Reporting by Leah
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) presented to world-renowned businessman, entrepreneur, and pro-Israel philanthropist Sheldon G. Adelson its most distinguished and historic award, the Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion for outstanding achievement in Zionism. Many have referred to this award as the Nobel Prize in Zionism. Mr. Adelson is Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation with properties in Las Vegas; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Macau, China and Singapore. Mr. Adelsons business career spans more than six decades and has included creating and developing to maturity more than 50 different companies, including the COMDEX Trade Show he developed for the computer industry.
The Dinner Co-Chairswere Mr. James S. Tisch, CEO of Loews Corp, and former Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; and Mr. Irwin Chafetz, Director of the Las Vegas Sands Company and Interface Group. The ZOA Dinner was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, at 42nd Street andPark Avenue in New York City on December 13, 2009.
This magnificent Gold Medal being presented to Mr. Adelson is rarely given by the ZOA. Past recipients include Lord James Balfour, Sir Winston Churchill, President Harry Truman, Prime Minister of Canada Lester Pearson, Israeli Prime Ministers David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, and Yitzhak Shamir.
He and his wife Dr. Miriam Adelson are major supporters of Birthright Israel, Yad Vashem, the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Center for the Biology of Addictive Diseases at Tel Aviv University and numerous other Jewish/Israeli causes. They are also active politically, promoting strong U.S./Israel relations.
Dr. Miriam Adelson received the Louis D. Brandeis Award. Past recipients include Vice President Joe Biden, Ambassador Moshe Arens, Abba Eban, Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Minister Ezer Weizmann, Max Fisher, Justice Arthur Goldberg, Larry King, Elizabeth Taylor, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, Ronald Lauder, Mort Zuckerman, Natan Sharansky, Simon Wiesenthal and Senators Rudy Boschwitz, Elizabeth & Robert Dole, John Heinz, Daniel Inouye, Jacob Javits, Daniel Moynihan, Paul Sarbanes, Arlen Specter and many others.
Dr. Adelson is an esteemed expert in internal medicine, emergency medicine, and in drug rehabilitation. She directs drug rehabilitation clinics in both Israel and the U.S. Dr. Adelson has authored numerous scientific papers about the effects of drug addiction on the human immune system and serves on the faculty of Rockefeller University in New York. She earned her B.Sc. at the Hebrew University and her M.D. at the Tel Aviv Medical School. She was a former head physician at Rokach (Hadassah) Hospital in Tel Aviv. She is also a full partner in all of the Adelsons pro-Israel philanthropic activities. Jewish philanthropy expert Gary Tobin said, the Adelsons have changed the nature of Jewish philanthropy.
Morton Klein, President of the ZOA, who has been named one of the top 5 Jewish leaders in America by the Jewish weekly The Forward,presented the awards to the Adelsons.
Speakers at the ZOA/Adelson Dinner include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (video), Deputy Prime Minister General Moshe Yaalon, who is former Chief of the Israel Defense Forces, and Minority Whip U.S. Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia, who also serves as Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare.
Robert Guzzardi, Esq., a prominent Philadelphia businessman and pro-Israel activist received the Moskowitz Award for Jewish Activism, presented to him by Mrs. Cherna Moskowitz, wife of Dr. Irving Moskowitz. The Moskowitzs are themselves prominent pro-Israel philanthropists.
Jeff Jacoby, a columnist for the Boston Globe, received the Ben Hecht Award for Outstanding Journalism in the Middle East. The Boston Phoenix called his twice-weekly essays a must read, describing him as the regions pre-eminent spokesman for Conservative Nation. In 2004, he received the Thomas Paine Award of the Institute for Justice, an award presented to journalists who dedicate their work to the preservation and championing of individual liberty. Previous recipients of the ZOA Ben Hecht Award include A.M. Rosenthal, Cal Thomas, Daniel Pipes, Caroline Glick, Itamar Marcus, Sidney Zion, and Joseph Farah.
The Emcee for the evening was Mr. Gary Erlbaum, a leader in the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency in Israel, and was former National Chairman of Young Leadership for Israel Bonds.
Introducing guests and presenting awards included: Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Martin Gross, President of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Henry Schwartz, a distinguished businessman and officer of the ZOA Board; and Sandra Stein, Esq., member of the ZOA Board who is with the prestigious law firm of Coughlin Stoia.
Author, TV and radio host Rabbi Shmuley Boteach gave the invocation and lite the Chanukah candles.Rabbi Boteach has been called one of the top 10 influential rabbis in America by Newsweek magazine. He has written over 20 books. He also writes a weekly syndicated column for the Jerusalem Post.
Dinner Tribute Committee members included Ken Abramowitz, Ed Ames, Morrie Amitay, Gary Bauer, Ken Bialkin, Michael Bohnen, Ambassador John Bolton, Shoshana Cardin, Midge Decter, Douglas Feith, Stephen Flatow, Frank Gaffney, Ambassador Dore Gold, Martin Gross, Malcolm Hoenlein, Richard Joel, Hon. Ed Koch, Andrew Lappin, Ronald Lauder, Michael Leven, Nathan Lewin, Dr. Marty Peretz, Daniel Pipes, Jon Podhoretz, Norman Podhoretz, Lester Pollack, Seymour Reich, Ingeborg & Ira Rennert, Governor Mitt Romney, Mel Salberg, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Neal Sher, Jack Stein, Jonathan Tobin, Marion & Elie Wiesel, Professor Ruth Wisse, Fred S. Zeidman, Mortimer B. Zuckerman.
For more information on ZOA please visitwww.zoa.org.
