Naamah (Badian) Portnoy '06

In 2016, Naamah and her husband moved to East Meadow, NY with just three other families. Six years later, the community now has 25 families, their own shul - which recently aquired it's first Sefer Torah, and an eruv. Naamah is extremely involved in the growth of the community doing both in-reach and out-reach. She works alongside her husband, Avaraham, who is a kiruv Rabbi working for the Jewish Heritage Center. Naamah runs N'shei programs, events for Chanuka and Purim, helps with fundraisers and is there to support the general community needs. In addition to caring for four beautiful children, Naamah is a Nurse Practitioner and worked at Mt. Sinai South Nassau in the Oncology ward for the last 5 years. During Covid, Naamah was in the emergency rooms admitting patients and taking care of them, an experience that was both exhausting and an honor. She currently works at Prine Health, treating kidney failure patients and providing dialysis.

“Something I learned from my time at WITS/Maalot is that if you set your mind to specific goals, you can really accomplish anything you want. With the guidance and help from WITS/Maalot – in terms of building a home and a career – I was really able to spread my wings and reach those goals.”