U.S. Representatives Lois Frankel (D-FL), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Jim McGovern (D-MA), and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) were joined by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in announcing their bipartisan bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Ferencz, the last living Nuremberg Trials prosecutor.

The bill was supported by 296 House co-sponsors and 81 Senate co-sponsors. It was endorsed by the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee.

The Congressional Gold Medal is Congress’ highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. The first award was given to George Washington, and it has been awarded 184 times to America’s national heroes.

According to information released by the Jewish National Syndicate, over the course of his life, Benjamin Ferencz has advocated for the rule of law and international justice. During WWII, he served in the U.S. Army and helped to collect evidence of Nazi war crimes. Following the war, he was awarded five battle stars for his service. Later, he was appointed chief prosecutor in the proceedings that convicted 22 former Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) officials.

“I am so honored to have secured the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Ferencz, a champion for human rights,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Mr. Ferencz’s life exemplifies what it means to dedicate oneself to compassion, empathy and righteousness. Few people have been more deserving of this tremendous honor.”

Our own Rabbi Gadi served as guest speaker at the Greenport Ecumenical Ministries (G.E.M.) interfaith service to celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event was held on Sunday, Jan. 22, at the Cutchogue Presbyterian Church, also the home of the North Fork Reform Synagogue.

Rabbi Gadi was the go-to speaker when, at the last moment, the Rev. Natalie Wimberly, pastor of the Clinton Memorial AME Zion Church, was unable to participate. Rabbi Gadi embraced the theme “Envisioning the Beloved Community.”                                                                                      G.E.M. photo

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was named Time’s Person of the Year, the magazine announced. Zelensky, 44, shot to international recognition when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Almost 10 months later, he remains a symbol of the nation’s stoicism and spirit in the face of the incursion.

The Time honor, first awarded to aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1927, annually selects the person who has had a particular impact on events of the past year.

Illustration by Neil Jamieson

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will present the 24th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to Adam Sandler at a gala performance at the Kennedy Center on March 19. The prize recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.

“Adam Sandler has entertained audiences for more than three decades with his films, music, and his tenure as a fan favorite cast member on ‘SNL,’” said Kennedy Center president Deborah F. Rutter. Sandler’s films have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide.

Previous recipients include Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Neil Simon, Billy Crystal, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dave Chappelle and Jon Stewart

Robert Iger is returning to Walt Disney Co. as chief executive less than a year after he retired, a surprise comeback that coincides with the entertainment company’s attempt to boost investor confidence and profits at its streaming media unit.

Iger, 71, who was chief executive for 15 years and retired as chairman last year, has agreed to serve as CEO for two more years, effective immediately, replacing Bob Chapek, who joined Disney in February 2020. Disney stock sank more than 40% while Chapek was at the helm. Disney is competing poorly with Netflix and is also seeking to revive its share price. The company is hopeful “an old hand on the tiller” can turn the tide.

Hazel Homer-Wambeam is from a small Jewish community in Laramie, Wyoming. With only 1,150 Jews in the whole state and no synagogue in sight, the Jews of Laramie gather in a local Masonic Temple for services and meet for potluck dinners. But Hazel Homer-Wambeam took her love for singing and dancing to the Miss Wyoming competition and was named the first Jewish crown holder.

In December, she will head to the national competition and vie to be only the second Jewish Miss America in the program’s history. The first, Bess Myerson, competed as Miss New York in 1945.

Rabbi A. James Rudin, the longtime interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee, will be conferred the prestigious Papal Knight of St. Gregory for his work in support of Catholic-Jewish relations. Only eight other Jews have been knighted by the order, established in 1831, that recognizes personal service or unusual labor in support of the Catholic Church. Among them are three other rabbis: David Rosen and the late Mordecai Waxman and Leon Klenicki.

A Reform rabbi and also a writer who has contributed hundreds of columns over the years to Religion News Service, Rabbi Rudin has traveled widely to meet with popes, presidents, Protestant denominational leaders, and world-famous evangelists in his efforts to improve Jewish-Christian relations in the aftermath of WWII and the Holocaust.

This year, he published a memoir, The People in the Room: Rabbis, Nuns, Pastors, Popes and Presidents, detailing his 42 trips across the Atlantic on behalf of the AJC.