Janet Tobin
Co-President

Janet Tobin was born March 25, 1937 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She attended and graduated Brooklyn College with a B.A., major: Education and Psychology. Janet was a Teacher and Assistant Director of the Summer School Program for Great Neck Schools. Janet also served on the Health Education Committee of the Great Neck Public Schools.

Janet has a long distinguished history of volunteerism within the Jewish
Community. She served as International President for Women’s League for
Conservative Judaism (WLCJ) from 1998 to 2002. As part of her life’s work for WLCJ and Israel, Janet started the Masorti Study Days in Israel and had a Torah Scroll written for WLCJ. Janet chaired many WLCJ committees including Membership, Adult Education and Israel affairs before becoming International President.

She served as MERCAZ-USA President for 5 years. She was a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations for 9 years. Janet served on the boards of the World Council of Synagogues, World Zionist Organization (WZO), United Synagogue, JTS and more. She has relationships within the Jewish Community including Masorti, Alpha Epsilon Pi (Aepi), StandWithUs, MERCAZ-USA, the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, Jewish National Fund and her synagogue, Congregation L’Dor V’Dor.

Following her Presidency at WLCJ, Janet became Co-President for American Friends of Neve Hanna, a non-profit children’s organization associated with the Neve Hanna Children’s Home in Kiryat Gat, Israel.

It was a little over 25 years ago, on a Women’s League for Conservative Judaism’s Israel Mission, Janet and Irwin were introduced to the children of Neve Hanna. As soon as they entered the village, the boys wanted to play basketball with Irwin and the girls wanted to show Janet how beautifully they fixed up their rooms. They had a great day and were immediately hooked. When Rabbi Benjamin Kreitman, z”l asked Janet and Irwin to become members of the Board of Directors of AFNH, they immediately said “yes.”

Neve Hanna Children’s Home is a loving home for children from distressed family circumstances in the south of Israel. They are the children of Russian, Ethiopian, Middle Eastern immigrants and native-born Israelis. By providing a nurturing and supportive family environment, Neve Hanna offers these at-risk youth the chance to grow beyond the circumstances from which they emerged. With its therapeutic programs, leisure time activities and projects, Neve Hanna Children’s Home strives to meet all the physical, emotional, mental and educational needs of its children.

Janet brought in and sponsored specific individualized therapies, educational programs and leisure-time activities. Her mission and vision was to provide therapies and activities that would be meaningful and important to the children. In the late 1990’s, Janet brought over the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program. Over the years, some of the therapies and programs were Photography, Music, the Torah Project and the Library. It was important to Janet that AFNH support teenage programs, Streetlight and Ziv Neurim. Next is finding an English teacher and a new educational language program for Neve Hanna. Janet wants to see bright futures and continued success for each of the children. She wants them to be proud, confident and successful in what they do in life.

Janet and her husband, Irwin, also Co-President of AFNH, live in Great Neck, New York. They are the proud parents of children, Robin, Marc and Scott, son-in-law David, daughters-in-law, Dodi z”l and Jennifer and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.