Israeli Scouts together with the leadership of Development Corporation for Israel/Israel Bonds. Photo by Linda Kasian Photography Development Corporation for Israel/Israel Bonds Los Angeles held a private Prime Minister’s Club reception on Sept. 9, welcoming the newly appointed Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles Hillel Newman at the home of Laura and Leigh Stein in Beverly Hills. Attendees included prominent community members who have invested $25,000 or more in Israel bonds.
Erez Goldman, executive director for Israel Bonds’ Western region, addressed the assembly, stating, “It is great to see such a large gathering of some of the strongest Israel Bonds investors, who directly support the Zionist enterprise and help to secure a safe and prosperous Jewish homeland.”
The event also featured remarks by Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Israel Maimon, president and CEO of Israel Bonds. Maimon, in referencing Israel’s second round of national elections held Sept. 17, said, “Democracy is, and will remain, a defining trait of the Jewish state. In a region of dictatorships, oppression and totalitarian rule, Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy, stands apart.”
The reception was organized by the Steins and Sam Goldfeder and Joe McNamara, all of whom are Los Angeles-based Israel Bonds investors.
The gathering was the latest in a number of high-profile Israel Bonds events. Others have included an investors’ forum featuring guest speaker Lauren Weinstein and the annual Golda Meir Luncheon, which generated more than $9 million of Israel Bonds investments and pledges to invest.
Noted author and law professor Thane Rosenbaum has been appointed a distinguished university professor at Touro College.
Alan Kadish, president of Touro College, said, “I am pleased that Thane Rosenbaum has joined the Touro College and University System. Rosenbaum is a thoughtful and perceptive scholar and public intellectual whose analysis and thought leadership is widely sought by educators, students and media outlets across the country and globally. In addition to his public leadership, we are excited about the impact he will have on our students through his teaching.”
Rosenbaum, founder and director of Forum on Life, Culture & Society, a nonprofit that is now affiliated with Touro College, said he is looking forward to being “a part of Touro’s ongoing growth and evolution as a dynamic place for students and faculty. The fact that it is under Jewish auspices appealed to me, as well, given that so much of my work as a novelist, essayist and commentator involves Jewish themes.”
Touro College is a nonprofit education institution devoted to enriching students’ Jewish heritage. The Touro College network includes 34 campuses and locations in New York, California, Nevada, Berlin, Jerusalem and Moscow.
Dozens of stars from TV, film, music and sports turned out to support young cancer researchers and change the future of cancer at Tower Cancer Research Foundation’s (TCRF) sixth annual Ante Up for a Cancer Free Generation Celebrity Poker Tournament and Game Night on Sept. 7 at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills.
This year’s tournament honored Casey Federman, founding president of Cancer Free Generation (CFG), the young leadership division of TCRF. Federman is a longtime Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles supporter.
CFG seeks to identify visionary and innovative doctors, medical professionals and researchers and enable them to discover and implement new ideas and techniques to conquer cancer. Additionally, CFG’s efforts support young people and their families who have been impacted by cancer so that they can approach life with renewed strength and optimism.
More than 400 people attended the poker tournament, including more than 40 celebrities from TV, film, music, sports and poker. The event raised more than $250,000 and was TCRF’s most successful poker tournament to date, according to a TCRF press release.
The funds raised will support young cancer research investigators with career development grants as well as patient support programs.
Friends of Sheba Medical Center (FSMC) held its second annual
Women’s Community Luncheon on Aug. 29 at Woodland Hills Country Club.
The luncheon brought together the West San Fernando Valley community to support Israel and challenge outdated views and the life-limiting stigmas attached to mental illness. The event was held in memory of David Shakiban.
More than 250 guests attended the sold-out event, led by mistress of ceremonies Jill Simonian, an author and media personality on parenting segments known on-air and online as “The FAB Mom.”
The luncheon featured a keynote presentation by professor Mark Weiser, head of the division of psychiatry at Sheba Medical Center. Weiser declared that funds
raised at the luncheon will directly support the launch of Sheba’s at-home nursing program and implementation of telemedicine for the treatment of patients with
mental illness.
Dr. Susan Bookheimer, a clinical neuropsychologist and professor-in-residence in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Psychology, was honored at the luncheon. Bookheimer specializes in functional brain imaging with PET and functional MRI. Her work centers on the organization of language and memory in the brain, in healthy adults and children, and in neurologic conditions and developmental disorders.
“I am thrilled that so many women in our community attended this meaningful luncheon to show their support for the mental health services at Sheba Medical Center,” luncheon Chair Lisa Golshani said. “Professor Weiser’s insightful presentation on mental health really resonated with many in the audience.”
Recently named one of the “Top 10 Best Hospitals in the World” by Newsweek magazine, Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer calls itself the largest and most comprehensive medical center in the entire Middle East.
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