NEW YORK (Press Release)–The judges have ruled and this year’s top five finalists for the Jewish Community Hero Award given out by the Jewish Federations of North America are: Dmitriy Salita, Jay Feinberg, Mordechai Tokarsky, Stephen Kutner and Zvi Gluck.
More than 300,000 votes were cast in this year’s contest and the finalists will now head to New Orleans where the winner will be announced at this year’s General Assembly. The winner will receive a $25,000 grant to advance his work.
Dmitriy Salita (Brooklyn, NY) is a champion boxer dedicated to promoting Jewish identity and educating young Jews about Judaism and their common history. Considering his Russian roots, he is particularly dedicated to promoting Jewish learning among Russian Jewish immigrants and has founded the Dmitriy Salita Youth Center to help bring the community together and promote Jewish learning.
Jay Feinberg (Boca Raton, FL) is working to grow and diversify the donor base of the bone marrow registry after he himself had trouble finding a match when he was in need. He is working particularly to fight against the devastating effects of the Holocaust, which severed family bloodlines and left many Jews in need with no alternative to searching the unrelated donor pool.\
Mordechai Tokarsky (Brooklyn, NY) has dedicated himself to educating young Russian Jewish immigrants about their common history and shared culture after he himself became one of the first Russian-American Jews to receive rabbinic ordination after the fall of the Soviet Union. Rabbi Tokarsky runs a program that gives 18-30 year-olds a semester-long education culminating with a trip to Europe and Israel.
Stephen Kutner (Atlanta, GA) founded and now works as the full-time volunteer Medical Director of Jewish Healthcare International, a group that sends healthcare professionals around the world to meet the needs of communities in crisis. Dr. Kutner is an ophthalmologist and worked overseas for many years before founding Jewish Healthcare International at first to help post-Soviet societies in Eastern Europe.
Zvi Gluck (Queens, NY) has dedicated his life to helping those most in need and most-often forgotten. With the support of his wife Aviva, Zvi is a one-man force devoted to promoting kindness and helping those who have suffered unjustly.
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Preceding provided by Jewish Federations of North America