Jan. 4, 2008
Name: Dr. Susan Brill
Occupation: Director of Adolescent Medicine, the Children's Hospital at St. Peter's University Hospital; also works as a pediatrician with Saint Peter's Faculty Group
Address: Edison
Family: Married for 21 years to Mordy, an accountant. They have three children: son Yonatan, 20, a third-year student at Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, Md; daughter Chaya, 17, a 12th grader at Bais Yaakov D'Rav Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion, Piscataway; and son Binyamin, 12, a seventh grader at Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion, Piscataway. Sister Sheryl is an accountant married to Kevin Buchel, a vice president of NAPCO. They live in Old Beth Page, Long Island.
Community activities: Member of Agudath Israel of Highland Park and active in Bikur Cholim, visiting the sick at local hospitals.
Hobbies: "I enjoy reading and belong to a local book club. I also enjoy cooking, especially for the holidays."
Self-portrait: "I try and approach my job and my career giving them 100 percent of everything I do. At the same time, I try to set boundaries so I have enough time for my family. I love that I get to spend my day with children and pediatrics has been a joy because of that."
Motto: "‘It is what it is.' I try to accept the good and the bad and that everything we have comes from Hashem."
Greatest accomplishment: "Raising a wonderful family. Being a parent is way harder than being a doctor. I am most proud of my family and I'm happy that I've been able to develop a career that supports them and challenges me every day."
Bad habits: "Sometimes I need to space out and be non-productive for a few moments -- to read something that is not a medical journal."
Favorite TV show: "I don't really watch TV. But when I was studying to become a doctor, I liked to watch ‘ER'. I think it showed a relatively realistic portrayal of medicine."
Favorite food: "My favorite food is sushi -- hands down. I could eat it at least a couple of times a week."
Best childhood memory: "Spending time with my family growing up. I had a very happy childhood. My parents were very loving. Spending time eating dinner with my family is really my best memory -- we ate dinner together every night at 6 p.m. I try to continue the tradition with my family."
People don't know that I: "Grew up in a relatively non-religious home. I became more observant while in medical school."
Last book I read: "‘Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited,' by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein. This is a book about twin sisters who were separated very young as part of a study on nurture versus nature. The girls didn't know of each other's existence until they were in their 30s. This is an interesting psychological portrayal of the relationship between the two sisters -- how they went from twins who found each other to become very close friends."
The biggest asset in the local Jewish communities: "The tremendous growth in the community is really a testament to what a great place Edison/Highland Park is to live. All people from all different walks of life have really come together as a community."
The biggest problem in the local Jewish communities: "Sometimes someone's strengths can also be their weakness. There is a lot of togetherness and cooperation between the synagogues but at the same time some people aren't always comfortable in another synagogue."
If I had more time: "I used to enjoy drawing and painting -- my father was an artist. If I had more time, I would try to reconnect with my artistic self and do some drawing and painting on my own. I would also want to study torah with a partner."