SINAI’s annual benefit dinner
ON FEB. 26, more than 1,000 people, a record number, gathered for SINAI’s annual benefit dinner at the Marriott Glenpointe Hotel in Teaneck. This year’s honorees were Ruthie and Chazan Shim Craimer of Riverdale; Amy and Dr. Joshua Fogelman of Fair Lawn; Drs. Perla and Gerardo Yablonovich of Englewood; and SINAI alumnus and Bergenfield native Yaakov Guttman. SINAI also recognized Shimmy Stein of Bergenfield with the distinction of Shomer She’erit Yisrael. Lawrence R. Inserra, Jr., CEO, and the Inserra family, of Inserra Supermarkets, received SINAI’s Community Partnership Award.
This year’s feature documentary, “Walking Through Fire,” tells the story of how honoree Yaakov Guttman overcame personal tragedy and significant learning disabilities to become a sergeant in charge of a sniper team in the Israel Defense Forces and a firefighter in Tel Aviv. Following the film, Guttman expressed his gratitude to SINAI Schools for helping him realize his potential and spoke about his motivation for sharing his story: to impact children who are struggling as he once did, and to give them, and their parents, hope for the future. The film can be viewed at sinaischools.org/walkingthroughfire.
Guests at the dinner were also treated to an original SINAI music video, “Prayers from My Heart,” highlighting the range of students SINAI serves and the impact SINAI’s special education has on students and their parents.
SINAI’s dean, Rabbi Yisrael Rothwachs, spoke of Rachel Schulman, one of SINAI’s associate directors who passed away just weeks before the dinner, and introduced a video tribute to Jake Weinstein, a beloved associate director.
To see the films screened at the dinner, visit sinaischools.org/dinner/video-gallery. For information or to donate, call 201-833-1134, ext. 105, or go to sinaischools.org.
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