On Nov. 10, the Anti-Defamation League hosted its 31st annual Concert Against Hate in Washington, D.C., to honor four individuals who have distinguished themselves as fighters of hate and antisemitism.
“At a time when hate is all too prevalent in our country, these four extraordinary individuals remind us that courage comes in many forms,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
The four honorees were Holocaust survivor and health policy leader Marion Ein Lewin of Chevy Chase, Maryland; Fairfax County high school senior Wesley Seidner; President and CEO of the United Negro College Fund Dr. Michael L. Lomax; and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt.
More than 500 people attended this year’s concert at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, hosted by actor Jason Alexander. According to Tali Cohen, ADL Washington, D.C.’s regional director, the event raised more than $2 million for the ADL.
“The point of the concert is to make sure that we are honoring everyday heroes that are working within our community to fight hate,” said Cohen. “The honorees that we pick each year exemplify that courage that we believe should be uplifted, and this year — being the Spotlight on Hope — it was really intended to pick heroes that give us a feeling of hope as an organization, and even in the darkest times, we do have that light that’s created from these people that have done so much for us.”
Two of those being lauded expressed strong admiration for fellow honoree Lewin, who has spent years teaching lessons of the Holocaust and her personal experience as a child survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
“One of the other [honorees] is a Holocaust survivor and in 2025 that is still … very remarkable,” Mayor Holt said. “I think that was probably most meaningful to me, to be in the same room with somebody who had that experience.”
Lomax, who was honored for the Unity Dinners he has organized, also noted the significance of honoring a Holocaust survivor.
“Going on stage with the other recipients at the end, and particularly, I stood with [Lewin], and I had not met her before,” Lomax said. “I’ve known other Holocaust survivors, and I’ve known their children and their grandchildren, and they’re not as many of them today as there were generations, decades ago. So, you’re standing with people who have lived experience, which is so powerful.”
“Marion Ein Lewin is a powerhouse,” Cohen added. “I think, what she has accomplished in her life, and what she’s given to the United States after experiencing such horror is remarkable. And I think everyone was left sort of shaken hearing about her story. … I think she really brought such emotion to the room.”
Seidner, who was honored for his efforts to battle antisemitism in the Fairfax County Public Schools, said he was excited by the invitation to the event — but said he wished he didn’t need to receive an award, that antisemitism would not be such a prominent issue.
“I don’t like that what I was doing is considered necessary,” he said.
Holt, who received the Levenson Family Defender of Democracy Award, said in his remarks, “I think it’s critical that we all leave here tonight reminded that a healthy democracy is a bulwark against antisemitism, and that democracies are fragile things, and so they do in fact require defenders.”
“I thought [Holt’s] comments were so meaningful, and a lot of members of my board have contacted me since to say just how touched they were by what he said,” added Cohen. “I think he really does represent a nonpartisan or bipartisan effort to do right by everyday Americans. So, if I had to say one thing that really moved me, it was Mayor Holt.”
Holt told Washington Jewish Week: “I’m just deeply grateful to ADL for the recognition and, I said in my speech that, I feel like I share this [award] with all of America’s mayors.”
Holt has worked with the ADL to host town halls in Oklahoma City to discuss antisemitic incidents and hate crimes. He also brought the first Chanukah recognition to the Oklahoma state capital and led a delegation of mayors to Israel.
Lomax added that he had attended the ADL’s Concert Against Hate in previous years but that receiving an award was “an out-of-body experience.”
“The work that I’ve done most recently has been to, since over the last two years, since Oct. 7, to try to rebuild relationships that have been frayed over the decades,” Lomax explained. “I believe firmly that it is through friendship and getting to know one another that you build long-term alliances.”
