2009
ISSUE 72 | 87
The 2009
Roger E.
Joseph Prize
was
presented to
Helen
Lieberman, Founder and Honorary President of
Ikamva Labantu - Future of Our Nation
(
center), in
recognition of her exemplary work in providing pro-
grams and hope for the future for youth, the homeless,
aged, and disabled in South Africa. With more than
1,000
current projects assisting more than 70,000 peo-
ple of all ages, including 45,000 children,
Ikamva
Labantu
is the largest community-based, non-profit,
non-governmental organization of its kind in South
Africa. Helen Lieberman stated, “After the apartheid
years in South Africa, social justice needs to heal rifts and provide a
future of hope for those who have known suffering and injustice.
Ikamva Labantu strives to give individuals the skills, independence,
and confidence to do things for themselves. Maimonides said that
the highest level of
tzedakah
is to strengthen the hand of the poor
so that they need not beg again. My actions are informed by these
Jewish values, which teach us to love others as ourselves. Our mis-
sion reflects two important African sayings: A person is a person
through other people. And every child is our child.” The Joseph
Prize presentation was made by the daughters of Roger E. Joseph –
(
from left) Linda Karshan, Ellen Joseph, Roxanne Leopold – and
Rabbi Ellenson at Ordination and Investiture Ceremonies at Con-
gregation Emanu-El of the City of New York on May 3, 2009.
The 2009
Dr. Bernard
Heller Prize
was awarded
to
Dr. Arno Motulsky,
Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Medicine and
Genome Sciences at the University of Washington
(
right), by
Rabbi Ellenson and Ruth O. Freedlander, Co-Trustee of the Dr.
Bernard Heller Foundation (left). The presentation took place at
the Graduation Ceremony on June 7, 2009, at Isaac M. Wise Tem-
ple in Cincinnati. Dr. Arno Motulsky is the “Father of
Pharmacogenomics,” the role of genetic variation in the response
to drugs. Ruth Freedlander said, “Dr. Heller was deeply concerned
with the survival of the Jewish people and with the transmission of
Jewish religious and cultural heritage. His encyclopedic knowledge
of Judaism and his life reflected his abiding interest in philosophy,
Jewish thought, and scholarship. He frequently referred to himself
as a trustee of his wealth for Israel. Dr. Motulsky’s survival as a
teenager during the Holocaust and his extraordinary scientific con-
tributions to humankind speak to the enormous loss that the Jewish
people and the world has suffered due to the murder of one-and-a-
half million Jewish children during the Holocaust. How many fu-
ture doctors, scientists, writers, and artists were deprived of the
opportunity to live, create, and contribute to this world, just be-
cause they were Jews? In honoring Dr. Motulsky, we also pay tribute
to their memory and the infinite potentiality of their lives.”
Cincinnati - June 7, 2009
The 2009 Dr. Bernard Heller Prize
New York - May 3, 2009
The 2009 Roger E. Joseph Prize
Left:
Rabbi Lennard R. Thal, Senior Vice President Emeritus, Union for Reform Judaism, received the
American Jewish Distinguished Service Award at Graduation in New York.
Right:
The Presidents’ Medal was presented to Dr. Roland Chapdelaine, President, Los Angeles Trade
Technical College, at Graduation in Los Angeles; and to Betty Benjamin, Former President, Women of
Reform Judiasm in a private ceremony.
Graduation/Ordination/Investiture
2009
