By Sharon Wisch-Ray
sharonw@texasjewishpost.com

Mazel tov to Daniel Bloom, son of Rabbi Andrew and Michal Bloom, who was honored in April with the Donald F. Summers Young Entrepreneur Award by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB). Bloom, who graduated last week from Paschal, is headed to Oklahoma State University. Read on for Emilia Fredlick’s write-up of Daniel featured on the NFIB website (www.nfib.com/article/fens-69090/)
“A few years ago, Daniel Bloom wanted to make his own game. So, he picked up a couple of books and taught himself to program.
“It was that simple.
“The programming got him into technical programming, the technical programming got more and more complex, and that complex technical programming led to network security. Bloom ultimately taught himself Java, C#, C++, PHP, JavaScript and HTML5, and put his skills to the test in 2012, when he decided to launch Ironheart Security.
“‘I knew I loved working on security,’ says Bloom. ‘I knew it was what I wanted to do. So I figured — let’s just do it.’
“As an entrepreneur, Bloom is truly fearless. Driven by the desire to be his own boss and make his own decisions, Bloom made the right contacts, participated in competitions, and worked his way up the ladder.
“Three years, one rebranding and 15 contractor acquisitions later, Bloom is a high school senior at R.L. Paschal High School in Fort Worth, Texas. He’s headed to Oklahoma State University in the fall, whose cyber security program is formally recognized by the NSA, and plans to study network security with a specialty in information assurance.
“Bloom intends to continue running his company, now Bloom Cyber Defense, from OSU. He expects that they will continue to strive, especially with the help of a new product he hopes to get off the ground over the summer.
“‘It’s a pretty revolutionary Web intrusion prevention system,’ says Bloom. ‘It’s a high-functionality intervention system that I think has the potential capability of stopping attacks you’ve never seen before.’
“Bloom hopes this system will take care of his company for the next few years, so he can concentrate on getting his degree. And that degree is where NFIB comes in: in April, Bloom was awarded NFIB’s Donald F. Summers Young Entrepreneur Award.
“‘College is so expensive, and having a degree is such a huge step up in the world,’ says Bloom. ‘You don’t necessarily need one to go into network security, but to have that token, that certification, is amazing. Being able to pay for that without worrying is such a big thing.’”

Esther Wolf joins JEA

The Jewish Education Agency (JEA) of Fort Worth has appointed  Esther Wolf to the position of Director of Lil Goldman Early Learning Center.
Esther is well-known in the field of Jewish education in the Metroplex. She comes to Lil Goldman after 30 years of combined experience working at Levine Academy, Congregations Shearith Israel and Beth Torah.
Esther graduated from Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel with a Bachelor’s in Education and a minor in psychology and Jewish studies. She received a Master’s in Education specializing in early childhood from North Texas State University (now UNT). Esther is married to Harold and has two grown sons.
Lil Goldman Early Learning Center, a preschool in Fort Worth for 62 years, is devoted to fostering academic excellence, love of learning, the transmission of Jewish values and the affirmation of each individual’s worth through play.
Esther will bring her own vision of integrating Hebrew language, Jewish traditions and values to an academically sound but developmentally appropriate curriculum at the school. Lil Goldman Early Learning Center accepts children as young as six weeks old through age five.  JEA is also responsible for Camp Shalom the Jewish day camp for grades K-8.
For more information about the school or summer programs,  contact Esther Wolf at 817-737-9898.

CAS elects slate

At its June 7  annual meeting, Congregation Ahavath Sholom elected its slate of officers and directors.
The 2014-15 Nominating Committee consisted of Marvin Beleck (chair), Rhoda Bernstein, Penny Brister, Anita Davidson, Dr. Nancy Faigin, and Glenn Garoon.
Nominated for a one-year term  were the following officers: Ebrahim Lavi, president; Dr. Nancy Faigin, first vice president; Jerry Stein, second vice president; Glenn Garoon, third vice president; Ben Herman, treasurer; Jodi Berger, secretary; and Dr. Murray Cohen, parliamentarian.
Nominated and elected for three-year terms were Avi Kaikov, Foster Owen, Nancy Stansbury and Dan Sturman. Nominated and elected to fulfill the two-year term vacated by Shirley Ben David was Sonny Brister. Board members with two years remaining on their terms are Zoe Stein Pierce, Nan Udell and Stephanie Zavala. Board members with one year remaining are Elizabeth Chesser. Valerie Kaye, Will Kutler and Viqui Litman.
Retiring board members are Martis Herman, Bill Landy, Debby Rice and Louise Vermillion.
The meeting was  followed by hot dogs and entertainment in the Gan Ahavath Sholom — The Gan Den.

Mazel tov:

• Brittany Ackerman on her graduation from UT-Austin with a major in speech pathology. Brittany is the daughter of Gayle Biemeret. She will pursue her graduate studies at UT-Dallas.
• Zachary Cristol, son of Rebecca Cristol and Dr. Louis Cristol, who graduated from Paschal High School and will attend the University of Texas in Austin.
• Ben Cristol, son of Rebecca Cristol and Dr. Louis Cristol, who recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, where he will return in the fall to the Washington University School of Law. He also received the Scholar in Law Award.

We would love to hear from our readers. Send your graduates and other news to me at sharonw@texasjewishpost.com.