Students and colleagues cheer for math teacher Monica Daranyi as Milken Family Foundation Chairman Lowell Milken congratulates her. Courtesy of Milken Family Foundation The Milken Family Foundation, in partnership with Builders of Jewish Education (BJE), announced the 2022 recipients of the prestigious Jewish Educator Awards (JEA), which honors excellence at BJE-affiliated Jewish day schools.
The four recognized L.A. Jewish day school educators are Shoshana Braude, a first-grade Judaic studies teacher at Bais Chaya Mushka of Los Angeles; Monica Daranyi, 9-10 division dean and math teacher at Milken Community School; Rabbi Daniel Grama, Rebbe and director of recruitment at Valley Torah High School; and Larry Kligman, head of school at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School.
“I have the best job because it is not work; it is something that I love,” Daranyi said upon receiving her award presented by Milken Family Foundation Chairman and Co-Founder Lowell Milken. “It is an honor for me to walk through the gates and to walk into my classroom to be able to teach all of you.”
Milken Family Foundation and BJE announced the winners during surprise assemblies. Each of the honorees were given an unrestricted $15,000 financial prize.
The 2022 JEA recipients will be celebrated, together with their families and community leaders, during a luncheon this winter. The inclusive event brings together leaders across Los Angeles’ Jewish community, from the most secular to the most Orthodox.
An Oct. 9 interfaith Sukkot program at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) brought together faith-based social justice organizations, synagogue members and volunteers who support Measure ULA.
Appearing on the November ballot, Measure ULA, if passed, would increase a real estate transfer tax on properties in Los Angeles sold for over $5 million, creating additional revenue for affordable housing, homeless initiatives, and rental assistance. In most cases, the seller of the property would be responsible for paying the tax, which would be 4% for properties sold between $5-$10 million, and $5.5 million for properties $10 million and up.
Supporters of the measure, a coalition that includes IKAR, Temple Israel of Hollywood and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, say it would create an additional $900 million in annual revenue for affordable housing in a city sorely in need of it. The tax, its backers say, would leave most unaffected, imposed only on millionaires and billionaires.
At the start of the event, everyone gathered in a large sukkah beside the HUC-JIR parking lot and discussed ways in which Sukkot, which began Sunday night, resonates with themes of housing justice.
“Being in a fragile and precarious dwelling like this makes us aware of those without housing,” a HUC-JIR faculty member Rabbi Ruth Sohn said. “[Being in a sukkah] awakens us to the experience of those who don’t have housing.”
Measure ULA, Sohn said, “really provides hope for the future.”
Fake fruit dangled from the sukkah’s roof, and tapestries decorated the walls. Seated at the several round tables inside the hut, attendees noshed on salad and desserts as faith and community leaders expressed their support for the ballot initiative.
They included Michael Siegel, a congregant of TIOH, who, after the program in the sukkah, canvassed residents of South Los Angeles, knocking on homeowners’ doors and sharing information about the measure.
“I think there’s potentially more good than harm associated with the measure,” he told the Journal afterwards. “It’s something that hasn’t been done before, and hopefully it will improve the lives of the unhoused population.”
“A basic tenet of Judaism is tikkun olam,” he added, “and this fits in with tikkun olam.”
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