Changes at the top

The Eliezer Project and Tova Mentoring Program appoint new directors

By Michael Orbach Issue of September 25, 2009/ 7 Tishrei 5770 Two Jewish organizations in the Five Towns are beginning 5770 with new leaders. Andrea Borah, the director of the Tova Mentoring Program for more than a dozen years, has taken a position as science coordinator at Bnot Shulamith for Girls. At The Eliezer Project, co-founder Samuel Bergman is leaving his position as executive director to return to his legal practice. Veteran Tova employee Yehuda Klinkowitz has been promoted to acting director; at The Eliezer Project Bergman will be succeeded by Gideon Bari. Tova provides mentors to at-risk teens and younger students. It has been hit hard by the economic crisis and by a loss in government funding, according to board member Richard Altabe. Months ago Tova began sharing space with its sister organization, Cahal, and found it could no longer afford Borah, its longtime leader. “It was a question of our inability to fund her at the salary she deserved,” stressed Altabe. “Once we hit the financial crisis of last year we knew we had to create a new reality,” Altabe said. The change in Tova’s structure, he said, was a year in the making. Klinkowitz, he said, hasn’t had a significant salary increase in three years. “He [Klinkowitz] believes in it and he’s done a great job of getting new people involved.” Borah said there are no hard feelings. “Tova is a great organization and Yehuda’s been involved for a very, very long time,” Borah said. She said that she had been in touch with Klinkowitz the week before and was “having a blast” at her new job. Klinkowitz described the promotion as bittersweet. “It’s a little hard for me. I always thought I’d work alongside Andrea,” Klinkowitz said. In the three months since his promotion took effect, Klinkowitz has brought in a new president, Yitz Mendlowitz, and is working to assemble a new board of directors. Tova held two well-attended events over the summer, according to Klinkowitz, including a lecture given by Rabbi Yaakov Reisman, rav of Agudath Yisroel of the Five Towns in Far Rockaway. Klinkowitz said his plans for Tova include “outsourcing” some of the Tova mentor training by bringing in specialists to talk to mentors about topics like bullying, self-confidence and sexual abuse. So far this year 32 Tova mentors are working with 74 children. New mentors include people who themselves once had Tova mentors, Klinkowitz said. “Many know what it did for them and they want to give back that feeling — hopefully they can be that role model and help somebody that needs something,” he explained. The goal of Tova will remain the same, Klinkowitz asserted. Tova will mentor “good kids who have something in their lives amiss. Instead of waiting for the crack to open we want to prevent it.” The Eliezer Project, which aids families in financial need, began last year in response to the economic crisis. Bergman, who announced his resignation in an email on Erev Rosh Hashanah, co-founded the organization alongside Dovid Friedman of Lawrence and David Pollack of Woodmere. “I have throughout my tenure deemed it a special privilege to head up The Eliezer Project and leave with a sense of satisfaction that we have made a real difference,” Bergman wrote. He concluded that he hoped that the organization would continue to help those in need, “until it is hopefully out of business for lack of clientele.”