Seven olim (immigrants to Israel) were awarded the annual 2022 Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize on Tuesday.Seven English-speaking olim were honored for their "major contributions to the State of Israel" as they were awarded the 2022 Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize on Tuesday.Honorees in six categories were chosen by a panel of committee members assembled by Nefesh B'Nefesh. The categories included were: science and medicine, community and non-profit, education, global impact, culture, art and sports and young leadership.
In addition, a lifetime achievement award was given to Naomi Tsur, a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem and founder of the Jerusalem Green Fund, an environmental protection organization.Tsur was awarded the honor due to "her exemplary work over multiple decades in promoting sustainability in Israel and throughout the world," a statement reads. It also noted her work toward "building a greener Jerusalem" during her tenure as deputy mayor.
2022 Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize recipients Virginia-born rabbi prof David Golinkin was honored in the field of education for his work as president of Shechter Institutes, which provides pluralistic Jewish education to over 100,000 children and adults every year. He is also the author or editor of 60 books and over 200 articles.Another recipient was Prof. Arthur I. Eidelman, who made Aliyah from New York in 1978. Eidelman, considered the founding father of neonatal medicine in Israel, will win the prize for achievements in science and medicine.
In the community and non-profit category, Pamela and Aba Claman were honored for founding Thank Israeli Soldiers, an NGO dedicated to educating, embracing, and empowering Israeli soldiers. Prof. Morris Hartstein, who treated over 7,000 Ethiopian Jews in Gondar as part of "Operation Ethiopia," was given the global impact award.Hartstein also worked to bring more Ethiopian doctors to Israel for training and accompanied new olim in Operation Tzur Yisrael in 2020.
Other winners include Asher Friedman, an Abraham Accords Peace Institute director and Prof. Harry Ben Zion Brand, who took an active part in Israel's industrial development and planning over the last half a century.The honor "serves as a reminder of the remarkable impact that Olim are making in every facet of Israeli life," rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Nefesh B’Nefesh co-founder and executive director, said."This year’s prize recipients, and the hundreds of thousands of Olim who have chosen to make Israel their home, are true examples of how the Jewish state is thriving," the rabbi added.
