OU WEST COAST HOLDS ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET JUNE 21 HONORING COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AND NCSY YOUTH
The Orthodox Union West Coast Region and West Coast NCSY | Jewish Youth Leadership will hold their Annual Awards Banquet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21 at the Sephardic Temple in Westwood, 10500 Wilshire Boulevard.
The banquet will honor Galina and Joseph Samuel of Beverly Hills, with the OU Keter Shem Tov Award; and Rabbi Jason Weiner, of Beverlywood, with the OU Rabbinic Leadership Award. The evening will also feature the installation of the new OU West Coast President, Dr. Steven Tabak, of Beverlywood.
West Coast NSCY Young Leadership Awardees include Jonathan Berger, Calabasas NCSY President; Jeremy Goldstein of Los Angeles, Regional Vice President of Public Relations; Meira Goodfriend, Valley Village Board President; Judith Greenbaum of Los Angeles, Regional Board President; Michelle Katz of Los Angeles, Regional Board Vice President, Events; Rivka Levine, Valley Village Board Vice President; Adam Markoff of Los Angeles, Regional Board President; Sam Morrow, Valley Village Executive Assistant; Tova Rohatiner of Los Angeles, Regional Board Vice President, Chesed; and Ruth Volk of Los Angeles, Regional Board Vice President-Outreach.
Dr. Tabak and his wife, Linda, were the Honorees at last year’s Regional Dinner, being presented with the OU President’s Leadership Award. He is the Chairman of the Board at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills, after serving four years as President. He is also a board member of the OU, BJE, and the Hillel Council of Greater Baltimore.
Declared Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, Director of the OU West Coast Region, “For more than 40 years, the West Coast Region of the Orthodox Union has been blessed with visionary leaders who have served with distinction as our President. We are most fortunate that our good friend and community leader, Dr. Steven Tabak, has accepted our invitation to serve as the new President of our Region, bringing a wealth of leadership experience. His first task will be to create a new Board, comprised of OU synagogue leaders and community activists, who will be involved and engaged in all the programs and initiatives of the West Coast Orthodox Union and NCSY.
Born and raised in the Ukraine, Joseph and Galina Samuel immigrated to the United States in 1972. Galina established a career in the health care industry and Joe in the real estate industry. Galina and Joe are members of Beth Jacob Congregation and Young Israel of North Beverly Hills.
Rabbi Kalinsky noted, “Galina and Joseph Samuel have made their impact on our community by doing many things behind the scenes. They stepped up in a most meaningful way by taking leadership roles to support OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Steven Weil in his efforts, when Rabbi Weil was the rabbi at Beth Jacob. They graciously supported the OU West Coast Convention for the past 10 years by sponsoring the guest speakers at Beth Jacob.”
Rabbi Jason Weiner earned his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in New York City, as well as an additional ordination from Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg in Jerusalem. He holds a Master’s Degree in Jewish History from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University.
According to Rabbi Kalinsky, “The distinguished Rabbinic Leadership Award will be given to Rabbi Jason Weiner, in recognition of the leadership that he has provided to our community as the Assistant Rabbi of Young Israel of Century City, and currently as the Jewish Chaplain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Rabbi Weiner’s warmth and kindness has endeared him to everyone he comes in contact with, and our community is fortunate to have him in our midst to minister to people of all faiths who need a caring and compassionate friend.”
This past March, OU Executive Vice President, Emeritus, Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, addressed the Jewish view of patient care as part of The Rabbi Levi Meier Ph.D. Memorial Lecture series at Cedars-Sinai, in memory of Rabbi Weiner’s predecessor, Rabbi Levi Meier — the beloved chaplain there for many years, and a strong supporter of the Orthodox Union and its international youth movement, NCSY.
Following an international smorgasbord dinner beginning at 5:45 p.m., the program is to begin at 7:30 p.m.
For more information and to register, contact the OU West Coast office at {encode=”mailto:westcoast@ou.org” title=”westcoast@ou.org”} or 310-229-9000 ext. 200.
Galina and Joseph Samuel
Rabbi Jason Weiner
West Coast NCSY Young Leadership Awardees
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