Leadership

Ikey was profoundly impacted by the October 7th massacre, leading to his involvement in the first pivotal solidarity mission to Israel to support Medinat Yisrael. This spurred him to lead the next two SCA missions with young adults, emphasizing the importance of empowering the next generation. A Yeshivah of Flatbush alum and VP of Sales at Gemini Sound, Ikey is a father of four Magen David Yeshivah students and active in Magen David Synagogue. Serving on the SCA board, he balances family commitments, evident in hockey with his boys, and community service, living in Brooklyn with his wife, Jennifer.

Morris Cohen, born and raised in Deal, NJ, is a proud graduate of Hillel Yeshivah. He attended NYU Stern School of Business, studying finance and psychology. He then joined Point72 Asset Management where he is currently a senior financial analyst covering various industries including financial technology, business services, housing and retail.

Morris regularly volunteers at Sephardic Bikur Holim. He was involved in the young adult division when he was in high school, planning social events and visiting the sick. More recently he found himself involved in SBH’s Career Division, mentoring community young adults both formally and informally as well as sitting on panel discussions. Additionally, Morris volunteered at Bet Rachel of Larchwood Synagogue for several years.

When he’s not spending time with his family he can be found playing tennis, skiing or watching the Yankees. Morris lives in Brooklyn with wife Grace and daughter Terri.

Susan (Kasavi) Dayan is passionate about Sephardic heritage and innovating ideas. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Judaic Studies from Brooklyn College and her master’s degree in Medieval Jewish History from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. As an alumna of Magen David Yeshivah Elementary School, she taught 7th and 8th grade Jewish History for six years. Through her work as an educator, Susan created a unique Heritage Program that documents interviews and genealogies of recent Jewish immigrants from the Middle East, North Africa, and Central and South America, which to date contains over 400 accounts.

In Yeshivah of Flatbush High School, she launched the annual Career Day Program. Susan was a recipient of the 2021 American Sephardi Federation Broome & Allen Fellowship in recognition of her academic accomplishments and service on behalf of the Sephardic community.

Susan has been involved in Congregation Beth Torah since she was a young girl. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, yoga, art, and flower arranging. She resides in Brooklyn with her husband, Dr. Isaac Dayan, and their daughter.

Bobby Dweck grew up in Deal, NJ, graduating from Hillel Yeshiva High School. Under Rabbi Dr. Ezra Labaton A”H, he served as president of the youth division of Congregation Magen David of West Deal, fondly known to many as “YMD”.

Upon moving to Brooklyn, NY Bobby was an early board member of Barkai Yeshivah eventually becoming president of the school. He then went on to be instrumental in the founding of the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA), serving on their original board of directors in 2009, a position he holds until today. Some of his accomplishments of his work at the SCA include starting the summer learning program, running the JCC Minyan for close to a decade and spearheading the annual Tish’a BeAb Day of Learning each summer.

An advisor to many, he uses his quick wit, humor and creativity to problem solve. Bobby currently works as the Principal at Focus Property Group where he is responsible for overall investment, development strategies as well as the management and growth of the Focus Property Group portfolio.

He and his wife Elaine are the proud parents of six children.

Miriam Zami Edeson is a PhD student in Talmud and Ancient Judaism at Yeshiva University. After graduating from Yeshivah of Flatbush, Miriam spent her gap year at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Israel and then continued her studies at Stern College for Women. Through her college years, Miriam participated in many bet midrash programs, including Drisha, Pardes, and the Center for Modern Torah Leadership, as well as the Sephardic Synagogue bet midrash fellowship. Before beginning her doctoral studies, Miriam served as the primary Jewish educator at the Hillel at Baruch, City, and John Jay Colleges, where she designed curricula and taught classes for hundreds of Jewish students.

Miriam actively teaches both in and out of the Sephardic community, including for the SCA, Allegra Franco Bet Midrash, and the Tikvah Scholars Program. She was awarded the inaugural Emerging Scholar Fellowship by Ma’ayan in the greater Boston Jewish community, and her essay recently received runner-up for the Hadar Ateret Zvi Prize for Hiddushei Torah. Miriam is also part of Sefaria’s three-year Word-by-Word Fellowship, which provides support for scholars to produce an original book of Jewish textual analysis.

In her free time, Miriam is an editor at The Lehrhaus, an online publication of Jewish thought. Miriam lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Ian.

Sam Haddad is a graduate of Hillel Yeshiva High School and earned degrees in both Finance and Judaic Studies from Yeshiva University after spending a year in Israel at Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim.

He began his career in an executive program at Republic National Bank, rotating through various business units until the bank was sold to HSBC. At that point, Sam joined the family business to help grow profitability and create operational efficiencies. A few years later, he went to Columbia University and completed a master’s degree in business. After graduation, Sam initially focused on opportunities in the bond market followed by a decade in wealth management at Morgan Stanley, achieving recognition as both executive vice president and senior portfolio manager. Sam currently runs an investment firm working with ultra-high net worth families to manage and preserve multi-generational wealth.

During his college years, Sam was co-president of Young Magen David and has continued to engage the young adults of our community through SBH volunteer work and career day appearances at Hillel Yeshiva, Yeshivah of Flatbush, and Magen David Yeshivah high schools. After years of advisory work with Barkai Yeshivah and Project Education, Sam is now an active board member of the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA). He and his wife Joyce live in Brooklyn and are the proud parents of four children.

Danielle (Khezrie) Hazan graduated from Yeshivah of Flatbush and later went on to get her BA in Judaic Studies from Brooklyn College. While there she received the Staley Schiff Memorial Award For Excellence in Judaic Studies. She later went on to study sociology and archeology of Israel at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is also a proud graduate of the Allegra Franco College. Additionally, she attended Drisha collegiate where she completed an intensive Beit Midrash learning program focusing on Tanach, Talmud and Halacha. Danielle is now married to Dr. Albert Hazan and is a mother of two.

After graduating from Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School, Ricky Novick spent a year in Israel at Bet Midrash Torah (BMT). He then attended Yeshiva University Undergraduate and received his Masters in Social Work in New York University. Upon graduating he worked as a social worker at Yeshivah of Flatbush & Sephardic Bikur Holim. Currently, Ricky works as a Financial Planner, focusing on Life Insurance.

In addition to being a past board member for the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA) for a number of years, Ricky has volunteered and served on the board of many local & global institutions including American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Sephardic Division, Young Shaare Zion, Barkai Yeshivah, Tebah Educational Services and the Sephardic Community Center- where he currently serves as President.

In 2007 he authored “Abraham and Balaam: A Biblical Contrast” an article which was printed in Volume 35, Issue 1 of The Jewish Bible Quarterly. In 2019 he co-authored the article “From the Monarchy of David to the Children of Israel: A Comparative Study of Family Values and Legacy” which was printed in Issue 26 of Hakirah, The Flatbush Jewish Journal of Jewish Law and Thought.

In his spare time loves to run to stay in shape. Ricky and his wife Rachel reside in Brooklyn, NY and are the proud parents of five.

Jesse Salem is the founder of Tanach Study, an educational platform that fosters intimate familiarity with the text, framework, and storyline of the Tanach and Mishna. He studied in Israel at Yeshivat Birkat Moshe in Maale Adumim, and in 2007 enlisted and served in the IDF Handassah K’ravit (combat engineering) unit. He currently serves as a board member of Barkai Yeshivah and Sephardic Community Alliance. In his day-to-day he manages a textile business in midtown Manhattan. He and his wife Rochelle have four children.

Rabbi Joey Soffer is a graduate of Yeshivah of Flatbush (ES 85, HS 89) and NYU Stern School of Business (1992). Additionally, he has studied for many years under both Rabbi Shimon Alouf and Rabbi Harold Sutton, receiving Semikha from the Sephardic Rabbinical College in 2020. Among the classes he gives, he is currently teaching Daf Yomi in Bnei Yitchak, where his is an associate Rabbi, having completed Shas three previous times.

Rabbi Soffer previously served as a member of the board of directors of Magen David Yeshivah. Currently, he volunteers as a “captain”, at Sephardic Bikur Holim impacting many families each year. In 2018 he joined the board of directors as treasurer of the Sephardic Community Alliance, furthering his love for spreading Torah.

In 2023 Rabbi Soffer joined the faculty of Yeshivah University and teaches in the newly expanded Sephardi Bet Midrash. He and his wife Adelle have six children and live in Brooklyn, NY.

After Yeshivah High School, Jesse Sutton spent a year at Beit Midrash LeTorah (BMT) in Israel before going to Yeshiva University. Jesse has been engaged with community institutions throughout his life. He became the President of the Sephardic Bikur Holim Youth Division at 19 years old and for three years built an infrastructure that is still in place today. Shortly afterwards, Jesse joined Hatzalah of Flatbush as an EMT followed by joining Hatzalah of Jersey Shore before retiring in 2016. He was a member of Magen David Yeshivah board of directors for a decade and is currently a Board Member of Reach for the Stars school for Autistic children and has been since its founding in 2008. Jesse joined the board of directors for the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA) in 2017 and is now a Vice President of the organization.

Professionally, Jesse co-founded Majesco Entertainment, an interactive entertainment company since 1990. It went public on the NASDAQ in 2005 and Jesse was the President and CEO until 2017. He currently is CEO of Majesco as a privately held company. Jesse has been involved in other entrepreneurial opportunities in other industries such as Adtech, Biotech and Health and Wellness.

Jesse resides in Brooklyn with his wife Lottie and family.

Ovadia was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. After high school he spent two years in Israel studying at Yeshivat Maale Adumim and Yeshivat Kisse Rahamim. He then went on to receive a BS in Mathematics from Baruch College and is currently pursuing an MS degree in Artificial Intelligence from Yeshiva University. Additionally, he received his Dayanut in Hoshen Mishpat from the Sephardic Rabbinical College.

Over the years he has worked at many organizations within the local community and the larger Jewish world. He was a Madrich at Yeshivat Moreshet Yerushalayim, a teacher at Barkai Yeshivah, the head of Congregation Shaare Shalom High School Minyan and an OU impact accelerator for Jewish startups. He also has spent much time volunteering at organizations including Tanach Study, Sabra Institute, Sephardic Rabbinical College, Kids of Courage and now the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA).

He currently consults and develops tools in artificial intelligence, is a teacher in The Yeshivah of Flatbush Midrash and the head of the High School Minyan at Sephardic Synagogue. He and his wife Caroll are the proud parents of Aura.

Raymond “Ray T” Tawil is a proud graduate of Magen David Yeshivah, a school that his father served as president of for many years. Due to his passion for cooking, he attended Johnson and Wales University, where he got his BS in culinary nutrition and food science. Currently Raymond is the executive chef and owner of PREPT BY RAY T, a company he co-founded in 2021. Additionally he serves as president of Congregation Bnei Yitzhak’s Father-Son Minyan.

Following the October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel, Ray immediately attended several solidarity trips to Israel leading to his involvement with the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA), where he now serves as a member of the SCA board of directors. When he’s not spending time with his wife Theda and children, he can be found catching up on the NY Rangers, scuba diving or playing goalie in the SY hockey league- “the greatest league in the community”.