![]() One Minute With... Steven Rosenzweig
Libby Barsky THE JEWISH STATE October 2, 2009
Name: Steven Rosenzweig Occupation: Custodian for Howell Township Address: Toms River Family: Married 13 years to Beverly. Brother Gary Rosenzweig is a real estate broker married to Jen. They live with their five children in Manalapan. Community activities: Very active with Beth Am Shalom, Lakewood, where he became a member three years ago and became active in the Men's Club. As a member of Beth Am Shalom's Men's Club he makes the presentation of the club's Tanakh gift to all bar/bat mitzvah students. He and his wife run the kitchen at the temple's Sunday night Bingo. Hobbies: "I like to relax and hang out around the house and to be on the computer and volunteer at the temple." Self-portrait: "I'm easygoing. I feel my temple is my home, so it's my obligation to give back as much as I can to it." Motto: "It's my responsibility, with whatever spare time I have to give back to the temple for what they give to me." Greatest accomplishment: "Moving back to New Jersey from Arkansas. The timing was perfect because my mother was moving to Lakewood and one brother had passed away five years ago. My grandmother lived with me before she went into a nursing home. My timing was perfect because my mother needed me." Bad habit: "Smoking. I'm hoping after Yom Kippur to not pick up a cigarette." Favorite TV: "An English sci-fi called 'Dr. Who' found on the BBC." Favorite food: "Chicken -- in any style. I especially like drumsticks." Best childhood memory: "When I was 6, I began opening and closing the doors to the Torah in the ark during the services. At a service held on Rosh Hashanah when I was 11 or 12, the Torah hadn't been put back correctly. When I opened the door, it was about to fall, but I leapt out to catch it before it hit the ground. It was a good thing I caught it. The rabbi told the congregation that my action saved the congregation from a longer fast on Yom Kippur if the Torah had hit the ground." Last book I read: "Queen of the Nile " by Silena Rosen. "It's a science fiction novel written my aunt." People don't know that I... "Have a learning disability. I don't hide it from anyone. I feel I overcame my disability by not giving into it." The biggest asset in the local Jewish communities: "For me, it's Rabbi Steve Gold. When my previous job started having mandatory furloughs, I needed another job. Rabbi Gold put ads in our temple newsletter and in Jewish papers, and I got a lot of phone calls from many people for different odd jobs which helped me." The biggest problem in the local Jewish communities: "I think there is not enough awareness of who we are as Jews, because we are Reform Jews in Lakewood." If I had more time, I would... "Be spending more time trying to do more for my congregation. I volunteer all my Sundays and I my work schedule doesn't permit me to be at services on Friday. When I went looking for a new temple, I was looking for what I had had in Matawan growing up -- the feeling of being home. That's what I have at Beth Am Shalom." |