Westchester Jewish Council Recognizes Outstanding Volunteers at 19th Annual Julian Y. Bernstein Distinguished Service Awards

The Westchester Jewish Council (WJC) paid tribute to seventeen outstanding community volunteers at the  2014 Julian Y. Bernstein Distinguished Service Awards (JYBDSA) Ceremony on Wednesday, May 14th at the JCC of Harrison. The event attracted over 350 attendees.

The 2014 recipients and their nominating organizations were:

• New Rochelle residents Haina Just-Michael (American Friends of Magen David Adom) and Alyssa Erber (Beth El Synagogue Center)
• Mamaroneck resident Paula Markowitz Wittlin (Bet Am Shalom Synagogue)
• Mt. Kisco resident Andrew Weissman (Bet Torah)
• Hartsdale residents Robin Blum (Bronx Jewish Community Council), Joel Taman (Dorot), Larry Genser (Sinai Free Synagogue), Pam Goldstein (Solomon Schechter School of Westchester), and Michal Kellner (United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism/METNY – United Synagogue Youth)
• White Plains residents Arlene Cole (Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester) and Alan Schulman (Hebrew Institute of White Plains)
• Ossining resident Judy Boehr (Congregation Sons of Israel – Briarcliff)
• Montrose resident Mindy Steinholz (First Hebrew Congregation)
• Somers resident Vicki Prusnofsky (Hebrew Congregation of Somers)
• Scarsdale residents Wendy Hollander (JCY-Westchester Community Partners) and Susan Rozin (UJA-Federation of NY in Westchester)
• Tarrytown residents Melissa and Herb Baer (Temple Beth Abraham)

The Julian Y. Bernstein Distinguished Service Award is named after Julian Y. Bernstein (z”l), a former Westchester Jewish Council board member, who was a visionary communal leader. 

Prior to the awards ceremony, Betsy Bernstein, Chair of the JYBDSA Committee,  Mara Nathan, President of the Westchester Board of Rabbis and Paul Warhit, President of the Westchester Jewish Council and Michael Bernstein, son of Julian Y. Bernstein, shared remarks, followed by a performance by Kol Rinah Chorale.

Honorees received the award for their service from members of the JYBDSA Committee.  A dessert reception followed.  For more information, please contact Donna Bartell at donna@wjcouncil.org or (914) 328-7001.

The Westchester Jewish Council (formerly the Westchester Jewish Conference) is the central communicating, coordinating, convening advisory and resource body for the county's Jewish community, representing over 150 Jewish organizations and serving 150,000 Jews. As Westchester's Jewish community relations organization, the Council unites Westchester Jewry with the State of Israel, fosters communication among Jewish organizations and cultivates and strengthens relations with other ethnic groups, elected officials and the community at large. The Council encourages participation in Jewish life and supports and develops initiatives and programs that meet existing and emerging Jewish communal needs. For more information, visit  www.wjcouncil.org.