New Mt. Zion section at Restland to be consecrated
On Sunday, May 10, at 11 a.m., the Mount Zion section of the new United Jewish Cemetery at Restland will be consecrated. Rabbis Menachem Block, Mendel Dubrawsky, Aryeh Feigenbaum, Ari Perl and Howard Wolk are acting as the planning committee for the consecration. All Orthodox rabbis and the members of the Chesed Shel Emes Chevra Kadisha are urged to attend and participate in the consecration of this new halachic burial section serving the entire Dallas Jewish community.
Ryan Karpel graduating from Texas State, to pursue master’s
Congratulations to Ryan Karpel, who will graduate on May 15 from Texas State University with a bachelor’s degree in health administration. He was recently named the recipient of the Noone Award for Outstanding BHA Student for 2009. Ryan was selected for this prestigious award in recognition of his outstanding leadership, service, classroom performance and academic achievement as determined by the school faculty.
This award is made possible through the generosity of John B. Noone, a former member of the school faculty, in honor of his son, Mark Noone, and is awarded each year to the outstanding healthcare administration undergraduate student. Ryan has been on the Dean’s List numerous times, was inducted into the National Honor Society for his major and was the first student to do a presentation at the annual Health Administration Ethics Conference last October. He was also nominated to be student commencement speaker for the 2009 graduating class. Ryan will pursue his master’s degree in health administration at Texas State University.
Ryan is the son of Karen Karpel and Edward Alonzo and grandson of Margery Karpel and the late Frank J. Karpel.

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is coming to Dallas, May 14–18
The Community Kollel of Dallas will bring Rabbi Shlomo Riskin here as community scholar-in-residence, May 14–18.
Rabbi Riskin, chief rabbi of Efrat, Israel and chancellor of Ohr Torah Stone Institutes, is an internationally renowned educator, speaker and author. He is the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City, a strong advocate of leadership roles for women within traditional Judaism, a pace-setter in the movement to build bridges between religious and secular Jews in Israel and a champion of social justice and humanitarian concerns.
In collaboration with Congregation Shearith Israel, Rabbi Riskin will speak on “The Ethics of War” on Thursday, May 14, 8 p.m., in Shearith Israel’s Beck Family Sanctuary, 9401 Douglas Ave. This special event is free and open to the public.
On Saturday morning, May 16, at 11:15 a.m., following 9 a.m. services at Congregation Shaare Tefilla, Rabbi Riskin will discuss “Making Sefirah Count: The Meaning Behind The Omer.” That evening, at a 6:15 p.m. service at Shaare Tefilla, he will have as his topic “Where Modern Orthodoxy Differs.” Congregation Shaare Tefilla is located at 6131 Churchill Way. Both programs are free and open to the public.
The Community Kollel of Dallas, in collaboration with the Rabbinical Association of Greater Dallas, will have a special event, by invitation only, on Monday, May 18, 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., at the Legacy at Willow Bend. At the Spring Day of Learning for rabbis, cantors and senior educators, Rabbi Riskin will discuss “Zionism Today.”
For further information, contact Shirley Rovinsky, 214-295-3525, or kollelofdallas@sbcglobal.net.
Rabbi Michael Rovinsky is honored at scholarship dinner
Congratulations to Rabbi Michael Rovinsky, who was honored by the Louis and Sarah Block Yeshiva High School, St. Louis, Mo., at their 31st annual Scholarship Dinner on March 15. He received the Israel and Yetra Goldberg Community Service Award. Rabbi Rovinsky, the son of well-known Dallas community leaders Shirley and Erven Rovinsky, was raised in “Big D” and has actively served the Jewish community for more than two decades.
“Rabbi Mike,” as he is affectionately known, is currently the director of both the National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) and the Jewish Student Union (JSU), an organization that strives to engage unaffiliated teens through programming in public and private high schools, in St. Louis. There are currently over 400 teens in this program.
As a mohel, recognized by the state of Israel, he has been practicing for 20 years servicing the St. Louis area as well as throughout the United States. A teacher in the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School program, he serves as the director of Camp Nageela Midwest located in Marshall, Ind.
Rabbi Rovinsky received his rabbinic ordinations from the Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, Md. and the Kol Yaakov Torah Center in Monsey, N.Y. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Talmudic law from Ner Israel. He also received a master’s in administrative sciences from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing a degree in psychology and counseling.
Rabbi Rovinsky and his wife, Selina, are the proud parents of Saara and her husband Moshe (Moskowitz), Avi, Ariella and Yossi. Also honored at the event were Jackie and Howard Oppenheimer of St. Louis.
Congratulations to young gymnast, Layla Novin
Layla Novin, 13, daughter of Lewis and Bobbie Novin of Little Elm, brought home Silver from the recent Level 7 Texas State Gymnastics Championships, taking seconds on Bars, Floor and All-Around. In gymnastics since age 6, she earned her place in the state title race as North State All-Around Champion. She’s now hoping to capture Gold in 2010.
An honor student at Lakeside Junior High, Layla trains at Infinite Bounds in Plano and participates in LEISD’s off-campus physical education program, which allows her to work out 26 hours each week.
Layla is the older sister of Modesty and Benton Novin and the granddaughter of Joyce Greenberg of Dallas.