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Annual Dinner 2014 Honoring Paul & Dede Appelbaum and Andre & Shalhevet Jacobvitz

Inspired by the boundless hospitality of our honorees, Paul and Dede Appelbaum and Andre and Shalhevet Jacobovitz, we designated the theme of this year’s annual dinner, "Our Doors are Always Open."

Thank you to all who attended and to all who contributed. We hope to see you at next year's dinner. 

The proceeds from the annual dinner are so essential for the future of our shul.  Below are the highlights from this year's dinner:

More videos from the 2014 Annual Dinner

More photos of the 2014 Annual Dinner.

Thank you to our generous business sponsors:

Chocolate Works

Gotham Wine 

Joy of Kosher

Kosher Advantage

The Kosher Cook

Kosher Keepers

Kosher Marketplace

Oolala Flowers

Main Event Caterers

Marsha Morman

Seasons

Sababa Books

Skyview Wine and Liquor

Strategic Hebrew

Topal Orthodontists

University Housewares

West Side Judaica

Westside Market

Remarks and Indtroduction of Dede and Paul Appelbaum

Remarks given by, Loren H. Roth, M.D. MPH, Associate Senior Vice Chancellor for Clinical Policy and Planning, Health Sciences,  University of Pittsburgh, Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh

Good evening.

Thank you for inviting Ellen Roth and me to this Ramath Orah Shul Celebration of Hospitality and Welcoming.

We are delighted to participate in this simcha, for us one of deep friendship and admiration of the Appelbaums, professional collegiality and also a “family event”.

We first met Dede and Paul when they moved to Pittsburgh in 1980 so that Paul could join our Law and Psychiatry program at the University of Pittsburgh, following his psychiatry residency at Harvard.  Paul had already begun to publish in the area of law, forensic psychiatry, medical ethics and professional responsibility. It is now 34 years later. Truly Paul Appelbaum can now best be described as “Dr. American Psychiatry”, having and continuing to make profound leadership contributions to mental health social policy,  his discipline of general psychiatry, its research base, teaching, scholarly thought and patients’ wellbeing. Paul is universally looked to by American and international psychiatry for guidance and best answers to vexing problems of professional judgment with respect to treatment of persons with mental illness. 

My first impression of Paul stands.  I continue to strive to be Salieri while he is Mozart and his music continues to play. Paul is the author of more than 250 papers, 69 chapters and books on the already mentioned subjects. Paul’s name and ideas appear virtually monthly in professional journals, governmental testimony and in the admired media such as the New York Times and the Guardian.  He is the past president of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL).

For me, Paul is a deeply committed person who loves God and is grateful for Hashem’s many gifts. When Paul and Dede returned to New York after a thirty year absence, the couple immediately discovered, at their doorstep, a warm and welcoming Shul where both found repose, community, and kinship.

Paul and Dede have a “twinship”, but not identical.  In 1984, Dede published her well known book, Thanksgiving: An American Holiday; An American History. The front piece dedicates this book to Paul as “Interlocutor” (participant in a discourse) and “friend.”  Dede has also written a book on the Fourth of July. Her books are described by Amitai Etzioni as key works in the social history of holidays.

At Ramath Orah, Dede is ever smiling, on the Board where she has advocated for outstanding synagogue programming focusing upon the members diverse personal and community needs as well as the best organizational strategies to achieve these. She is admired by the congregation for her hospitality, personal outreach and caretaking of others.

Dede writes children’s books. I read one, Cocoa Ice where Dede writes about a Caribbean Island “Where chocolate comes from a faraway Island, birds have pink feathers, leaves grow bigger than I am tall, and it is always summer.”  I love this image.

Here is the book. I received it from our children Shalhevet and Andre Jacobovitz, who I am very proud to say are today’s young leader recipients. It is the favorite book of their son Noam, our grandson, age 2.

This is, therefore, a most  celebratory evening for my wife Ellen and me, having strong bonds to both our children and special friends, the Appelbaums

 

My wife Ellen joins me in saying we are so happy to be with all of you at Ramath Orah tonight. Thank you.

Loren and Ellen Roth.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784