The 2019 Jewish Week Gala: A Message From The Board

Advertisement

This joyous event provides a welcome opportunity for us to say thank you to our readers and supporters, our clients and partners, and our dedicated professional team and Board of Directors.

Tonight, we are also proud to honor three very special people:

Gary Rosenblatt, editor-at-large and, for 26 years, editor-in-chief and publisher of The Jewish Week: Tonight, we pay tribute to Gary for his years of leadership, top quality writing and his deep commitment to strengthening Jewish life both here in New York and beyond. Earlier this year at a Jewish Week Community Forum, Tom Friedman called Gary “the best Jewish editor in America”; we agree and thank Gary for his leadership and his courage; we all miss him but are happy that he is still writing for and working with The Jewish Week;

Kai Falkenberg, attorney and community leader, is this year’s
recipient of our Community Leader Award in recognition of the many ways she enhances and strengthens Jewish life in New York and beyond, not to mention her years of service to The Jewish Week, most recently as Treasurer;

And Bret Stephens, New York Times op-ed columnist since 2017 and Pulitzer Prize winner: Bret is a treasured friend and partner of The Jewish Week, having appeared at a number of Jewish Week Community Forums and, for a number of years, joining the faculty of Write On for Israel, our journalism-education program to help prepare high school juniors and seniors for the challenges of Israel advocacy on campus.

Tonight’s honorees reflect The Jewish Week’s commitment to journalistic excellence and community building.

For all of us at The Jewish Week, great writing and respect for different points of view ignite the kind of open conversation we all need. We strive to present different voices and to stimulate (and host) constructive discussion with openness to others’ opinions, even in the face of deep disagreement. Whether in the pages of the newspaper, on our website, or at our community forums, our efforts inform, challenge and perhaps inspire our readers to reflect and act on today’s pressing issues.

We also want to welcome, congratulate and thank Andrew Silow-Carroll, our new Editor-in-Chief, and Rich Waloff, our Publisher.

Finally, your presence tonight—and your ongoing financial support—enables us to strengthen The Jewish Week’s community building programs: The Conversation, Write On For Israel, Fresh Ink for Teens, The Jewish Week Investigative Journalism Fund and our Jewish Week Community Forums, which are described elsewhere in this Gala Journal.

These programs would not happen without your support (provided to The Jewish Week through our charitable fund at FJC.org). We hope you will renew your efforts to sustain and strengthen these important and meaningful programs.

We are proud of The Jewish Week and the central role it plays in this community. It is, for us and the board we are honored to represent, a way we all work together to strengthen Jewish and American life.

To all of you and to the entire Jewish Week Media Group team, we offer heartfelt thanks for joining us tonight to support—and to celebrate—The Jewish Week.

Stuart Himmelfarb President, Board of Directors
Peter Wang Chair, Board of Directors

Browse the full Gala Journal here.

Advertisement