Community Magazine January 2019

86 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE It was with joy, anticipation, and nachat that I traveled to my old neighborhood to interview one of my son’s classmates from Yeshivah of Flatbush (“YOF”), Dr. Tehila Abramowitz Saadia. Not only was I going to be reacquainted with Tehila, but her husband Meir Saadia is a high school friend of my son. How intriguing to talk to Tehila, who transformed from a quiet and serious student into a poised, self-aware, and talented physician, wife, and mother. How fortunate to have both Tehila and Meir in our community! A Little History Let’s step back to Tehila’s journey from childhood to womanhood. Tehila was born in Boro Park, Brooklyn where her mom, Shira Burnstein, was doing her Internal Medicine residency at Maimonides Hospital. Tehila’s father, Avram Abramowitz, is a Hematologist Oncologist. She has an older sister, Meira (also a physician), four younger brothers, and two younger sisters. Tehila is so proud of their accomplishments. When she was in the second grade, Tehila’s family moved from Boro Park to Flatbush. Tehila attended YOF from kindergarten through 12 th grade. She was accepted into the Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College CUNY as well as the BA/ MD program at SUNY Downstate Medical School in 2004. I wondered why and when Tehila chose to become a physician. “My parents, aunts, and uncles were doctors; it was a family business. I was always a science person, and we always had lots of kids’ books about the human body at home. I loved when our second-grade teacher, Mrs. Feder, read us books about the body. I loved science and writing.” The Musical Angle Medicine is not Tehila’s only passion. She started piano lessons at the age of two-and- a-half and also plays violin. Tehila’s former violin teacher is training her own children to play both piano and violin. Tehila explained that she inherited a genetic predisposition for perfect pitch from one of her maternal great-great grandmothers who received professional music training in pre-war Austria. In high school Tehila became the student music director for school plays, and she taught piano during college. In her sophomore year of college, Tehila was the musical director for various productions at YOF Middle Division and High School. Tehilaalsoworkedonschoolperformances at Heschel Day School and at Shulamith, and she occasionally helped conduct the YOF High School choir. She was dedicated to music education through her first year of medical school. “Teaching kids music (including directing them) was an eye-opening experience which helped me get out of my shell. I developed leadership skills which I still use today. It also helped me choose a pediatrics residency.” Even as a devoted and engaged wife, mother, and doctor, Tehila manages to carve out the hours and has the drive and creative energy to assist in arranging music for her brothers who are members of popular Jewish acapella groups. She encourages women to set aside time to fulfill their passions, even if they are busy with career and family. Balancing Marriage, Medical School, Training, and Family Tehila and Meir got married in January, 2011, during their third year of medical school (Tehila at Downstate and Meir at Albert Einstein College of Medicine). Tehila and Meir had a lot in common, with their passion for medicine, similar education, and also growing up as the oldest or next to the oldest child in a large family. Tehila, however, is of Ashkenaz descent and is a third generation American, whereas Meir’s parents are Syrian, and he is a first generation American. Meir’s mother and father, Becky and Habib Saadia, emigrated as newlyweds from Damascus, Syria, to the U.S. Tehila is the child of two doctors, and Meir the child of an entrepreneur father and a stay at home mother, who both worked tirelessly as immigrants and successfully raised six children. Tehila and Meir partnered to beautifully blend their cultural backgrounds and differences and “have a strong foothold in both the Ashkenaz and Syrian communities.” Shall we return to January 2011? Tehila and Meir are in their third year of medical school. They get married and live for 18 months in Einstein’s married students housing. Tehila drives toDownstate and they Woman Woman to One on One with ELLEN GELLER KAMARAS “My secret to success? It ’s having a great page turner. My husband Meir was my page turner for my piano performances and has been my page turner in life, supporting me and on the same ‘page’ regarding life goals and needs. Even if he wasn’t a musician or physician like me, he would still be able to read my non-verbal cues.” T ehila Abramowitz Saadia