By Masha Leon
Nearly 1,000 guests crowded into the Waldorf-Astoria’s Rainbow Room for Yeshiva University’s 88th Annual Hanukkah Convocation on December 16, 2012, at which President Obama’s chief of staff, Jack Lew, recipient of an honorary Doctor of Law degree, was the keynote speaker.
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By Masha Leon
“I’m sorry I could not bring George with me tonight, but I’ve got him working on our film,” said Robert Edsel, founder and president of the Monuments Men Foundation and a special guest at the American Jewish Historical Society’s 2012 Emma Lazarus dinner, held on December 10 at the Center for Jewish History. Edsel was referring to George Clooney, who is directing and starring in a major motion picture based on the book, “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History” (Center Street/Hachette 2009), written by Edsel and Brett Witter.
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By Masha Leon
“I’m not Franco-centric, but you understand from my Gallic English that I am French,” said Baron David de Rothschild, honoree at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research’s 87th Benefit, which was held at the Center for Jewish History on December 4.
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By Masha Leon
An accident of scheduling placed tonight’s dinner exactly at midpoint between Thanksgiving and the first night of Hanukkah, when we are reminded of miracles,” said David Marwell, director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, at the museum’s 24th annual Generation to Generation Dinner, held on November 29 at the museum.
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By Masha Leon
“I just saw your makheteyneste, “ I told the designer Ralph Lauren — who was clad in jeans, black turtleneck and a leather jacket — at the opening night of “My Name Is Asher Lev,” presented at New York City’s Westside Theatre. I was referring to his mother-in-law, Sharon Bush, whom I has just seen on November 19 at the Rabin Medical Center dinner. Last year, Lauren’s younger son, David Lauren, married Lauren Bush, granddaughter of former president George H.W. Bush.
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By Masha Leon
“We gather together tonight to pay tribute to the wonderful friendship between Israel and the United States and to support the Rabin Medical Center,” said TV interviewer Charlie Rose, master of ceremonies of the November 19 American Friends of Rabin Medical Center’s 13th annual gala.
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By Masha Leon
As harp and violin music played gently in the background, the buzz among the 500 black-tie guests at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale Foundation’s 95th anniversary dinner, which, held on November 11, raised $2.2 million, was about the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Sandy.
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By Masha Leon
“Zetst zikh avek!” — “Sit down!”— said Zubin Mehta, music director and conductor for life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, in beautifully articulated Yiddish at the American Friends of the IPO dinner, held at The Plaza. The dinner followed the IPO’s October 25 Carnegie Hall concert.
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By Masha Leon
A rare treat for me at the October 23 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum New York Tribute Dinner, held at The Pierre, was a private pre-dinner chat with Academy Award-winning actor Ben Kingsley and the museum’s founding chairman, Elie Wiesel.
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By Masha Leon
“You know what they say about Israelis — that they are always late.Read More
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Israel's Shas, Right-Wing Kingmaker Party, Takes Sharp Turn to Left
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