Jewish Pair Killed as Sandy Topples Tree

Jacob Vogelman and Jessie Streich-Kest

By Josh Nathan-Kazis October 30, 2012

Two Jewish 23-year-olds were killed in the midst of Hurricane Sandy on Monday night while walking their dog in Brooklyn.

Jacob Vogelman and Jessie Streich-Kest

Jacob Vogelman and Jessie Streich-Kest were hit by a falling tree in the Ditmas Park neighborhood, the New York Observer reported.

The two grew up at Park Slope synagogues, according to a source who knows the pair. Vogelman’s family attended Congregation Beth Elohim, a large Reform synagogue, and Steich-Kest’s attended Kolot Chayeinu, a progressive congregation.

Steich-Kest’s father is Jon Kest, executive director of New York Communities for Change and former director of New York ACORN. In a 2007 blog post, former ACORN chief organizer Wade Rathke credited Jesse with setting up a long-delayed meeting between ACORN and then-Senator Barack Obama.

Vogelman graduated from SUNY Buffalo, according to his Facebook page.

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

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