JCL Awards Temple Members at their Annual Meeting
Mazel tov to all of the winner of the JCL Awards! On Wednesday, June 5, several Temple members were honored at the Jewish Community of Louisville’s Annual meeting.
Beth Salamon
Julie E. Linker Community Relations Young Leadership Award
The incoming chair of the Jewish Community Relation Council, Beth Salamon, this year’s Linker Award recipient, hopes the prize makes a statement about the what about Jewish Louisville she values most. “Having its own community service award shows how community service as an important Jewish value,” Salamon said. “it makes a statement…. Each award sets the tone for what we think is important, so I’m thrilled by the community service recognition.” The Jewish Community Relations Council is Jewish Louisville’s liaison to the greater Louisville community.
Salamon is an old hand at policy work. The mother of two serves as the state policy advocate for the National Council of Jewish Women in Kentucky, monitoring bills in the state legislature that pertain to reproductive rights and other matters critical to women. She also serves on the Collegiate Board of Trustees, and its Parents Association board. She has been on the JCRC for 10 years.
A native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Salamon went to college in Washington, D.C., and law school at Temple University in Philadelphia. There, she met her husband, Michael, who was in medical school at the time. After she spent a couple of years clerking for the family court of New Castle County, Delaware, the couple moved to Sacramento, California, where Michael started a five-year residency and Salamon worked for the Legislative Council of California, writing and modifying bills for lawmakers in the areas of public safety and food & agriculture and staffing those particular legislative committees. They spent a year in Iowa City, Iowa, where Michael held a fellowship at the University of Iowa, before moving to Louisville in 2005. Michael is an orthopedic surgeon with Ellis and Badenhausen Orthopedics. In addition to Alex, the couple has another son, Jack, 14, a freshman at Collegiate. As JCRC chair, Salamon hopes to help the members “find avenues for them for more hands-on volunteering.”
The Stacy Marks Nisenbaum Awards are presented to incoming juniors or seniors who are leaders in their BBYO chapters and work to grow the program while staying active in their schools and communities: Drew Goldstein has served as BBYO’s regional s’gan (programming vice president), chapter godol (president), chapter s’gan twice and chapter mazkir (corresponding secretary). He was the 2018 winner of the Ellen Faye Garmon Award. A junior at Ballard High School, he is a member of Dance Maroon and the Spanish Club. He will be a counselor-in-training (CIT) at Camp Livingston this summer. Elana Berger has served as chapter mazkirah and gizborit, and regional s’ganit. A junior at Floyd Central High School, she is on the symphony orchestra, the National Honor Society and is a Multiple-Cultures Club ambassador. Elana has participated in the Global Citizenship Certificate Program through the Kentucky and Southern Indiana World Affairs Council. She will be a CIT at Beber Camp this summer.
The Stuart Pressma Awards go to incoming juniors or seniors who are involved in their BBYO chapters and work to grow the program while showing strong devotion to community service: Emily Renco has served as chapter morah (membership vice president) and n’siah (president). An incoming senior at Louisville Collegiate School, she has been a student ambassador, a board member/founder of the Entrepreneurship Club, a board member of Students Against Destructive Decisions, a Spanish Club member, editor of Transcript, the school yearbook and a member of the Happiness Club. This summer, Emily will be among BBYO’s Ambassadors to Bulgaria and attend an international leadership seminar in Israel.
The Tony Levitan Award goes to an outstanding high school senior athlete while who demonstrated outstanding character and leadership through team sports and Jewish communal events: Gabrielle “Gabby” Aberson, a Louisville Collegiate School graduate, played lacrosse, field hockey. She also is a Pearl Project chair, plays viola in the orchestra, is president of the Happiness Club and the junior class and is a member of the Ambassadors Club, Discipline Court and KUNA/KYA. She also is a lifeguard at the J has volunteered with J-SERVE and New Roots and was a Sunshine Girl. She will attend Boston University this fall. Adam Rudy, a Walden School graduate, played basketball at the 2016 Maccabi Games and flag football at the 2017 Games. He was on the varsity basketball, soccer and tennis teams at Walden and was invited to participate in the East Kentucky All Star Basketball Games. He won the Outstanding Service Award for more than 100 service hours, was an outstanding student ambassador and was active in the Kentucky United Nations Assembly. He also was an Eagle Scout and won the Nir Tamid Award. Adam will attend Purdue University this fall for mechanical engineering technology, but first he will travel to Peru to see Machu Picchu.
The Joseph Fink BBYO Community Service Scholarship is a four-year scholarship presented to a senior who was an active member of their BBYO chapter during all four years of high school and also performed a significant amount of community service during high school: Jacob Ioffe, of duPont Manual High School, was a Bronfman Fellow. Active in BBYO, he was regional mazkir and gizbor, Aleph godol, international captain of the Israel Task Force and a past recipient of the Stacy Marks Nisenbaum and Ellen Faye Garmon awards. He also was a BBYO ambassador to Ukraine. At Manual, he was the varsity tennis team captain (#1 in the state), lead coordinator for the IdeaFest and research intern at Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic. This summer, he will be a counselor at Camp Sunapee, a Russian Jewish math camp in New Hampshire, before joining the Boston-Sderot Project, a three-week service trip in Israel where a cohort of counselors travel to Sderot, a constant target of rocket attacks from Gaza, and take children battling PTSD and other psychological disorders to a camp to experience safety and normalcy. He will attend Vanderbilt University this fall.
The Ellen Faye Garmon Awards go to incoming juniors or seniors who are involved in their BBYO chapters, working to grow the program, and their communities: Liz Hemmer, also a BBYO member since the eighth grade, served as sh’licha in her sophomore year, n’siah in her junior year, and currently serves as regional sh’licha Currently. She was named the 2018 KIO Sh’licha of the Year and is a past recipient of the Stacy Marks Nissenbaum Award. An incoming senior at Ballard High School, she is a member of the Beta Club. This summer, she will go to Israel with Camp Livingston.
