Military Engineer Infuses Workplace with Jewish Ideals
Greg Spurlock knows Naomi Zirkind as a woman who stays true to Jewish traditions and values while still being part of their group of military engineers. Her friends from synagogue, however, know her as a quiet and modest figure who inspires others with her wisdom and Jewish insight.
Zirkind, a mother of eight and electrical engineer who does research on robotics for the U.S. Army, manages to be all of this, and then some. She’s also a member of the Chabad-Lubavitch community in Morristown, N.J., and an author whose book, released this past September, examines women’s roles in Judaism.
“A Jewish woman has a wide variety of very important roles,” she explained, adding that a woman can lead both inside the home and outside of it with a unique combination of kindness and warmth.
Though she doesn’t talk about religion in the workplace, Zirkind said her affect and behavior make an impression on people because for her, Judaism is an all-encompassing lifestyle. She brings her own kosher food to events, leaves early Friday afternoons to prepare for the Sabbath, and dresses in accordance with Jewish modesty laws and customs.
She sees no tension between her various personas, and neither do her friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
“I don’t feel a conflict between [Judaism] and my profession,” she stated. “It’s all one integrated whole. It makes an impression on people, to know that it’s possible to live such a life. I think people cannot even imagine it’s possible without seeing someone actually doing it.”
After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering – her two brothers and two sisters, the children of a rabbi and a public school guidance counselor, similarly went to college – Zirkind took 10 years off to be a fulltime homemaker.
“I just really wanted a change of pace and really wanted to be a homemaker,” she said, explaining that she had wanted to have a home of her own, and got married through a matchmaker about two years before she finished her Ph.D.
Ultimately, returning to work outside the home made financial sense, so she started part time in 2000 in biomedical engineering, and began a fulltime position in 2005. Her oldest child is 22, her youngest, 8.
As the youngest child in her own family, she had a lot to learn when it came to raising kids.
“During the time I was a homemaker,” she related, “people would ask me, ‘Do you work?’ And I would say, ‘Yes, I work, but not for wages,’ because that certainly is work.”
Along the way she started her book, studying with her daughters as they approached the age of Jewish adulthood. As for what she wants for her three daughters, she said she hopes that they follow the “right path of Torah and Judaism in all their ways.” That applies to their professions, which she hopes will be “consistent with a life guided by the Torah, and that they should be able to do something they’re interested in.”
These days, her husband makes supper on weeknights, picks the kids up at school and uses the flexibility from his self-employment to help take care of the household. She, meanwhile, is currently studying robots and various algorithms for how they could engage in more-efficient mapping when they enter new surroundings.
In terms of her outlook, she said she finds inspiration in the teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.
“What the Rebbe stressed so much,” she said, “is that in all your ways, you should know G-d, and that whatever we do, we should be serving G-d in some way or another. That’s what I try to keep in mind.”
Spurlock, who works with Zirkind, said he sees her as a person of depth who is sincere in her practice and traditions. And he said he knows she works diligently to stay engaged in her family’s activities even though she’s not always there in person.
“When we get done in the evenings, she spends a lot of time talking to her family on the phone,” he revealed. “She’s a quite interesting and capable lady.”
Eshes Chayil
This is a Jewish hero. Not people who commit fraud/theft/corruption/pollution/deception etc. etc. just because they are men, claim to be rabbis, have full beards, drink to excess and smell like a dirty mikvah.
Awesome
It’s nice to see a Jewish, religious woman take advantage of her brains. Very inspiring! PhD from MIT in electrical engineering–niiiice!!!!
Friend
A true Chassidishe Isha Tznuah – when she went to MIT she organized classes in Chabssidus….
unsung heroines
Not to minimize Mrs. Zirkind’s acheivements, the real but unsung Nshei Chayil are those who heed the Rebbe’s instruction not to pursue secular college education, eschewing lives of comfort, instead choosing to raise families who are mekushar to the Rebbe in every way. It’s not easy, and there are no accolades.
Anonymous
What would all the Chabad houses do without college educated benefactors? Why do so many colleges have Chabad houses?
motti
to #4 i am confused to teach in BEIS RIVKAH the Rebbes school you need a college degree… go figure
book fan
for great family reading at your shabbos table, see her amazing book “strength and dignity” http://www. barnesandnoble .com/w/strength-and-dignity-naomi-zirkind/1034209144
@ #4
Not only is she an Aishes Chayil, she is exceedingly knowledgable in the Rebbe’s teachings, and her children are all frum, aidle and very mekusher to the Rebbe!
I don’t advocate colledge for our kids who are not very strong in their yiddeishkeit to begin with. But don’t knock this brillient woman who has the yiras shomayim and brains to do well in the religiuous and secular world.
i still think it-s important
for a Mommy to be home when the kids come home
unless there is some emergency situation , lo aleinu, going on
#4 you are misinformed
The Rebbe also did not advocate poverty. Check out his actual position. Many women received brochos to finish their schooling or to complete an advanced degree, including myself.
There are also a number of programs today that confer degrees and take place in a completely Jewishly religious setting
Anonymous
To #9-the article does say that her husband helps with childcare and houshold responsibilities.