Howard made the daunting and insurmountable task of teaching our son Hebrew from scratch and his Torah portion in less than a year look like a breeze. He made the lessons fun and appropriately challenging and managed to do it all with humor, curiosity in our whole child, and love. Our son grew in his confidence, love of learning and acquired a new teacher and friend in Howard. Howard is incredibly patient, easy to work with, and has an overall calming presence. Our son likened Howard to ‘Ted Lasso ‘- in that he was always smiling, energetic, and the ultimate champion and believer in our child and his abilities. I could not imagine a more kind, humble, and devoted person to have walked M into this precious transition to manhood.

Like my brother said after our magical Bar Mitzvah weekend, “We could use a few more Howards in this world!”

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your dedication and time and flexibility and patience and caring and acceptance and overall presence for Max and for us during these past 2 years. We are very lucky to have met you and to have you become part of our whole Bar Mitzvah experience. You are quite a special human and surrounding all of our anxiety and crazy busy lives, we want to take a moment to acknowledge YOU. You have been a true blessing in our lives.

Howard did such a great job with the Bat Mitzvah for our first kid that we used him for the next two kids. We wouldn’t think of having a Bar or Bat Mitzvah without him! Our three kids are all very different learners, and he was able to create a positive and rewarding experience for all of them (and for the entire family).

We call our sons tutor Howard, the “Hebrew whisperer”
He took away all the doubts and worries that our son had about completing his Bar Mitzvah portion.
He makes the material approachable and understandable no matter what your level or learning needs. He is always positive and a pleasure to work with. We were so lucky to find him.

Dear Howard,
What a journey! It has been so special to watch you and O connect, share interests, study and laugh. You’ve inspired him to learn, encouraged him to try and truly expanded both his knowledge and interest in so many things. The Bar Mitzvah itself was evidence of how meaningful Jewish study, practice and ritual has become for him and how much you have done to make it all happen.
You have become a friend, mentor, and teacher to me and to O and I looking forward to the continued growth of our relationship for years to come. Thank you for making the bar mitzvah so beautiful, spiritual, and meaningful and for making it such a special day for O and our entire family. .

Howard’s unique and personalized approach for bar and bat mitzvah celebrations is the model for the future. Though he worked with my daughter Ilana for 10 years in total. The 2 years leading up to the bat mitzvah was pivotal. He kept the sessions interesting by varying the subject material and using interactive things like Internet, Jewish cultural events and newsworthy subjects like Ilan Ramon to engage my daughter at her level. We communicated regularly by phone and email about strategies and adjusting the direction over the years. He is sweet, focused and on time. Reliable builds trusting relationship with student and parents and ultimately holds the hands of everyone to achieve a customized and personal event at the financial, spiritual, intellectual and cultural level of each child and family. People cried that day. One boy from a completely non religious family was do inspired at 12 years old that he informed his parents that he too wanted to have a bar mitzvah. Howard gained a new student and family and a year later that boy from a hone with no mezuzah or any jewish content at all in the home had a bar mitzvah with rented Torahs!

There is not a week that goes by that I don’t think of Max’s bar mitzvah. I thank you for your help, professionalism, patience and caring. You have given us all a great gift.