The Annual Meeting is required business for our congregation, but with the business we also take time to recognize two very deserving leaders in our congregation.

Rabbi Lawrence A. Kotok Tikkun Olam Award
Since coming to our congregation in 1995, Rabbi Kotok has led us through a smooth transition into the 21st Century, while becoming a leader in the community and the world. He founded the Tikkun Olam Award in 2002, given each year to a congregant who has sought to keep TBK in touch with itself, its congregants and its community. The recipients have all exhibited outstanding leadership abilities within the Temple and the community.

This year's winner of the Rabbi Lawrence A. Kotok Tikkun Olum Award is George Gazarek. George (Daniel Ari) joined Temple B'rith Kodesh a few years ago. Prior to that he was a member of Temple Beth David where he served as President of the Men's Club, Men's Club Regional Officer, and as a Temple Trustee. Since joining TBK George has served as Vice President of the Brotherhood, member of the Social Action Coordinating Committee, the School 52 Partnership Committee, and the Religious Practices Committee. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Israel, World Jewry & ARZA Committee. He was a 2007 graduate of the B'nai Mitzvah class. He holds a BA in Economics and a MS in Systems Management from USC. George has worked in sales and marketing for Lucent, Goodyear Aerospace, General Dynamics, Motorola, Harris, was CEO of Spectracom and is currently President and CEO of Hydroacoustics. He lives with his wife Rose and their 26 year old son Jonathan in Victor. "I would like to help prepare TBK for the future by making the services more relevant to a larger group, encouraging TBK members to attend services more frequently, and by reaching out to the unaffiliated Jews in Rochester. Organizing the service for the recent Brotherhood Shabbat around the Daniel Pearl "What does it mean to be Jewish" theme was definitely one of the most meaningful moments of my Jewish life."

The Aaron Braveman Etz Chayem Award
This award was established in 2002 and named after our former Director of Education. Aaron has always been the perfect example of the word "Mensch", a wonderful human being and a great humanitarian. The past and present winners of this award fall show great leadership and a constant willingness to make TBK a better place.

This year's winner of the Aaron Braveman Etz Chayem Award is Arthur Herz. For more than three decades, Art Herz has been involved in a variety of Social Action Committee programs where he demonstrated a preference for hands-on approaches: he helped fix and move furnishings in TBK's first three TEMPRO housing units. Art's family background informed his Jewish identity, but it also fired up his interest in advancing interfaith ties. Thus, after strongly advocating TBK participation in the Sanctuary Movement, an issue that as a German refugee strongly resonated for him, he assisted the newly formed interfaith Rochester Sanctuary Committee to establish a safe haven in Rochester for a family from El Salvador. He also helped organize Rochester's annual Legislative Briefings by Interfaith Impact of New York State and he is a regular volunteer at neighborhood Soup Kitchens. He continues to vote with his feet and his placards in anti-Iraq war street vigils. Recently he has advocated our awareness and support for the young but growing Jewish Reform congregation in Hameln, Germany, that serves mostly Russian emigrants. Somehow Art manages to carry out these various efforts with an enthusiastic tenacity that, fortunately for TBK, sometimes proves to be contagious!

He has been married to his wife, Hildegard, for over 60 years ("of glorious marriage" he says) and is the father of four children. However only the youngest, Josh, and his wife Ruth had the toughness to stick it out in Rochester and are also TBK congregants.

Mazel Tov to George and Arthur. We look forward to many years of honoring deserving congregants at TBK. See you at the Annual Meeting for the presentation of these awards and more.