Greater MetroWest Federation holds annual meeting

Avraham Infeld, the president emeritus of Hillel International and a member of the faculty of the Mandel Institute, addressed members of the community at the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ’s annual meeting on June 7. In his booming, South African- and Israeli-accented voice, he talked about Jews as a people — a people with a shared history and memory, regardless of geographical, denominational, or religious differences. He stressed that Jews only continue to flourish if they come together.

Infeld’s tone was consistent with the evening’s overall theme of the importance of unity and working together, including when Jane Wilf brought the festivities to a close with an announcement of the upcoming CommUNITY mission to Israel in October 2018. She invited everyone in attendance to join her on the trip, which will offer members of the Greater MetroWest community — from those who have never been to Israel to those who have been many times — unique experiences.

Immediate past president Lori Klinghoffer and CEO Dov Ben-Shimon offered tributes to outgoing president Leslie Dannin Rosenthal, recognizing her for the passion, commitment, and strength that she brought to her leadership role over the past three years.

Other community leaders were honored over the course of the evening. Dannin Rosenthal presented the first President’s Bamberger Award to Arthur Schechner, who has served in various leadership capacities in federation for more than 50 years. The 2017 Julius and Bessie Cohn Young Leadership Award recipients, Lisa Buber and Alan Schall, were recognized by their predecessors, Shira Rothschild and Rob Francis.

The event was chaired by Erica Needle and Robin Sysler, and included a musical performance by JESPY House’s J Street Band. To find out more about the CommUNITY mission to Israel, visit communitymission.org.

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