A private meeting with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice drew $2,200 for the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation's Capital on Sunday, as the District school held its Purim Masquerade Ball & Auction.
The meeting -- Rice will give the school's Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Lecture later this year -- was among the dozens of items auctioned at the strolling dinner and sit-down dessert event, held at the National Building Museum in D.C.
The school's Mordecai and Esther Award went to District residents Caryn Pass, who has done pro bono legal work for JPDS; Ira Forman, who was instrumental in helping the school navigate the city's bureaucracy its move to its current 16th Street location; and Leah Chanin, who chaired the school's major gifts fund-raising campaign.
Helaine Greenfield, school president, praised Chanin as a "fierce advocate for Jewish education É and a powerful inspiration for all."
She called Pass and Forman "role models to us all," and cited their "deep devotion to JPDS."
Presented with the evening's Kol Hakavod Awards were Adina and Bryan Kanefield of D.C., Sharon Bray and Leizer Goldsmith of Chevy Chase and Susan Kornetsky and Mark Meridy of Bethesda.
Naomi Reem, head of school, dedicated the evening to Kay Schattner, who died March 9. Schattner and her husband, Robert, had contributed $2 million that helped the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation's Capital establish its permanent home in 2003.
"We remember her with fondness and she has left her mark" on JPDS, Reem said.
Toward the end of the event, Forman suffered a heart attack; he was scheduled for bypass surgery this week.
