each is an individual really different from each other yet they all have a strong, close family feeling. I am so proud of them. I've also been able to speak, read, and write in Swedish. While in Sweden, I helped write a cookbook on Swedish Kosher food. I also wrote articles on Jewish cooking for a Swedish Jewish monthly."

Bad habits: "I love food so I probably should say no to more things."

Favorite TV: "I don't have much time for TV. When I do watch, I like to view old movies."

Favorite food: "Lamb chops and the baked pies my late mother made. I once made a blueberry pie almost as good as hers."

Best childhood memory: "Growing up with two brothers, I really had to compete for our parent's attention. I treasured the times I went to dinner alone with my mother. They were our mother/daughter dinners. At one dinner in Trenton, we met the Continental Gypsies. We got in touch with them to play at my brother's bar mitzvah. Later they played at my wedding."

People don't know: "I love animals. I always had an animal when growing up."

Last book I read: "Rashi's Daughter" by Maggie Anton. "The book gives insight into the life and times of Rashi, who gave his daughter a Jewish education at a time girls weren't expected to be educated in Torah."

The biggest asset in the local Jewish communities: "I love my temple, the Highland Park Conservative Temple. It has welcomed me into its warm and wonderful community."

The biggest problem in the local Jewish communities: "The lack of cooperation. There should be more cooperation between the congregations in the communities. I've seen that type of cooperation in the Jewish community of Stockholm, where I lived for more than 27 years."

If I had more time: "I would travel to different parts of the world."