Lilly and Iraj NejatKallat v’Hatan Torah (bride and bridegroom of the Torah)
Dr. Iraj Nejat was born in Abadan, Iran, and his wife, Lilly was born in Tehran. The couple married in 1963 and soon after moved to Maryland, where Iraj began his residency in pediatric nephrology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Following his training, he practiced in New Jersey with
his wife joining him as an office manager. After retiring in 2012, they relocated from Short Hills, New Jersey to Great Neck.
Iraj and Lilly are proud parents of four sons, all of whom are now practicing medicine and dentistry in New York and New Jersey. They also have four wonderful daughters-in-law, six grandsons and six granddaughters.
The Nejats joined Temple Israel in 2013 when they moved to the Great Neck community. They attend services weekly where they enjoy the company of friends and family. Iraj is also an artist and has contributed beautiful Judaic paintings to the synagogue.
Kallat v’Hatan Beresheet (bride and bridegroom of Genesis)
Lisa and Jeff Goodwin have been members of Temple Israel for more than 20 years. Lisa grew up in the synagogue, where her parents and grandparents were members. Contributing to Temple Israel’s vibrant atmosphere and legacy is a priority for both Lisa and Jeff. Lisa served as a trustee for six years, co-led the Shabbat Project several years ago, and is responsible for coordinating the recent speaker series at Temple Israel including evenings featuring Congressman Ritchie Torres and Michael Rapaport, and the upcoming evening with Shabbos Kestenbaum (September 29). She is also an active member of Golda and the Membership Committee. Jeff participates in various Men’s Club events and serves on the Endowment Committee.
The couple has three sons, Charlie, Ben, and Eli, all graduates of Temple Israel’s Beth HaGan nursery program, the religious school, and the Waxman High School. Charlie is a graduate of the University of Michigan, currently working in investment banking in New York. Ben and Eli are both seniors in college; Ben is at Lehigh University and Eli is at Cornell University.
Lisa Goodwin is an attorney and college essay coach. Jeff Goodwin is also an attorney and owns a real estate finance company.
Debra and Abraham KanferKallah v’Hatan Maftir (chant the Haftarah from the Book of Joshua)
Debra and Abraham Kanfer have been members of Temple Israel of Great Neck for 21 years. They both attended—and graduated from—yeshivas growing up and know the importance of belonging to a synagogue with strong ties to Jewish education, religious programming, and close affiliation with Israel. Their son Skyler and their daughter Barrett are graduates of the Temple Israel Religious School and attended the Youth House. Skyler became a bar mitzvah and Barrett became a bat mitzvah at Temple Israel.
Abe is a Real Estate Broker at Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty office on Middle Neck Road and Deb is a Special Education Liaison and Interventionist within the New York City Public School system. The Kanfers helped organize and participated in Midnight Runs over the years. One of the family’s most memorable experiences was participating in the first Temple Israel multi-family trip to Israel with Rabbi Stecker.
Abe is currently a member of the Board of Trustees, co-president of the Men’s Club, co-chair of the Programming Committee, and a member of the Israel Affairs Committee. For most of his 21 years at the synagogue, Abe has been a member of Temple Israel Players; his favorite role was playing Tevya in the last two Players’ productions of Fiddler on the Roof.
Skyler, their son, a graduate of Cornell University, recently graduated from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and is an Associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York. Their daughter Barrett is a senior at Cornell University. She is Shanah Tovah planning on attending law school in the future.
