Rabbi Mendy & Mazal Sternbach joined the Chabad Nigeria team in the summer of 2020 with a focus on youth and programming. Their son Avremel, is an integral part of the team.
Rabbi Mendy, who hails from Brooklyn, NY attained his Rabbinical ordination at the Manhattan Sephardic Congregation and his Judicial ordination from Rabbi Z.N. Goldberg of Jerusalem. A veteran volunteer of global Jewish community work, he has served communities in California, India, Russia, Ukraine and France with educational and holiday programs and spent many summers as a counselor in Jewish camps around the world.
Mazal , a French native, began teaching Hebrew School at the age of fifteen! She received her teachers certification from the Beis Chaya Mushka Seminary in Montreal. Upon graduating, she worked as a youth counselor and director for challenged teens in Milwaukee, where she also provided extra curricular activities for a network of local youth groups. She brings her vast experience, and warm, welcoming spirit to her programs, her classroom, and to all those she meets.
She is a paragon of work-life balance, diligently raising her son while working full time. Mazal's Shabbat table is legendary—her culinary creations and gracious hosting leave guests thoroughly sated, both physically and spiritually.