Adam Amdur is a senior in the College of Arts & Science majoring in Political Science. He is an avid sports nut, watches ESPN more than one should, and especially loves The Ohio State Buckeyes and Pittsburgh Steelers. Adam also enjoys listening to classic music, including Biggie, Pac, Backstreet Boys, and Celine Dion. Once in a while, he is known to break out a free style. As far as his future is concerned, Adam hopes to attend law school , become a sports agent, and perhaps start a family. On the other hand, he may live with his parents for as long as he can, watch the Food Network, and contemplate the meaning of life. The latter route is less likely, but he still has hope.
Matthew Berg is from Longmeadow, Massachusetts (five minutes from the Basketball Hall of Fame). He is a senior in Wharton studying actuarial science and finance. Also, Matt is in the Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity and loves to cook (and then eat). Having a strong Jewish upbringing (at least culturally) from a young age, his interest in Judaism was truly sparked by his first trip to Israel in high school. After participating in the Kavannah Initiative, his appetite for Jewish learning has grown. Matt is excited to learn more about Judaism as well as the other Fellows' views on their shared heritage.
Chennery Fife: I am a senior Political Science major from Colorado. My Jewish education growing up in a home with a Jewish mother and Christian father (neither of whom practice their religion) came largely from a friend in middle school around bar mitzvah time. Until college, I hadn't thought much about my Jewish heritage, until Birthright in January 09. The Kavannah Initiative in Spring '10 also helped spark a dialogue about religion I had never thought to initiate. Although I have explored sources of spirituality through dance and being outdoors, I am excited for JRP and to look at Judaism more deeply.
Etan Fraseris a senior in the College studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics. As the son of a Jamaican father and a New York Jewish mother (according to his mother, the "New York" aspect is necessary of explicit mention), Etan grew up with a variety of cultural and ethnic influences in his life. Having very much embraced his diverse background, Etan seeks to celebrate and learn more about his Jewish heritage as a JRP Fellow. On his spare time, Etan enjoys engaging in entrepreneurial endeavors, recording and performing music (www.EtanMusic.com), promoting internship opportunities on campus with his future employer (Google), and traveling the world.
Brianna Fram grew up in Haddonfield, NJ, site of the unearthing of the first complete dinosaur skeleton. She’s a junior in the College majoring in BBB and minoring in chem. She enjoys playing and watching sports, singing in the shower, arguing, and spending time with her dog Pearl. At Penn, Brianna stays busy tutoring Philly high-schoolers for the SAT and playing on the club tennis team. A long-time atheist, she is looking forward to studying modern Judaism in a historical context and refining her ideas of what it means to be Jewish.
Jaclyn Gurwin, a senior from Livingston, NJ, is planning to attend medical school in the fall of 2011. She is majoring in Communication and minoring in Fine Arts. She is very active in the Penn community, being a integral part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Sigma Kappa Sorority, and Sigma Alpha Pi Leadership Honor Society. She has repelled waterfalls in Costa Rica, white water rafted Zambia's Zambezi River, and summited Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Max Holz is a junior in Wharton who will probably concentrate in finance. He was born in and has lived his entire life in the greatest city in America, a.k.a. Denver, Colorado. At Penn, he is a member of 1 in 4 and is president of his fraternity, Phi Kappa Sigma. More generally, Max enjoys the Broncos, Nuggets, and Rockies, and has found himself listening to too much Billy Joel of late. He is excited about the group of fellows that he has the privilege of working with throughout the 2010-2011 school year.
Matt Labovitz is a senior in the college, studying History, Econ and Spanish, in some order. He is excited to delve deeper than his 12 years of Jewish dayschool forced him to dig alongside the other fellows, whom he hopes will serve as excellent shovels. Though he is from the South, just about all his friends are Jewish, leading him to believe that assimilation still hasn’t caught on down there. He has held several positions in his fraternity, Tau Epsilon Phi, and is an active member. Matt is excited to learn more about Judaism, though is a skeptic as a childhood role model of his told him “a person should not believe in any –ism, he should believe in himself.” A close friend suggested he mention that people may underestimate the impact of his presence. Or is it His presence?
Carly Levitz: I am from Iowa City, Iowa (redundant? maybe so), and a senior studying sociology and statistics. I always have a song stuck in my head, I have a sock collection at home with more than 100 socks, and I find that buying new sneakers is stressful. I went through Hebrew and Sunday schools, but never really knew that much about Judaism, and just considered myself "culturally Jewish." I've been fortunate to have been able to have some extremely meaningful Jewish experiences, from going on Birthright to having a religious discussion with a friend. I see JRP as a way to learn more about my religion as well as to learn from others about how their experiences have shaped--and continue to shape--who they are.
Sean Nadel is student in the College of Art and Sciences, Class of 2013. He plans on focusing in the humanities. Sean comes to Penn from Santa Monica, California, a place he calls home. At Penn, Sean is a member of Tau Epsilon Phi and the Vice President of Penn For Youth Debate. Sean is excited for JRP Fellows and interested in continued Jewish Exploration.
Rachel Pattison is from Newton, MA and is a junior in the college. She is a coxswain on the women's rowing team and is also a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. Rachel loves coffee, running, musicals, baking, and peanut butter. She is thrilled to be part of JRP this year and mostly looks forward to lots of challah, matzoh ball soup, and Manischewitz wine.
Josh Rittenberg: An ethnic rarity , Josh traces his roots to the both deep south, and the Caribbean islands. His judeo-dominican upbringing greatly influenced his passion for his Jewish heritage. While his birthright trip to Israel was a truly transformative experience, Josh believes he saw the true nature of God in November of 1995 when his beloved Atlanta Braves won the World Series before his very eyes, his faith has never wavered since. Other than JRP, Josh is a member of Phi Kappa Sigma and a senior writer for the Penn Political Review.
Rebecca Sassoon:
Lawrence (LT) Tanzman: Lawrence is a senior studying Statistics, Finance, Math, and Computer Science. He grew up in Chicago (in the city, not the suburbs!) where he spent the first fifteen years of his life attending weekly Hebrew school sessions. Lawrence and his two brothers, Simon and William, were raised Jewish in an interfaith household with a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. While his family all call him 'Lawrence', nearly everyone else refers to him as 'LT'. Lawrence never attended religious services on a regular basis in his youth, but this changed during his Junior year at Penn when he started regularly attending the Kesher (Reform) services at Hillel. Lawrence spends most of his time screaming at people much bigger than him in his role as a coxswain for Penn's Men's Heavyweight Varsity Rowing team. When he's not racing boats out on the Schuylkill, you might find him cooking his favorite breakfast items, being a responsible RA in Fisher in the Quad, going for abnormally long runs, rocking out to some Taylor Swift on Band Hero, or sitting down and brewing some loose leaf tea while watching How I Met Your Mother.
Meredith Turtletaub was born and raised in Livingston, NJ, and is currently a senior in the College. Her studies include a major in Linguistics and a minor in Consumer Psychology, and her focus both in and out of school is American Sign Language and the Deaf Culture studies that go with it. She enjoys lounging and reading on the beach, listening to music--occasionally singing or signing songs, playing board games, drawing, cooking in, and eating out at new restaurants. She attended religious school for many years before coming to Penn but is looking forward to learning about Judaism today on a deeper level through discussion with new friends in JRP.
Max Weiss, born and raised in Philadelphia, is a senior urban studies major. He has an interest in local government and has enjoyed his time interning in City Council and he is currently working with the Philadelphia Youth Commission. On campus he likes hanging out with his brothers in ZBT and members of the NEC. He admits that he has not spent too much time in Hillel over the past 3 years, but he is looking forward to learning more about his Jewish identity in the coming year.
