2008 Distinguished Service Awards of Excellence go live!

Here are some of this year’s winners. Check out these YouTube videos to hear what they have to say!

Volunteer of the: Year Tom Kasten

He has served on the Capital Planning, Finance and Administration, Strategic Funding, By-Laws, Leadership Development and PAS Steering Committees, as well as on the Community Study Committee. In addition, Kasten has served as chair of PAS, as the Federation’s treasurer and on the Executive Committee and currently is one of the Federation’s vice presidents. Most recently, he served as co-chair of the CEO Search Committee that resulted in the hiring of the Federation’s new executive. Kasten also served as president of the Board of Directors for Jewish Vocational Services, and completed a term as mayor of his hometown, Hillsborough, where he continues to serve on the City Council and on a variety of County boards.

 

Program of the Year:

[With Rabbis Eric Weiss, Jon Sommer, Sheldon Marder, Reverend Jennifer Block and Rabbi Michael Barenbaum]

A collaboration between the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, the Jewish Home of San Francisco and the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, its premise is that anyone who is Jewishly connected, no matter their end-of-life-care choice, and regardless of their affiliation in the Jewish community, can have a caring, meaningful relationship with another individual in their final days.

 

Agency Staff Person of the Year: Naomi Tucker

As co-founder and executive director of Shalom Bayit, Naomi Tucker has built an organization that is a model for a Jewish response to domestic violence.In 2007, Shalom Bayit helped over 80 Jewish women abused by an intimate partner, received 500 calls through its hotline, educated 500 Jewish youth on building healthy relationships and preventing teen dating violence and reached hundreds more with its adult educational programs.

 

Lloyd. W. Dinkelspiel Award for Young Leadership: Michael Feldman

He has been a dedicated volunteer, with the bulk of his efforts directed towards fundraising. He currently chairs the San Francisco portion of the 2008 annual campaign and for the two years before that he either chaired or co-chaired the Major Gifts division. Along the way he has attended and supported numerous Campaign telethons, Super Sundays, strategy meetings and campaign events. Feldman has been a member of the Federation’s Board for the past three years and served on several of its standing committees, including Building, Nominating and Capital Planning. He also served on the Board of the Young Adults Division and is a member of the UJC’s National Young Leadership Cabinet.

 

Jewish Community Federation Staff Person of the Year: Mark Reisbaum

The rigor and integrity he brings to the grants process has been instrumental in setting the standards for which the Endowment Fund has become known. Since joining the JCEF nearly 11 years ago, Reisbaum has been instrumental in strengthening collaboration with the Federation’s Planning and Programs division, and in providing policy guidance and expertise to the Federation’s executive, capital planning, security and other committees. Reisbaum also has played an active role in building the capacity of the LGBT Alliance. The Federation’s most exacting lay leaders rely on his investment banking background and his substantive grant reports in order to make good decisions about the community’s assets.

 

Robert Sinton Extraordinary Leader Award: Bernard Osher

The Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Endowment Fund, has often been a “first funder” for innovative projects in their earliest stages, which then have gone on to have long-term impact, including the Osher Marin JCC, the Israel Project (which became the Israel Center), the Bernard and Barbro Osher Jerusalem Center for Religious Pluralism at the Shalom Hartman Institute and countless arts, cultural and educational projects here and in Israel that would never have come to fruition without his support. Osher was a leading supporter of the San Francisco Jewish Community Center’s capital project, along with numerous other capital projects in this community. During his five years as chair of the Endowment Fund (1994 to 1999), Endowment assets increased nearly 100% each year.

 

Note: The other award winners include…
Judith Chapman Women’s Leadership Award: Joelle Steefel

Helen Diller Family Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, Congregation/Community School: Michael Lederman

Day School: Ziona Tassa, Gideon Hausner Day School

Early Childhood Education: Lisa Elliot, Peninsula JCC

Informal Education: Vavi Toran

Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award: Batshir Torchio, Brandeis Hillel Day School; Linor Eylon, South Peninsula Hebrew Day School

Jewish Jeopardy game livens up federation meeting

On June 5, the JCF hosted its annual meeting with a twist–Jewish Jeopardy! The event was written up in the j. by staff writer Dan Pine. Here is the article reposted below.

There were no “potent potables” until the wine bar opened afterward, but the crowd at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco found the game of Jewish Jeopardy categorically delightful.

The game –– complete with giant-screen Jeopardy board and tuxedoed Alex Trebek impersonator –– took place at the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s annual meeting June 5.

Ostensibly, the meeting had serious business on the agenda. Outgoing federation president John Pritzker passed the baton to new president James Koshland. Incoming CEO Daniel Sokatch said hello, and retiring Jewish Community Endowment Fund Director Phyllis Cook said goodbye.

From left to right: James Koshland, Daniel Sokatch and John Pritzker

In between calling for votes to approve new board members and handing out awards of excellence, organizers staged the Jeopardy game, played by 12 Jewish community leaders. The categories and “answers” boasted local Jewish themes –– with a few nutty exceptions.

It all made for more than a few big laughs.

Dan Leemon

The players were divided into three teams: the Menorahs, the Mezuzahs and the Matzahs. Host and faux-Trebek Dan Leemon let out his inner Henny Youngman as he kept things moving with a ready joke (“The Menorahs are on fire!”).

During player introductions, Bureau of Jewish Education Director David Waksberg quipped, “If I get it wrong, my name is Bob Sherman,” referring to his predecessor.

Other players included Ed Cushman (Hebrew Free Loan Association), Rabbi Doug Kahn (Jewish Community Relations Council), Ezzy Schusterman (Friendship Circle), Deborah Pinsky (Peninsula Jewish Community Center), Leslie Kane (Holocaust Center of Northern California), Rabbi Stacy Friedman (Congregation Rodef Sholom), Rabbi Eric Weiss (Bay Area Healing Center), David Rubinstein (Hillel of Sonoma), Nurit Robinson (Menorah Park) and Rabbi Avraham Schochet (South Peninsula Hebrew Day School).

Leemon reminded players to answer in the form of a question. With the game underway, player and JCCSF Executive Director Sandee Blechman promptly (and unapologetically) failed to do so.

In the category of “Caring for the Vulnerable,” Weiss rang in quickly. The jeopardy “answer” was “Federation funding for this organization helps support weekend retreats for bereaved families.” Weiss knew the correct response was the organization he heads: the Bay Area Healing Center. When he was told he was incorrect, the rabbi shouted, “But that’s us!” (For the record, he was right.)

Responding to the answer, “Only about a quarter of Jewish children receive Jewish education after this event,” Friedman rang in with: “What is the bris?”

Once the laughter died down, Leemon responded, “Can you blame them?” (Correct response: “What is the bar or bat mitzvah?”)

In the category “Famous Feds,” the $300 “answer” was “This famous fed was said to prefer floral print frocks and silky underwear.”

No one knew the correct response: Who was former FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover?

For the final Jeopardy round, the category was “Jewish Movies.” Contestants listened to a musical theme and had to determine the film from which it came.

Then, Ernest Gold’s dramatic “Exodus” theme filled Kanbar Hall. The Matzahs and the Menorahs were by then battling it out for the victory (sadly, the Mezuzahs were left hanging).

The first-place prize of free ads in j. was tantalizingly close.

The Matzahs correctly chose “Exodus” (adding in Magic Marker, “Can someone explain why Eva Marie Saint was in the movie?”). The other two teams also got the right answer. But there can only be one winner in Jeopardy, and on this night, it was the Menorahs.

Tough break for the Matzahs.

Last chance to register for the JCF Annual Meeting

This Thursday, June 5, our agencies, staff, donors, volunteers, and the public will come together for the 98th Annual Meeting. As always, we will be honoring those who have enriched our community. We will also be electing our new board, introducing our new CEO, and unveiling a new surprise.

If attending, please be sure to RSVP. The event is free, but seating is limited.

UC Berkeley and Hebrew Union College honor Phyllis Cook

Phyllis Cook, the outgoing director of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Endowment Fund, is receiving awards this month from U.C. Berkeley and Hebrew Union College.

Cook recently received a 2007 Trustees’ Citation for her fundraising on behalf of U.C. Berkeley. The award is given to alumni and others associated with the university who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in a major fundraising program or who are exemplary examples of service in support of the school’s outreach goals. Cook one of 14 who were chosen to receive the citation.

On Monday, May 19, Cook received the Founders’ Medallion from the HUC-Jewish Institute of Religion in a Los Angeles ceremony. She is receiving the award in recognition of her contributions to the Bay Area Jewish community during her 25 years at the endowment fund.

– Reposted from this week’s j. article “Hebrew Union College, Cal honor JCEF stalwart Cook”

Seeking nominations for the 2008 Awards of Excellence

The 17th annual Awards of Excellence salute the very best programs and people working to enhance Jewish life in our community. Your recommendations are very important and make this recognition possible. The Federation is currently seeking nominations for:

• Volunteer of the Year
• Agency Staff Person of the Year
• Federation Staff Person of the Year
• Program of the Year

Nominations must be submitted no later than Friday, April 25, 2008.

The Awards will be presented at the Federation’s Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 5, 2008 at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco.