The Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame was established by the Bronx Jewish Historical Initiative in 2015. It is intended to honor Jewish individuals from the Bronx in recognition of their Bronx heritage and their lifetime achievement, epitomizing what makes our community great.
The Inaugural Class of 2015, initially composed of five individuals, was inducted in June, 2015 by BxJHI in partnership with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. in a ceremony and reception at the Bronx Museum of the Arts before a sizable audience of invited guests. The Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame will be housed virtually on the website of the Bronx Jewish Historical Initiative. In future years, the Awards to the new inductees will be presented by current members of BxJHI’s Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame.
At one time in the mid-twentieth century, the Bronx had more Jews living in the Borough than the number that lived in the State of Israel. Today, although significantly smaller, the Jewish community and the individuals who live here continue to make major contributions to the Bronx and beyond. Over the years, the Bronx has produced many noted Jewish individuals, and we mention a few now to give a broad view of the extent of achievement in this borough, even as we induct the first inaugural class of five.
Bella Abzug, Arlene Alda, Emanuel Azenberg, Red Buttons, Paddy Chayefsky, Avery Corman, Jules Feiffer, E.L. Doctorow, Millard Drexler, Bruce Jay Friedman, Martin Garbus, Arthur Gelb, Milton Glaser, Eydie Gorme, Hank Greenberg, Clyde Haberman, Judd Hirsch, Edward Kleban, Calvin Klein, Stanley Kubrick, Ralph Lauren, Staan Lee, Daniel Liebeskind, Hal Linden, Bess Myerson, Gabe Pressman, Richard Price, Carl Reiner, A. M. Rosenthal, Jack Rudin, Lewis Rudin, Adolph Schayes, Robert F. X. Sillerman, Jerry Weintraub, Rosalyn Yalow, Laurence Young
The Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame launched on June 2, in a ceremony at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.
The inaugural inductees are former New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams, comedian/actor Robert Klein, founder of the Jewish Feminist Alliance Blu Greenberg, RiverSpring Health President and CEO Daniel Reingold, and author Cynthia Ozick. Co-sponsored by Bronx Borough President Rubin Diaz Jr., the evening was emceed by Fox-TV’s Mike Woods.
THE HONORABLE ROBERT ABRAMS |
Robert Abrams’ 28-year career in public life was marked by achievement, independence and integrity. He was elected to three terms in the New York State Assembly, three terms as Borough President of the Bronx and four terms as Attorney General of New York State receiving numerous awards and honors and earned national prominence rarely achieved by a state-level official.He served as president of the National Association of Attorneys General and was selected by his colleagues to receive the coveted WYMAN AWARD as Outstanding Attorney General in the nation. He joined the law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan as a partner in 1994.In 1997, the NYU School of Law established the Attorney General Robert Abrams Public Service Lecture whereby each year a prominent public figure addresses the student body urging students to dedicate all or a portion of their career to public service.In 2009, Governor David Paterson issued an Executive Order renaming the Albany Justice Building as the Robert Abrams Building for Law and Justice in recognition of Mr. Abrams’ years of distinguished service to the people of New York State.
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BLU GREENBERG |
Blu Greenberg, author and lecturer, has been actively involved for four decades in integrating feminism and Judaism. She was founder and first president of JOFA, the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance and continues to be active. She helped found One Voice: Jewish Women for Israel, a national coalition of Jewish women’s organizations. She serves on several editorial boards, including Hadassah Magazine and Lilith. Dialogue has long been a passion of hers. Co-founder of The Dialogue Group (Jewish and Palestinian women), a member of the Jewish Women’s Dialogue, Women of Faith, the Multi-religious Women’s Network, and the Global Peace Initiative of Women (co-chair), she has participated in many interfaith and inter-ethnic enterprises.Blu Greenberg is listed Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in World Jewry. She is a subject in the Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, and is a contributor to Transforming the Faiths of our Fathers: Women Who Changed American Religion. |
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For more than forty years, Robert Klein has entertained audiences, and he continues to have an acclaimed career in comedy, on Broadway, on television, and in film.Born in the Bronx, he was a member of the famed “Second City” theatrical troupe in Chicago.He was nominated twice for Grammy Awards for “Best Comedy Album of the Year” for his albums “Child of the Fifties” and “Mind Over Matter.”He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor, and won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in the hit Neil Simon musical, “They’re Playing Our Song.” In 1993, Klein won an Obie and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in Wendy Wasserstein’s, “The Sisters Rosensweig.”In 1975, Klein was the first comedian to appear in a live concert on Home Box Office. He has gone on to do nine one-man shows for HBO and received his first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music and Lyrics in 2001 for Robert Klein: “Child in His 50’s.”
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CYNTHIA OZICK |
Cynthia Ozick is the author of numerous acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction including The Shawl, The Puttermesser Papers, and Heir to the Glimmering World. She is a recipient of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/Nabokov Award, the PEN/Malamud Award, the Presidential Medal for the Humanities, as well as four O. Henry first prizes for her short stories. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Man Booker International Prize. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The New Republic, The New York Times, and many other publications. Her next book, Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays will be published in 2016. |
DANIEL REINGOLD |
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER RIVERSPRING HEALTH™ Daniel Reingold, M.S.W., J.D. is President and Chief Executive Officer of RiverSpring Health, a leading non-profit senior care organization with a century of history and leadership, which includes the operation of the renowned Hebrew Home at Riverdale. Under Mr. Reingold’s tenure, RiverSpring Health has grown significantly to include a comprehensive suite of care solutions, from managed long-term care and assisted living, to rehabilitation services, senior housing and skilled nursing. As a passionate advocate for older adults, Reingold and his team opened the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention, the nation’s first elder abuse shelter, in 2005. Reingold serves on the boards of directors of the Continuing Care Leadership Coalition, the Greater New York Hospital Association and the Association of Jewish Aging Services. He received a B.A. from Hobart College, an M.S.W. from Columbia University, and a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University. |
ROBERT KLEIN