Scout leader honored with award

BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

 David Meiskin David Meiskin David Meiskin of Freehold Township has been honored with the Shofar award for the work he has done in the promotion of scouting among Jewish youth.

Meiskin, 51, received the award at the Monmouth Council Boy Scouts of America volunteer recognition dinner on June 16 at the PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel.

According to the Monmouth Council Jewish Committee on Scouting website, “Just as the Shofar (a ram’s horn) calls people to the service of God, so the Shofar award is a recognition of the individual who has answered the call to serve Jewish youth in Scouting.”

Stanley Weinstein, chairman of the Monmouth Council Jewish Committee on Scouting, commended Meiskin for his dedication and effort in helping Jewish youths in scouting. He noted that Meiskin is active in Monmouth Torah Links, an organization that provides educational opportunities to Scouts of the Jewish faith to assist them in meeting requirements for various Jewish religious awards.

Meiskin was raised in Freehold Township, attended township schools and graduated from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey). He is an Eagle Scout.

Meiskin remains active in scouting with his sons, Michael, 14, Jacob, 13, and Jason, 9. He currently serves as assistant scoutmaster of Troop 434, Manalapan, where Michael is a Life Scout and a Senior Patrol Leader. Michael is working toward his Eagle Scout rank. Jacob is also in Troop 434, where he has just become a Star Scout.

Meiskin is the cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 180, Manalapan, where Jason is a Webelo.

Over the years, Meiskin, who now makes his home in Freehold Township, has worked on various projects for scouting. Many of the projects were geared toward helping young Jewish Boy Scouts become closer to their religion through scouting.

Meiskin was honored with the Shofar award in recognition of his dedication to help Scouts incorporate their religion into scouting and to help them to earn their religious badges.

“The Scouts were always able to work and achieve the religious awards before, but there was no real structure to the process and it was mainly one-on-one with a rabbi,” he explained. Meiskin wanted to open up this field and allow children to work together on the badges, allowing interaction and keeping them more focused on the camaraderie of scouting and their religion.

Meiskin created a program for the boys to work together on religious badges at Monmouth Torah Links, Marlboro. He worked with Rabbi Mordechai Eisenberg, the youth outreach director. He put together the program for working on the badges about 18 months ago and now, instead of Scouts working toward their badges alone, they work in groups of between six and 12 children.

The badges are age-appropriate and involve community service. Meiskin said the community service can range from youngsters working as an usher in a synagogue or collecting food for the homeless to bringing hot meals to the elderly and shut-ins.

“The idea is to teach them to give back to their community,” Meiskin said. “That’s what scouting is all about. We don’t do these things for a reward, we do them because it is the right thing to do.”

In between his work at a family-owned real estate and development company, Windsor Companies, Manalapan, and in addition to working with Boy Scouts, Meiskin is also an adult leader of Girl Scout Troop 343, Manalapan, where his daughter, Samantha, 11, is a Cadette. He said he is working to set up a similar program for the scouts to earn their religious badges.