New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. with honorees and co-sponsors at his Jewish Heritage celebration at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on December 2, 2008. Pictured (back, l to r) are: Rabbi Yaakov Lehrfield, Young Israel of Staten Island; Thompson; Tovah Feldshuh, Award-winning Actress and Playwright; Gary Rosenblatt, Editor & Publisher, The Jewish Week of New York; Professor Aaron D. Twerski, Irwin & Jill Cohen Professor of Law, Brooklyn College, City University of New York; (front, l to r) Ilana Ruskay-Kidd, Director, Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School, Jewish Community Council in Manhattan; Michael S. Miller, Executive Vice President, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; and, Peter A. Joseph, Managing Director, Palladium Equity Partners, and President, Israel Policy Forum. Photo Credit: Marla Maritzer.

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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. last night honored five city leaders at a celebration of Jewish Heritage at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse in the Rose Building at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The event was co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Council for Jewish Poverty, Jewish Community Relations Council, and Agudath Israel of America.

“Tonight, we are here to celebrate the wonderful diversity, the rich history, and the tremendous vitality of the Jewish community in New York,” Thompson said.

You can view photographs of the event at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

Before introducing the honorees, Thompson acknowledged the terrible loss last week during the tragic terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

“It is no accident that the victims of the Mumbai terror are remembered for their many acts of generosity and commitment to community,” Thompson said. “According to the only captured terrorist, the attacks on the Chabad House were intended to target Jews, so that what happened last week resonates not only as senseless, deplorable violence, but indeed as a pogrom. The deliberate attempt to strike terror into the Jewish community of Mumbai and those who would seek to travel there must be condemned in the strongest terms.”

“As we remember the Holtzbergs, Rabbi Teitelbaum, Rabbi Benzion, and the other victims in the Jewish community that were slain in Mumbai, we send our prayers and well wishes to their surviving families, and to their friends in the Lubavitch community in New York and around the world,” Thompson added.

Addressing attendees, Thompson noted that New York will respond to this crisis as they always have, with resolve, with creative problem solving, and with a deep understanding.

“But tonight we celebrate those who have lived this lesson of commitment to their community,” Thompson said. “Tonight we recognize men and women who have made their dreams come true in their own lives, while opening doors so that others may follow.
They are all role models, and they have all brought vision, leadership, and dedication to their endeavors.”

Thompson presented the first award to investment executive, Peter Joseph. Mr. Joseph, who is currently a Managing Director of New York-based investment firm Palladium Equity Partners, has been in the private equity investment field for over two decades. His investing experience includes major corporate reorganizations and restructurings and spans a wide variety of industries, from automotive and healthcare to energy, media and financial services.

Mr. Joseph has been in the private equity investment field for over two decades.
Prior to joining Palladium in 1998, he was a general partner of Joseph Littlejohn & Levy, which he helped to found in 1985. His investing experience includes major corporate reorganizations and restructurings and spans a wide variety of industries, from automotive and healthcare to energy, media and financial services.

“Throughout his career, Mr. Joseph has been equally active in public policy and service work,” Thompson said. “He presently serves as the President of the Israel Policy Forum, a national advocacy group supporting an active U.S. role in resolving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. In recognition of work in both the investment and public policy domains, and for his dedicated efforts toward the goal of peace in the Middle East, it is my pleasure to present this award to Peter Joseph.”

Tovah Feldshuh, renowned actor and playwright, received the second award. The Comptroller praised Ms. Feldshuh for her memorable roles in some of Broadway’s best known and well received shows, including the recent Golda’s Balcony, which became the longest-running one-woman show in Broadway history on October 3, 2004. Ms. Feldshuh was nominated for a Tony Award and won the Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards.

Ms. Feldshuh received additional Tony nominations for Yentl, Lend Me a Tenor and Sarava. She is also a supporter of Seeds of Peace, a non-profit, non-political organization that helps teenagers from regions of conflict.

“In addition to Golda Meir, Ms. Feldshuh has portrayed a panoply of famous women so diverse that the list itself suggests the incredible range of this actress,” Thompson said. “In recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of entertainment and the exploration of Jewish culture, it is my pleasure to present this award to Tovah Feldshuh.”

The next honoree was publisher Gary Rosenblatt. For fifteen years, Mr. Rosenblatt has been the editor and publisher of The Jewish Week of New York, one of the largest and most respected Jewish Newspapers in America. Previously, Mr. Rosenblatt spent nearly two decades as an editor at the Baltimore Jewish Times. His weekly column, “Between the Lines,” is syndicated to Jewish newspapers around the country.

Mr. Rosenblatt is founder and chairman of The Conversation, an annual retreat for 60 American Jews who are leaders in a variety of fields to discuss what it means to be Jewish in America in the 21st century. He is also founder and chairman of Write On For Israel, a program that seeks to advocate for Israel by helping high school students develop journalism skills.

“Mr. Rosenblatt has won numerous journalism awards from both the Jewish and secular press for his writing. He was one of two finalists for a Pulitzer Prize in Special Reporting in 1985 – the first time an article in a Jewish newspaper was honored in the competition,” Thompson said. “In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of journalism and for his advocacy of Jewish issues and the State of Israel, it is my great pleasure to present this award to Gary Rosenblatt.”

The fourth honoree of the evening was law professor Aaron Twerski, a preeminent authority in the areas of products liability and tort law. His expertise has been widely called upon by state and federal legislative bodies considering product liability and mass tort legislation, and he is a frequent lecturer to the practicing bar.

Most recently, Professor Twerski has served as Dean of the Hofstra Law School before returning to teach at Brooklyn Law School where he now serves as the Irwin and Jill Cohen Professor of Law.  Professor Twerski also serves as special counsel to the law firm of Herzfeld and Rubin. In December, 2006, he was appointed by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein a Special Master in the 9/11 cases dealing with the injuries claimed by those involved in the clean-up of the World Trade Center site. His background also includes a teaching fellowship at Harvard Law School, and work as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in its Civil Rights Division.

“Professor Twerski has written widely on torts and product liability law,” Thompson said. “For his distinguished performance as a Reporter, the American Law Institute named him the R. Ammi Cutter Reporter. For his commitment to the advancement of justice, scholarship and the legal profession in the fields of tort and insurance law, Professor Twerski received the 2007 Robert B. McKay Law Professor Award from the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section.”

“In recognition of these outstanding efforts to facilitate a greater understanding for the law, it is my pleasure to present this award to Professor Aaron Twerski,” Thompson said.

The final honoree of the night was teacher and children’s advocate Ilana Ruskay-Kidd. Ms. Ruskay-Kidd graduated from Harvard University and earned her Masters Degree in early childhood education from Bank Street College. From 1996-2000, she was a founding teacher at the Ella Baker School, an alternative public school in Manhattan.

There she participated in all aspects of establishing and running a new school, including recruiting students, hiring and training new teachers, running parent workshops and managing the growth of the school from two classrooms to 220 students. As a kindergarten/first grade teacher there, Ms. Ruskay-Kidd developed curriculum, supervised paraprofessionals, student teachers, and developed comprehensive reporting mechanisms.

Since 2001, Ms. Ruskay-Kidd has been working at the JCC in Manhattan. There, she was the Senior Director of Family Life, serving children ages newborn-eighteen years old, before becoming the Director of the Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School in March of 2006. Ms. Ruskay-Kidd developed the JCC’s parenting program and closely supervised many other program areas including Young Family and After School programs, as well as a Day Camp. She has also been involved in a new JCC initiative for families with children with special needs.

“Ms. Ruskay-Kidd is an active member at Bnai jeshurun and serves on the UJA task force on Beginning Jewish Families,” Thompson said. “In recognition of her outstanding commitment to early childhood education, it is my pleasure to present this award to Ilana Ruskay-Kidd.”

The Yeshiva of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School Chamber Choir kicked off the event by performing the Star Spangled Banner and the Hatikva.