About Us

ROOTS is dedicated to educating Jewish students on the college campus, in order to enrich their understanding of and deepen their connection to the traditions and heritage of Jewish people which resonate with meaning today as much as they did thousands of years ago.

RABBI YOEL ADELMAN
Rabbi Yoel Adelman founded ROOTS on campus in 2006. During his years serving as a Rabbi in Suffolk County, Rabbi Adelman and his family came in contact with many students from Stony Brook with whom he established close relationships. As a result of those interactions he perceived the need to create an outreach organization on campus to serve the spiritual and material needs of the Jewish students. This led to the establishment of ROOTS on campus.Rabbi Adelman serves as director of ROOTS in addition to his duties of Rabbi of the Young Israel of Huntington and Chaplain at Stony Brook University Medical Center. He resides in Huntington with his wife Tsipporah while his children and their families reside across the United States as well as in Israel and Canada.

RABBI DAVID DELMAN
Rabbi Delman or “Rabbi Dave” as he is affectionately known by his students, grew up in Silver Spring, MD. After graduating from Yeshiva High School in 2000, Dave spent the next 5 years studying at various Torah institutions in Israel which culminated in receiving his Rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva Ohr Somayach. In 2003 Dave married Tova Kober, and together they began a lifelong passion for Jewish outreach. Out of their home in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Tova and Dave undertook a program for ‘at risk” teenagers. The program was an instant success and many people today lead productive and fulfilling lives due to their efforts. In 2006 Tova and Dave moved to Austin, Texas to continue their outreach work at the University of Texas. After just one year, Rabbi Dave and Tova accepted a position entailing greater responsibility with R.O.O.T.S at Stony Brook University. Simultaneously, Dave completed graduate school at the Yeshiva University Wurzweiler program and now practices Social Work part time, and all while devoting himself  to the Jewish students at S.B.U.  Now residing adjacent to the Stony Brook campus, Rabbi Dave and his wife continue to open their home and their hearts to hundreds of college students every year! Dave and Tova have 4 beautiful children, Pinchas, Sara Bracha, Tzivia Ahuva and Yocheved Gittel.