Teens

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Alex Ostrin, and I am super excited to begin serving our shul as youth minyan director! AA has been a second home to me for my entire life, and attending teen minyan in my high school years helped me deepen my connection to tefillah and mature as a person. I was actually reluctant at first to start attending teen minyan, as I enjoyed davening next to my dad (aka Haman from the Purim shpeil), and I could enjoy blow pops from Rabbi Schwarzberg without a health lecture from my mom. But then the shul hired Kivi — a real life ninja rabbi — and I decided the time had come to join the teen minyan ranks. In Kivi, I found a role model who helped shape me and my values. In Teen Minyan, I found opportunity and a community where I could grow as a Ben Torah. While I don’t know if I can fill the large shoes Kivi leaves behind (nor can I match his pull-up count), I hope to build on the strong minyan he cultivated and bring my own talents to help it thrive. More than the teen minyan leader, however, it is the incredible teens of the shul that make the minyan a place of inspiration and growth. Returning to teen minyan with my incredible wife Nava and our two adorable twin boys, Benny and Gav, we look forward to engaging with and learning from the vibrant teens of AA. The future of klal yisrael is percolating in our teen minyan, and we are psyched to be a part of it!