Our Staff
Jerry Starr, L.C.S.W.
Executive Director of Jewish Family Service of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties
Jerry is the Executive Director of Jewish Family Service of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New Jersey and New York and has, for over twenty five years, provided supportive services in the community. His professional experience includes psychotherapy with individuals and families and social work in school settings and in group homes for individuals with developmental disabilities. In addition he has developed programs and services to help the elderly age in place and has coordinated support services for Holocaust survivors.
“Our mission at JFS of SHW is to put Jewish values to work and to be there when an individual, family or community needs us.”
Tova Friedman L.C.S.W.
Tova Friedman received a B.A. in Psychology from Brooklyn College, an M.A. in Black Literature from CCNY and an M.S.W. from Rutgers, The State University with a specialty in Gerontology.
Tova is the former Executive Director of Jewish Family Service of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties and has over 20 years of experience providing psychotherapy services and managing programs and agencies. She has provided psychotherapy services to individuals, families, couples and groups. She has also managed and provided Employee Assistance Program services for many companies in Somerset County. Mrs. Friedman has extensive experience working with special populations including immigrant families, the elderly and individuals dealing with difficult children.
Tova, a Holocaust survivor, shares her experiences in Auschwitz with many schools and organizations. She hopes that her stories will emphasize that prejudice and violence will destroy both the victim and the victor. Her story and that of two of her friends appears in the book, Kinderlager, edited by Milt Nieuwsma, and published by Holiday House in 1998.
She has 4 children and 5 grandchildren. For 10 years, she and her family lived in Israel where she taught at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Linda Berger L.C.S.W.
Linda Berger has been a Geriatric Case Worker at JFS since 1994 and provides in-home assessment and counseling to elderly clients and support to their families. In addition, Linda provides counseling to children and adults. Linda received her M.S.W. from the University of Pennsylvania and is a licensed marriage and family counselor. Prior to coming to JFS, Linda provided individual and group psychosocial counseling in hospital settings including the VAMC in East Orange and NYU Medical Center and was employed by Family Counseling Service of Somerset County. Presently, in addition to her work at JFS, Linda is a consultant providing counseling to patients of a psychiatrist at Overlook Medical Arts Center.
Ruth Edelman L.C.S.W.
Ruth Edelman, LCSW is the Coordinator of the Family Mentor Program for JFS. Ruth has an MSW from the University of Michigan, and holds a postgraduate certificate in Infant Mental Health. She has worked with children and their families for over 30 years in medical and social service settings. She has held supervisory positions overseeing social workers and psychologists, and has presented numerous workshops locally and nationally on work with children from birth to three, grief and loss, and supervisory and management topics.
“I believe strongly in the power of relationships for healing in our lives. We need one another. Most of us have much more to give than we realize. A supportive word, a caring gesture can make a difference to someone when they are feeling alone and struggling with some issue. The Family Mentor Program recruits, and trains volunteers who are matched with Somerset County families feeling overwhelmed with parenting and/or household management. I love the program because it brings people with a need together with people who are in touch with their humanity. The volunteers are ordinary people, but they understand what 'being there' for someone is all about, and are willing to make a commitment to be a mentor to a family for a whole year. I learn things from the families and from the volunteers all the time. It is a richly rewarding experience to coordinate the Family Mentor Program.”
Elise Prezant
Project Coordinator
Elise Prezant has over 20 years of experience providing employment and vocational rehabilitation services in New Jersey and Georgia. Before joining JFS, she was the Manager of Career Services for Jewish Family and Career Services in Atlanta, Georgia. Ms. Prezant was responsible for the Career Counseling and Testing, Recruitment and Senior Employment programs. She has also provided vocational evaluation, vocational counseling, placement assistance and support to individuals with and without disabilities.
In addition, Ms. Prezant was the Executive Director of The Raritan Valley Workshop, an Easter Seal Facility in North Brunswick, NJ. The Raritan Valley Workshop provides vocational training for over 300 adults with disabilities on a daily basis.
Suzanne Martin L.C.S.W.
Sue Martin, LCSW has 18 years experience with Child Study Teams working with parents and children with special needs. She works for Jewish Family Service as part of the Family Mentor Program staff. She graduated from Temple University, Rutgers University School of Social Work. She has a post-graduate certification in family therapy from the Center for Family Studies.
Jeanne Lankin L.C.S.W., A.C.S.W.
Jeanne Lankin is a NJ licensed clinical social worker. She received her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and has worked over twenty years in a variety of outpatient mental health settings including University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Hillside/Long Island Jewish Hospital and Jewish Family Service agencies in Bayonne and Southern Middlesex Counties. She is also in private practice in Highland Park and Monroe Township, NJ.
Jeanne has unique training working with individuals, couples and families on a variety of issues including cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of phobias and an expertise in geriatrics. In addition to providing psychotherapy to JFS clients, she works in the Senior Mentoring Program.
Roger Sachs, M.S.W.
Roger A. Sachs received his M.S.W. degree from Adelphi University. Roger provides counseling services for children, adults, couples and older adults. He has extensive experience in counseling, supervision of social workers and graduate students and administering home health aide and older adult programs. In addition to working at JFS, Roger is also employed as a Senior Social Worker at Jewish Family Service of Metrowest.
Rabbi Robin Nafshi
Rabbi Robin Nafshi is the part-time Community Rabbi and Chaplain for the Ohr Tikvah: Light of Hope Jewish Healing Program. She provides individual pastoral support to Jewish community members, particularly individuals who are not affiliated with a specific congregation. She also makes visits and offer programs to a variety of facilities such as Nursing Homes, Assisted Living residences, ARC, prisons, psychiatric facilities, and hospitals. She works in collaboration with congregational rabbis to assess healing and pastoral needs in our community, and develops and facilitates innovative community programs.
Robin Nafshi attended New York University and Cornell Law School. After moving to San Francisco, she worked as an attorney, legal author and editor. In the late 1990s, she realized her calling in her commitment to the Jewish people and Jewish life. She received her ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. In addition, Rabbi Nafshi serves as Associate Rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Hillsborough, and has served in a rabbinic capacity at a variety of organizations such as the hospice team of a visiting nurses organization and an adult Jewish education program.
Sudha Narasimhan, MSW
Sudha Narasimhan is a social worker specializing in work with older adults. She received her Masters in Social Work from Rutgers University in May 2010, with an emphasis in Gerontology. Sudha is also a Project Coordinator, focusing on developing and furthering JFS's presence in the older adult community within Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties.
Before her employment at JFS, Sudha completed her clinical training as an intern with JFS during her last year in the MSW program at Rutgers. During her internship, Sudha worked closely with children, individuals, couples and families by providing psychotherapy and case management services. Sudha continues to provide therapeutic and case management services and is also working with the Family Mentoring and Senior Mentoring Programs.
Cantor Lee Coopersmith, D. Min.
Cantor Lee Coopersmith, D. Min, is the new Community Chaplain of the Ohr Tikvah Jewish Healing Program. Cantor Coopersmith is a graduate of the School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and was invested as a Cantor in 1982. She received her Master of Sacred Theology and Pastoral Counseling Certificate from the New York Theological Seminary and the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health. Cantor Coopersmith is Cantor Emeritus of Temple B'nai Abraham, Livingston, NJ and has served Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick, NJ and Temple Sholom, Plainfield, NJ.
