FROM THE EDITOR: Incredible people

Efrat’s Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin (Education), who made aliyah from New York, established a comprehensive educational network in Israel called Ohr Torah Stone.

By STEVE LINDE
Updated: NOVEMBER 26, 2018 12:09
Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Arsen Ostrovsky, Dr. Marcia Javitt, Linda Streit, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Morris Kahn, Sylvan Adams, Kalman Samuels, Maj. Keren Hajioff & Tony Gelbart (photo credit: SHAHAR AZRAN)
Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Arsen Ostrovsky, Dr. Marcia Javitt, Linda Streit, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Morris Kahn, Sylvan Adams, Kalman Samuels, Maj. Keren Hajioff & Tony Gelbart
(photo credit: SHAHAR AZRAN)
“I THINK it’s exceptional to see such a group of distinguished honorees who have done so much for Israel and humankind at large,” Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog told a Knesset ceremony on October 28 awarding seven English-speaking immigrants the Nefesh B’Nefesh Sylvan Adams Bonei Zion Prize. “You are all incredible people!” This year’s recipients really are incredible people who have made immense contributions in a range of fields.
Dr. Marcia Javitt (Science and Medicine), is the head of Radiology at Haifa’s Rambam Hospital. “One of the most exciting things we can do in Israel is to create innovation,” said Javitt, an immigrant from Maryland. “In a way, the (Bonei Zion award) is about giving back what others gave to me along the way.”
Efrat’s Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin (Education), who made aliyah from New York, established a comprehensive educational network in Israel called Ohr Torah Stone. “I have a specific feeling about Judaism and Halacha, and the importance of compassion and humanity within Jewish law,” he said.
Linda Streit (Art, Culture & Sports), an immigrant from London, founded the Tel Avivbased Daniel Amichai Centre for Rowing and Nautical Studies in 2003 in memory of her 21-year-old son, a champion rower killed with three friends in a car crash on the Arava Road. “I was always taught that if you have the means, you need to give back, and that’s what I’m trying to do, to give back to the community,” she said.
Kalman Samuels (Community & Non-Profit), a Canadian immigrant, and his wife, Malki, established Shalva after their baby son, Yossi, who was left deaf and blind by a faulty vaccination in 1977, experienced a breakthrough after seven years by learning to communicate.
Today, the Shalva National Center in Jerusalem offers programs for more than 2,000 people with disabilities.“Shalva has become a model of excellence where centers from all over world come to study what we have done and ask us to help them,” he said.
Arsen Ostrovsky (Israel Advocacy), who was born in Ukraine but made Aliyah with NBN from Australia, serves as executive director of the Tel Aviv-based Israeli-Jewish Congress. “I certainly hope that others will look upon this as a personal inspiration, to see that in Israel, you really can achieve your dreams and nothing is unattainable,” he said.
Maj. Keren Hajioff (Young Leadership), the head of public diplomacy in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit who moved to Israel from London in 2009, recalled that when she first went on camera, “Standing there, knowing that I was the mouth of the State of Israel, of the Jewish people, after years of not having a voice, and here I am, being that voice, was a huge responsibility and a great honor as well.”
South African-born philanthropist Morris Kahn, who built Israel’s first bicycle factory before founding the telecommunications giant, Amdocs, was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Adams, a Canadian immigrant considered Israel’s "cycling godfather" who brought the Giro d'Italia here.
“This is my small way of paying back something to Nefesh B’Nefesh and the State of Israel,” said Adams. Thanking Adams and turning to the other laureates, Kahn smiled and said, “You are an amazing bunch of people, and really I think that you represent the best of Israel, the best of the Jewish people.
This sense of giving back is so important, and it’s what makes us so very special!” “Israel’s development over the past seven decades has been shaped by the remarkable contributions, ingenuity and talents of olim,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, NBN’s co-founder (with Tony Gelbart) and executive director.
“They have transformed the landscape of virtually every professional field and community in Israel.”
The nomination deadline for next year’s prize (www.nbn.org.il/bonei-zion/nominee) is January 14, 2019.