4th Annual MERCAZ Olami Awards

MERCAZ Olami & MASORTI Olami
invite you to join us for our
4th Annual MERCAZ Olami Awards
presented to
RABBI SHLOMO TUCKER
Israel
EMILY LEVY-SHOCHAT
Israel
SANDY STARKMAN
USA
DANIEL COHN
Uruguay
MONDAY OCTOBER 19th 2015 - 12:30 PM
Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center for Conservative Judaism
8 Agron Street, Jerusalem
PROGRAM
12:30pm
Welcome and Greetings
12:45pm
Lunch
1:30pm
MERCAZ Olami Award Ceremony
Please confirm your attendance to Tehila Reuben by phone 02-624-7106
or by email [email protected] by October 9th
RABBI SHLOMO TUCKER
was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family strongly identified with the
Conservative Movement. From an early age he was interested in advanced Jewish studies and in the
Rabbinate. He pursued that interest earning two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the Joint Program of JTS
and Columbia University. Throughout his undergraduate and graduate careers, Rabbi Tucker focused
professionally on youth and Jewish education. After graduating from JTS Rabbinical School in New York, he
served as Educational Director and Assistant Rabbi at B’nai Amoona Synagogue in St. Louis, Missouri. Rabbi
Tucker’s next position was as Principal of the North Carolina Hebrew Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina
and simultaneously earned a second MA degree in Educational Administration, at UNCC.
Rabbi Tucker was part of the Ramah Camps network for 18 years, serving as Head of Formal Education at
the Ramah camp in Wisconsin for five of those years. Upon making aliyah in 1980, Rabbi Tucker worked with
Israeli high school students in Jewish-Zionist institutions, taught Judaica in the TALI school in French Hill,
Jerusalem and held a senior position with Ramah Programs in Israel for nine years.
In 1992, Rabbi Tucker joined the administration of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary and has served there
continuously since then. For the majority of those years he served as the Associate Dean of the SRS and
today he is the Dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary.
Rabbi Tucker has been a very active member of the Masorti Movement since his aliyah, serving as head of the
Joint Placement Committee of the Masorti Movement, the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel and the Schechter
Rabbinical Seminary and membership in the Masorti Congregation Ramot Zion in French Hill where he served
as president for two years. For several years, Rabbi Tucker served as the High Holiday rabbi for the Masorti
Congregation in Gilo, Jerusalem, as well as leading the High Holiday services in a Conservative synagogue in
Florida for many years.
Rabbi Tucker’s public posture and positions have always placed the interests of the Masorti Movement and
its constituent institutions at the forefront of his values and activities. His life-long love for and dedication to
speaking Hebrew has characterized him in the eyes of many of his co-workers.
Rabbi Tucker is married to Renee, a dance therapist and Feldenkrais practitioner. They have three children
and six grandchildren. Shlomo and Renee live in Jerusalem.
EMILY LEVY-SHOCHAT born and raised in Liberty, New York, Emily and her husband made Aliya from
Boston almost 40 years ago. Emily trained in Jewish Communal Service at the Hornstein Program at Brandeis
University and began her professional career with the Jewish Community Centers in Boston.
In Israel, Emily has held senior staff positions at the Yoseftal Institute for Community Development, the
Hebrew University’s National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) Research Center for Innovation in Education,
the Israel Movement for Progressive (Reform) Judaism and the Moriah Fund. She also served as the first
Executive Director of the Counseling Center for Women, served with the Israel Heart Fund and was a faculty
member of the Hebrew University’s Schwartz Program for staff training for Community Centers and Early
Childhood Centers.
Previous to Emily’s service as Chairperson of the Masorti Movement, she has devoted her time as a steering
committee member of a Leadership Training Program for Early Childhood Professionals in the Arab Community,
Chairperson of Hod v’Hadar Masorti Congregation in Kfar Saba, Israel, a board member with Keren TALI, as
well as Chairperson of the National Parent Committee of the TALI Schools. Some of Emily’s other volunteer
activities include; Board member of the World Conference of Jewish Communal Service, Education Forum
member of the Israel Women’s Network and Executive Committee, Committee of Concerned Citizens.
Having completed over four years of service as the Chairperson of the Masorti Movement in July, 2014, Emily
is currently the Chairperson of the Jewish Pluralism Watch, an online institute which monitors and publicizes
political activity of Knesset members and other elected officials in regard to issues of religion and state in
Israel. Emily is a member of the Board of Masorti Olami, the Schechter Institute and the Schechter Rabbinical
Training School. She is also a member of the Boards of the Israel Association of Ethiopian Jewry and Agudat
Adi for the promotion of organ donations.
Emily’s involvement in TALI was largely related to the education of her and Jack’s two daughters, Ilana and
Michal, both of whom are married and mothers today.
SANDY STARKMAN was born in Chicago and is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan. Sandy
earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and continued her education earning her Master’s Degrees
in both Economics and Hospital Administration.
Sandy is currently serving as Secretary of MERCAZ USA, after completing two terms as VP. She is affectionately
known as the MERCAZ “nudnik”. Additionally, she is currently serving as the Chicago VP of AZM while sitting
on their national board. Sandy has been deeply involved with USCJ, serving as Midwest Representative to the
Board of Directors, General Assembly member and an active member on its Kesharim, Public Policy/Social
Action and Israel Affairs committees. Sandy has contributed to her synagogue, North Suburban Synagogue
Beth El, Highland Park, Illinois, in many capacities including Chair of the Adult Education and Israel Affairs
committees, Chair of the Lifelong Learning Taskforce, Board of Directors, Havurah President and co-creator
of Tot Shabbat and Mini Minyan programs.
Sandy is passionate about traditional egalitarian Masorti Judaism and works hard to promote it to others.
She enjoys leading tefillah and reading Torah in numerous settings. Sandy is always planning her next trip to
Israel and encouraging others to visit Israel. One of her goals is to daven at and/or visit many Masorti kehillot
around the world. She is now at 14 and counting. Sandy is an avid adult Jewish learner and has studied at the
Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, among other places. She encourages others to engage in their own adult
Jewish learning, particularly Hebrew language classes.
Sandy and Larry Pachter have been married for 35 years and are the parents of Uri and his wife Hollen and
Avram.
DANIEL COHN Daniel’s parents, Juan Cohn (Z’L) and Débora Farkas (Z’L), came to Uruguay in the 1930s
from Germany and Romania respectively. Daniel is one of four children. Daniel attended public elementary
school as well as Ivria School (Hebrew Complementary School) and was a chanich of Chazit Hanoar. In 1987,
Daniel graduated from the national public university as a civil engineer and then worked for the state-owned
Uruguayan Water Utilities company (OSE). He moved on to work for the National Power Supply Company
(UTE) in 1990. Daniel currently works at the Load Dispatch Management Operation Unit.
Daniel has been the Gabbay for eight years at Nueva Congregación Israelita, in Montevideo, Uruguay. After
the 36th Zionist Congress in 2010, he became a Board Member of OSU (Uruguayan Zionist Organization)
representing MERCAZ. Since 2011, he has been the Uruguayan representative on the Board of Directors of
Masorti Latin America and in 2013, became the Chairman of the Board of Directors as well as a representative
of Va’ad HaPoel. Daniel has been a member of the Jewish Agency´s Board of Governors (BOG) representing
MERCAZ Olami since February 2014.
In May of this year, he was elected President of NCI, the only Masorti congregation in Uruguay.
Daniel is married to Diana Szymberg since 1990 and they have two children, Natalia (22) and Matías (19).