Blog Test - WIP

James and Nathalie, along with their two daughters, moved to St. Louis in July 2020 amidst the pandemic. One of the first things they did was find a congregation, and after speaking with close friends in Kansas City and with Rabbi Rose, they chose to join B’nai Amoona. Finding a shul was important to them because they value the community relationship and affiliation of being members of a synagogue. Born and raised in France, Nathalie has always maintained her connection to the Jewish Community which is how she met her husband. As a new college student in California, she met James at Hillel and the rest is history. The Scharfs have two daughters; Kayla who is a freshman at Mizzou and Naomie, who recently graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in International Studies and World Culture and Languages.

Nathalie is a Foreign Service Officer (diplomat) for the US Dept of Commerce and moved to St. Louis to direct the Commercial Service regional office which works on promoting exports of U.S. made products and services as well as bringing Foreign Investment to the U.S. After working as a lawyer in New York, the family moved to Kansas City where they still have relatives on James’ side. James has worked in the social work/disability community for years and is now a manager with Easter Seals. When the Foreign Service called, the family completed three tours in Sydney, Mexico City and Casablanca. Throughout their time living internationally, the Scharf family continued their commitment to Judaism and established themselves at synagogues and the Jewish Community. Kayla observed her Bat Mitzvah in Sydney under the direction of an American Rabbi at their congregation. In addition, while she worked in Casablanca, Nathalie interacted with many of the visiting American Jews which was of particular interest because of her Moroccan lineage on her mother’s side. She said that was one of the ways in which she and Rabbi Rose connected initially because he had just returned from taking a group from B’nai Amoona there.

Both Nathalie and James are working from home during the pandemic and are eager to get out and establish new friendships with people in St. Louis. Nathalie has participated in a few of the zoom Sisterhood programs and looks forward to more opportunities to connect with her new community. James is looking forward to participating in the Men’s club activities as he was an active member of their group at Beth Shalom in Overland Park.

In their spare time, the Scharfs love to hike and travel. Nathalie loves to cook and bake traditional Moroccan Jewish and French food. James is a car geek and loves everything about Corvettes.