Aaron and Stefa Hasson are founding members of YIOZ . Aaron  has chaired both the Youth Committee and the Kiddush Committee, and has helped make the  Shabbos and Yom Tov experience sweet for the children as the shul’s candy man for over thirty years. He is an educator in the New York City public school system, working as an English teacher, grade advisor and dean in Washington Heights.  He has also worked as a GED teacher at George Washington High School to help school drop outs and immigrant students gain their diplomas. Aaron designed and founded a tutoring service for the New York Telephone Company to train employees for managerial positions. He has  served three consecutive terms as Chairman of his School Leadership Team that designed and published the school’s mission statement and educational plan (CEP). Aaron has also worked as a real estate salesperson for developments in Rockland County.

Stefa has also served on the YIOZ board. She is the shul representative at the Riverdale Jewish Community Relations Council where she serves as a member of the council Presidium. Stefa is also a member of the board of the Bronx Jewish Community Council. She was the RJCC’s delegate to and sat on the board of the Kingsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps and was part of the group that brought Hatzolah to Riverdale. 

Stefa is also an educator. She was part of the editorial team for the Youth, and the Law Newsletter and worked on bringing law studies education into the New York City public school system. She was able to carry some of this into her Social Studies teaching at the SAR Academy through a small state grant for curriculum design of a unit on Constitutional Law. At SAR,  Stefa worked on the committee that helped the school receive the Blue Ribbon Award. Stefa designed and coordinated a project for Yeshiva University Museum that resulted in an oral history based exhibit entitled The German Jews of Washington Heights. She has served as a consultant to the museum when other exhibits were planned. Stefa has done workshops for Manhattanville College and the Museum of Jewish Heritage/ A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. She has served as a Gallery Educator at the latter since its opening. 

YIOZ has been the place where Stefa and Aaron raised their children, Ilana, Marc and Laurence to become members of the orthodox Jewish community. It is the shul that welcomed their children by marriage – Jonathan, Shiffy and Sara and now greets the next generation – Danny, Sammy & Joey Kroll and Aaron Meir, Nechemia Zvi, and Rena Chava Hasson.