• OUR HONOREES •

JUDI & ARNIE HERRMANN

Since moving to Bergen County more than 30 years ago, Judi and Arnie Herrmann continue to marvel at their good fortune. This community has offered them a wonderful home to raise their three daughters, Lara, Emily and Mikaela, to create lifelong friends, and to find a warm and caring Jewish community, especially at Temple Emanu-El.

Arnie is a partner at Citrin Cooperman, an accounting and advisory services firm. Arnie is a CPA and financial advisor with a focus on the entertainment sector. He has been recognized as an industry leader by the Hollywood Reporter and included on Variety’s annual list of the industry’s top business managers.
Judi taught for the NYC Board of Education. She is a certified Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the foster care system. Judi has been a devoted caregiver to her parents in their advanced years.

Beyond work and family, Judi and Arnie are active volunteers. For the past 23 years, Judi and Arnie are founding leaders of Jenna’s Rainbow Foundation, in memory of Jenna Kamil who died tragically from a brain-stem tumor at age 7. Arnie has also served as treasurer for both Musicares and the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center. He is currently a member of Temple Emanu-El’s Finance Committee. When their girls were school age, Judi served on various parent committees at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades and in the Tenafly school system, and Arnie coached the girls’ soccer and basketball teams and served on the board of the Tenafly Youth Soccer Department.

Jewish life and the State of Israel are very important to the Herrmann family. Arnie’s father was a Holocaust survivor and the family cares deeply about the survival and security of the State of Israel. The Herrmanns have visited Israel many times on family trips and various missions. Arnie co-led a trip to Poland and Israel celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary and participated in Temple Emanu El’s mission to support Israel during the 2014 Gaza War. Judi joined the Temple’s 2012 women’s mission. Two of their daughters chose to study in Israel for their semesters abroad. The Herrmanns enjoy hosting Shabbat dinners regularly and holiday celebrations for family and friends. Large dinner parties in their sukkah on Howard Park Drive are among their many happy memories of life in Tenafly. They love celebrating simchas at Temple Emanu-El, the most recent being Lara and Corey’s Aufruf.

Judi and Arnie are honored and humbled to receive the Founder’s Award at Temple Emanu-El. They feel lucky to be part of this special community.

HEATHER & JEFF PAVELL

Jeff and Heather Pavell have made community leadership a hallmark of their lives.  When asked to lend a helping hand, to serve on a committee, or to lead an organization, Jeff and Heather can always be counted on to say: ‘How can we help?’  

Jeff grew up in a home centered on Conservative Judaism, a strong work ethic and a sense of pride in serving the community. As a teen at the Samuel Field “Y” in Little Neck, Jeff made a name for himself as an after-school leader, then later as a camp Division leader. Jeff made such a positive impression on the leadership of the “Y”, that its then COO – Mady Caslow – introduced him to her daughter, Heather.  And the rest, as they say, is history. 

Heather’s early years were also spent surrounded by a strong Jewish culture and parents who regularly demonstrated a sense of responsibility for the community. These principles became a part of Heather’s makeup. Volunteerism and creating community for herself and others became a central part of the way she lives her life.  

Now as Jeff and Heather are parents themselves, it is their hope to instill in their children the Jewish value of giving without expectation of reward.   

Jeff and Heather have been members of Temple Emanu-El for 15 years. Heather served as our Temple’s President from 2019 – 2021 and was a member of the Executive Board for four years prior to that. She has also been a High Holiday Chair, a member of the Educational Advisory Committee, and she served on two Search Committees. She continues to serve on the Temple’s Board.

Jeff is a member of the men’s Torah study group and a former High Holiday appeal speaker. He supports the Jewish community through his active participation on the Board of the Jewish Home at Rockleigh and through his participation in Jewish Federation’s Physician Leadership Group. 

Professionally, Jeff is the Chief of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Englewood Health and a partner at The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, where he helps countless patients live fuller, more pain-free lives.Heather has spent her professional career in the field of healthcare management and the last 15 years has worked with Jeff. Most recently Heather launched a business as a leadership consultant and coach, bringing the tools of positive psychology to organizations and individuals.  

Jeff and Heather, along with their children Julie, Alana and Carlie, are grateful for all that Temple Emanu-El has given to their family. It has been a place of worship, community, exploration, adventure, friendship and family. The Pavells are proud to serve the congregation and are humbled by this honor.

JILLIAN & DANIEL HERZ

Jillian and Daniel Herz, and their children Olivia and Jason, have been members of Temple Emanu-El for ten years. The first time Jillian and Daniel visited the vibrant campus they knew this was the place they would build their extended Jewish family.

Jillian grew up in neighboring Demarest as a member of Temple Beth-El in Closter. Daniel grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he and his twin brother were members of the first full graduating eighth grade class of the Milwaukee Jewish Day School. Jillian and Daniel met in 1995 as Freshman at Indiana University and were married in October 2002. Following the birth of Olivia, they moved from NYC to Bergen County.

Before deciding to dedicate her working time to being a stay-at-home mom, Jillian worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering and later at Sony Music. Daniel began his career as an Investment Banker at Bank of America Securities. Since 2004, Daniel has led both public and private companies.

More importantly, Jillian and Daniel have dedicated themselves to helping the community, with an emphasis on inspiring the next generation of philanthropists. Jillian volunteers at the Center for Food Action. In addition, Jillian is on the Committee for the Volunteer Center at the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey (JFNNJ), where she works on the annual Mitzvah Day Mega Food Drive and Drive to End Period Poverty.

Daniel has been a member of the Temple’s Board for six years and has served on the Executive Committee for the last three years and is the current Treasurer of the Temple. Additionally, Daniel was a co-founder of the annual Federation Full House Poker event, now in its 11th year raising over $3 million. Daniel has been on the Board of JFNNJ and has served on Federation’s Executive Committee as Vice President at Large. He is currently Vice President of Financial Resources and Development. Daniel serves on the Executive Dean’s Advisory Board at Indiana University.

Jillian and Daniel were taught by their parents Melvin and Susan Rokeach and Thomas and Maxine z”l Herz that it is their responsibility to serve and lift up those around them, no matter your resources. They believe in both Tikkun Olam, to make the world a better place and l’dor vador, from generation to generation. These core principles drive Jillian and Daniel to try to seek to inspire the next generation within the Jewish community.

• JOURNAL •