Born in Brooklyn and raised in Fresh Meadows Queens, Linda always considers herself a "New Yorker".  After attending the Fashion Institute of Technology for Textile Design, Linda attended Caldwell College and received a BA in Psychology and continued graduate courses in ArtTherapy.

In her spare time, she likes to hike, walk in nature, do yoga, paint and use her creativity. Linda's blends yoga, art and creativity in her business called "Art and Soul": www/artandsoulpainting.com and Shomrei Torah has been the lucky recipient of her talents as anyone can tell you who has joined her "Gentle Yoga" class.

Linda met her husband, Mark in 1979 when she was working in Manhattan as a trend colorist in the garment industry and had a studio in Forest Hills, Queens. During this time she traveled to Aschaffenburg Germany for work and would go to color their line each year for 2 weeks and then attend the textile shows in Frankfurt, Germany and take the train to Lucerne Switzerland on weekends.

After Linda and Mark got engaged they moved to Douglaston and married in 1981. In 1983, they moved to Packanack Lake in Wayne where she relishes being able to walk the lake each and every morning. It was a gift coming from an urban environment. Linda states "Our families and friends would always call us when they heard there was a large rain; they thought all of Wayne was under water."

Linda and Mark are the proud parents of two children Sarah, 24 and Matthew, 22 and she is happy to say that "Mark is my best friend even after 32 years of marriage."

Linda credits many teachers, people, and books which have influenced her life. The two books that have influenced her the most have been many of Harold Kushner's books and she shares a quote from one of his books where he answers the question why bad things happen to good people? "... to forgive the world for not being perfect, to forgive God for not making a better world, to reach out to the people around us, and to go on living despite it all...no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it has happened." Harold Kushner

The other book is The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra and she incorporates a certain law every day of the week and it has become a profound spiritual practice.

Linda and her family joined Shomrei Torah in 1987 and participated in the Adult Bnai Mitzvah class in 1990 at Shomrei Torah with Rabbi Eisenberg. She states "Coming to say Kaddish everyday for my Mom has brought a rich connection to her Jewish life spiritually, a beautiful community and gathering. When we recite the prayers and say the Shema everything is connected to God. Jewish spirituality is an approach to life in which we strive to become aware of God's presence and purpose in everything. It applies finding the extraordinary in the ordinary--in your work, in your exercise, in your quiet times in everything." Linda would like to share her talents by offering workshops on meditation at Shomrei Torah in addition to Chair Yoga using gentle movements to opening our energy and allowing more relaxation in our mind, body and spirit.

Linda enjoys being involved and connected to Shomrei Torah and to helping in areas that she can make a difference. She loves the friendships that she has made and continues to make in our rich Jewish community. Thank you Linda for helping to bring a further spiritual dimension to our synagogue!