The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington held its annual gala on Sept. 24, the second time the event has occurred since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, and honored several community members for their distinguished service to the greater D.C. Jewish community.
The gala is JCRC’s largest fundraising event of the year, bringing in around 65% of its annual budget over the course of the night as attendees celebrate the organization’s accomplishments over the past year and highlight impactful community members with three awards.
“It [the gala] brings incredibly broad representation across the community, politically, religiously, geographically. It’s really quite something to see so many people of diverse backgrounds in the Jewish community come and also … our interfaith partners [attend as well],” JCRC CEO Ron Halber said.
Halber said the fundraising supports the work JCRC does throughout the year, and that it’s something that began around 17 years ago as the organization was previously funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
But as they wanted to expand their operation, the organization needed more funding and so began its fundraising work.
Halber said JCRC is working to increase its gala fundraising in order to further enhance its efforts throughout the year. The organization has added significant staff and hopes to bring back JCRC-funded trips to Israel with important local figures, among other goals.
“As a result of the war, there’s going to be new challenges facing our community, and we have to raise the money to staff up, in order to, number one, deepen and engage our involvement with our staff, but also to create the structures that are needed for later engagement in order to meet these future challenges,” Halber said.
But outside of fundraising and exploring the JCRC’s accomplishments, the awards for community service and leadership are a highlight of the night and serve as inspiration for people to continue serving the Jewish community.
This year there were five people, two of them couples, recognized for their work: Phil Margolius (Breslau-Goldman Award); Jane and Scott Brown (Distinguished Service Award); and Erika Dickstein and Todd Rosenberg (Sara and Samuel Lessans Community Leadership Award).
“You can’t take for granted that people are going to volunteer their time within the Jewish community. Yet it’s something [these people do] all the time,” Halber said. “So we honor those who do, and hopefully you send the message that this is the kind of leadership we’d like to see from people in our community.”
Margolius receiving the Breslau-Goldman Award is a full circle moment for a man who has spent decades as a top lawyer in the region and a devoted philanthropist.
Margolius is friends with Joel Breslau, son of the highly acclaimed D.C. rabbi Isadore Breslau, for whom the award is named, and was married to the granddaughter of Hymen Goldman, the other representative half of the award.
“This was a significant award, just for that reason alone, that it was tied to my wife’s family, and I knew Hymen Goldman very well. It’s also significant because the award represents community, about the best in community. That’s what JCRC is all about, bringing the community together, advocating on behalf of the community,” Margolius said.
Margolius said he hopes to pass down the wisdom of those influential leaders like Breslau and Goldman to future generations.
He added that it’s important that future Jewish community leaders have access to their history and a strong basis of support in the area, a project he’s currently working on in honor of his late wife.
“I think a career in Jewish philanthropy, working in a Jewish organization, is for a lot of people, very worthwhile, and hopefully we can make it more worthwhile,” Margolius said.
For Jane and Scott Brown, their years of work in almost every area of the Jewish community earned them a nod for the Distinguished Service Award, which they said was a humbling and beautiful honor.
The pair work in different fields, with Scott Brown having experience in executive roles at various local Hillels, the Pozez JCC and even being tapped by the governor of Virginia to serve on the Virginia Israel Advisory Board.
Jane Brown is a poet and author with 17 years of experience tutoring student-athletes at George Mason University, serving on the board of directors at Food for Others in Fairfax and years of volunteering at The Women’s Center, Bread for the City and the George Mason University Emotional Support Line.
But together, the pair funds a coaching program through the Federation for Jewish Professionals and pioneered the Shiri Rahamim Shaliach Program through the Pozez JCC in 2007.
“It is really, truly humbling to be part of this group of leaders and individuals who have made such significant contributions to the community, and we’re deeply appreciative of the work JCRC does. There’s never been a more vital time for them to meet the moment as they are in supporting Israel, supporting Jewish needs in our DMV,” Scott Brown said.
And for Dickstein and Rosenberg, their leadership within the community set them apart as the recipients of the Sara and Samuel Lessans Community Leadership Award.
Rosenberg has spent years working with Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, recently joined the JCRC Executive Committee and works closely with Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School on its board.
Additionally, Dickerson has a record working for the Metro Bethesda Rotary and the Metro Bethesda Rotary Foundation and the Tree House Child Advocacy Center of Montgomery County.
Rosenberg said it was an incredible experience to be recognized and to have video tributes that included their children speaking about how proud they were of their parents and the various areas of leadership they provide to local Jewish and non-Jewish communities.
“I try to go through life as I look forward to big things with kind of low expectations, but I was unable to keep my expectations low for this, because it was just such a privilege to be recognized for the work that we do, and so I was really looking forward to it, and then I exceeded my high expectations,” Rosenberg said.
Halber said the awards are a fantastic way to recognize impactful members of the local Jewish community and that the gala and awards are representative of the core value of authenticity behind JCRC.
“We’re extremely selective. We don’t just give it out, and they’re not given out to somebody just because they can give money,” Halber said. “At JCRC, we’re very big on the word authentic, that the people who are represented are authentic leaders and deserve the award.”
