Jan Fenster

Past President, Queens Jewish Community Council

Tzorchei Tzibur Award

Jan Fenster was born and raised in the Bronx, NY and attended a special Hebrew School for girls at the Mosholu Jewish Center.  Through the outreach efforts of the Mara d’Atra, Rabbi Hershel Schacter and his wife Pnina, Jan embraced Orthodox Judaism.  She was educated at Queens College, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master of Science in Early Childhood Education.  She is retired from the New York City Board of Education where she taught Early Childhood Education, Elementary School Special Education worked in the Resource Room as a High School Special Ed Teacher and was a Special Education Teacher Trainer.  

Jan’s commitment to community work is legendary, and she has affiliations with numerous organizations. While she was teaching, Jan served as Vice President of both the Association of Orthodox Jewish Teachers and the Jewish Teachers Association.  She also was a member of the Advisory Board of the Queens College Black-Jewish People-to- People Project and the Jewish Heritage Week Advisory Committee of the Jewish Community Relations Council. She was a member of the Steering Committee of the Queens Chapter of the Jewish Teacher's Community Chest. She is currently a member of Community Board 9 of Queens and on the Advisory Board of Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center & Archives at Queensborough Community College. She serves on the Jewish Advisory Board to the Queens District Attorney and is Vice President of the Queens Jewish Historical Society.   She is also Secretary of the Long Island Zionist Region and National Executive Committee of the Zionist Organization of America.

She is a Board member of Ladies Auxiliary Adath Yeshurun in Kew Gardens, New York as well as being a Life Member of AMIT, Emunah, Hadassah, and ZOA and active member of Americans for a Safe Israel.

Ms. Fenster is an Immediate Past President of the Queens Jewish Community Council, where she also has served has Executive Vice President, Vice President, and Treasurer and was also involved with the Annual Queens Purim Parade on Main Street, Kew Gardens Hills.

Jan can trace a familial relationship to the Young Israel movement through her grandfather, Benjamin Ansh, k”z, who was a dedicated member of Young Israel of Mosholu Parkway, where Jan enjoyed davening for the Yomim Narayim for many years.  Jan has also forged relationships with many Young Israels in Queens, and has worked closely in various capacities with their Rabbis, including Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, Rabbi Meir Bilityzky Rabbi Sholom Steinig, and Rabbi Shlomo Hochberg (her friendship with the Hochberg family spans three generations).

Ms. Fenster has received honors from many institutions such as Long Island Zionist Foundation, Long Island Region of ZOA, Queens Division of the Jewish Teachers Community Chest, Queens Jewish Community Council, Young Israel of New Hyde Park as well as awards from Council member Melinda Katz, and Queens Borough President Helen M Marshall.

National Council of Young Israel is pleased to join this prestigious list of honors for Jan Fenster with the Tzorchei Tzibur Award, which recognizes those within the Jewish community who selflessly give of themselves to meet the needs of others within K’lal Yisrael.