The Gala Where Rivals Meet

By Aryeh Levin, COLlive reporter
Photos by Ron Sachs

Hundreds of guests, including dozens of Members of Congress, ambassadors, and leaders from an array of political, business, academic and communal entities gathered at the elegant East Hall of Union Station in Washington, DC, for the Annual Benefit Event in support of American Friends of Lubavitch (AFL).

The event is considered by many a “must attend” in the Washington Jewish community every year and attracts a great deal of corporate support (Coca-Cola was a major sponsor and supplied all its products on the night).

Opening the event was shluchah Mrs. Nechama Shemtov, Director of Women’s programs and community initiatives for AFL, who then introduced her husband, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch, who chaired the evening.

Philanthropists Louis and Manette Mayberg, whose leadership within and beyond the community provides a boost to many educational and other worthy institutions, were the guests of honor.

Mr. Mayberg is the president of ProFunds (ProShares) a prominent mutual fund company based in the Washington area. Mrs. Mayberg is a successful former businesswoman who went on to raise her family and now dedicates a lot of her time and energy to Jewish causes, especially those developing new opportunities to strengthen yiddishkeit, particularly among women.

They were presented with a Torah crown, indicating the three Jewish crowns – Kehuna (priesthhood, since they are a family of kohanim), Malchus, or majesty, relating to success, and Torah, to which they have chosen to dedicate their resources and indeed their lives.

Rabbi Shemtov indicated that in their search to increase their observance of Torah, he hoped they would perform the mitzvah of writing a Torah one day, and he would be delighted to place this crown upon it as well.

UNITING RIVALS

The Leadership Award was bestowed upon John Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives. In an interesting bi-partisan flavor, for which the Chabad-Lubavitch operations in Washington are so well known, Speaker Boehner was introduced by none other than Steny Hoyer, the Democratic Whip.

Mr. Hoyer of Maryland enjoys a friendship with the Speaker despite their political differences. Both indicated that one area where there is no difference of opinion at all is in their support of Israel, which is rock solid.

In fact, Speaker Boehner, during his remarks, indicated that, “We do not support Israel for the Jewish people, but rather for all people in the world who seek peace and freedom.”

He also went on to emphasize how important he felt it was to support an organization like Chabad-lubavitch, whose impact on education is so strong. The Speaker served for several years as Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

BEHIND THE NATIONAL MENORAH

The Special Friend Award recipient, Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, related how Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, Chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, the umbrella organization of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, met him in 1979 with a request.

Eizenstat was then White House Domestic Policy Advisor to President Jimmy Carter and he was asked to intercede for a permit Rabbi Shemtov had applied for to erect a large menorah across from the White House.

“I was so pleased that I was not only able to help, but how the President of the United States attended that first lighting,” he said and noted how he marvels every year at the thousands who turn out to watch the lighting, in addition to the tens of millions who view the celebration on television (covered last year by 500 stations).

Ambassador Eizenstat has been incredibly helpful to the interest of Chabad-Lubavitch, in Washington and many other countries, in the decades since. He has attended and addressed the international Living Legacy Conference amny times in various government positions.

Reps of Obama & Netanyahu

The new White House Liaison to the Jewish Community, Mr. Jarrod Bernstein, brought special greetings to the event from President Barack Obama.

Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, was accompanied to the gala by Yoaz Hendel, the new Chief Media Advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In his remarks, Oren related the gratitude of the Israeli people, government and state – as well his own connection – to Chabad-Lubavitch, going back to his own Jewish education as a child and all the way forward to his son’s recent attendance at the Chabad Seder in Beijing, China.

Also present at the event were Ambassador Max Kampelman, who helped found American Friend of Lubavitch, former White House Chiefs of Staff Josh Bolten of George W. Bush and Mack McLarty of Bill Clinton, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Tevi Troy, Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim and others.

In addition, the leaders of the National Jewish Demoratic Council, the Republican Jewish Coalition, Bnai Brith, Hillel, American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Jewish Community Relations Council and national leaders of the Jewish Federations of North America were in attendance.

All told, a huge Kiddush Hashem in our nation’s capital. Just another day’s work for American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad).