LOS ANGELES (Press Release)– When Virtuoso Geoffrey Maingart, former Concertmaster of the White House Orchestra and friend of Jews for Judaism’s Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, raised his violin and explained that its original owner was Mozart, the crowd was astonished. His breathtaking performance was a perfect highlight to Jews for Judaism’s successful “Stand Up for Judaism” Chanukah Benefit to support its intervention counseling and preventive education programs.
Following Maingart’s performance, Rabbi Kravitz presented Jews for Judaism’s 2009 community leadership awards:
The Aleph Club Leadership Award was presented to Jeff and Janis Susskind for their outstanding support of, and commitment to, Jews for Judaism and the Jewish community.
The Young Professional Award was given to Seth Staszower, president of PrintRunner, Inc., and one of the founding members of Jews for Judaism’s new Young Professional Division.
The second annual Be-True Student Award was presented to Shayna Sorrentino. The Be-True Student Leadership program empowers youth to make critical choices and Shayna has been instrumental in its development and is also the Be-True Rep at Marymount College.
More than 120 people attended the Benefit at “A Cow Jumped Over the Moon” in Beverly Hills on December 16th. The diverse crowd representing all denominations of the Jewish community included adults, young professionals, and Be-True student leaders.
The evening also featured a Chinese Auction which gave people an opportunity to win valuable prizes and support Jews for Judaism’s programs. Due to popular demand, the deadline for the auction, online at www.JewsforJudaism.org, has been extended through midnight December 31, 2009.
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Preceding provided by Jews for Judaism