Tuesday, March 18, 6:00 pm, at Michael's On East
This Year's Honorees:
Rachel Saltzberg Community Service Award Rachel currently serves as the President of the Board of Trustees of the Hershorin Schiff Community Day School in Sarasota. She has served the school and its predecessor in various capacities since moving to Sarasota over twenty years ago. Rachel, along with Co-President Mitch Blumenthal z”l, was one of the key drivers in acquiring and building a new campus for HSCDS, which opened in 2021. Rachel was born and raised in Toronto and attended Bialik Hebrew Day School and Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto. She has a lifetime affiliation with Chabad, and she and her husband Darren were married by Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum, Director of Chabad Lubavitch of southern Ontario. Upon graduation from McGill University, she moved to New York to become a Graduate Gemologist and later received an MBA at Baruch College of the City University of New York. She worked in the Jewelry business in New York and Charlotte, NC, for many years. She and Darren have three children, Jordyn, Jake, and Josh, who are all proud graduates of HSCDS. Israel has always been part of Rachel’s life, and she spends her summers with her grandparents, cousins, and friends there. Rachel’s daily life is guided by the principle of L’Dor v’Dor, (from generation to generation) She gains her inspiration and commitment to Jewish education and Israel from her Saba (grandfather) Aba and Safta (grandmother) Frida. Her grandfather, Aba (Weinstein) Gefen, a holocaust survivor, was instrumental in the establishment of the State of Israel and served in the early years of the Mossad. Later, as part of his work in Israel’s Foreign Ministry, he served in Rome, Lima, and Buenos Aires, completing his career as the Israeli Counsel General in Toronto and Israeli Ambassador to Romania.
Rachel Saltzberg
David Wicentowski Cantorial Dedication Award David was born and raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY, and attended Crown Heights Yeshiva. He graduated from City College of New York and has a master’s degree from NYU. He taught High School Mathematics in the New York City School System for over 30 years. David joined his High School choir on a whim and developed a lifelong interest in choral singing, including his current twenty-year participation with the Key Chorale of Sarasota. He moved to Freehold, NJ, with his young family and became involved in suburban synagogue life. He progressed to leading Shabbat Services as a Hazen (Cantor). Then, when the Torah reader at the synagogue moved to Israel, he took on the responsibility of reading the Shabbat Torah portion each week for over 15 years. David and his wife Jane moved to Sarasota about 28 years ago. He was initially involved in a small synagogue in North Port, but then he discovered Chabad in Sarasota. He was drawn to Chabad because of the friendliness of many of the members and Rabbi Steinmetz, and he became an active participant in Chabad activities. He also officiated at a small synagogue in Gulfport, Florida, for about ten years. David and his wife Jane are avid Bridge players and have played in many local, regional, and national events. They continue to play online. David enjoys being the Cantor for Shabbat Services and continues to do so at Chabad of Downtown Sarasota. He says that when he davens, he feels a closeness with his father Z”L, which brings back memories of when his father also served as a cantor.
David Wicentowski
Harry Zehnwirth Chessed Award Chessed defines Harry. He exhibits loving-kindness and compassion for everyone he meets and everything that he does. From early morning to evening every day, Harry is involved in almost every activity at Chabad of Sarasota. He is the first person in Chabad in the morning. He sets about his daily task of cracking 15 or more eggs and making two pots of coffee so that the daily morning minyan participants can enjoy a scrumptious breakfast of fried eggs (cooked with the assistance of Chef Maish), two kinds of herring and homemade Salmon gravlax filets, which he lovingly prepares from scratch; affectionally known as the “Best Kosher Breakfast in Sarasota.” He is also the last person in the kitchen in the morning, cleaning up and setting up the next day’s breakfast. For twenty years, Harry has regularly served as the Baal Tefila, leading the daily morning minyan in prayer. In addition, he assists Rabbi Steinmetz as a Mashgiach, supervising a caterer’s preparation of kosher meals for events, including the Chabad annual gala weddings and other Simchas. In addition to being generous with his time, he contributes Tzedakah to many needy causes here and in Israel. Harry was born in Antwerp, Belgium. As a toddler, he escaped from the Nazis when his family walked out of Belgium, eventually arriving in Portugal to board a ship to Cuba. He resided in Cuba with his family until age 8, when they emigrated to the US, ending up in New York’s Lower East Side. He attended Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva in Manhattan and graduated as a Salutatorian from George Washington High School. He continued his education in engineering, Physics, and Spanish, receiving a B.S. degree from City College of New York and an MBA from Pace College. He started his career as an engineer working for Western Electric, went on to be a consultant on Wall Street, a technical salesperson for General Electric, and worked for twenty years at Time Warner Inc. as Senior Vice President of their Mexican subsidiary and completed his career as Director of Information Systems. Harry was married to his wife, Dodie, for 52 years, ending in her death in 2021. He is married to Martha Rengifo with whom he and Dodie shared a long friendship.