Nefesh B’Nefesh will honor the six winners of the 2016 Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize this coming Monday 15 Iyar at the Knesset in Jerusalem in the presence of Minister of Aliyah & Absorption Ze’ev Elkin and Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee MK Tzachi Hanegbi. The award recognizes olim (immigrants) from English-speaking countries who have made a major impact on the State of Israel. The ceremony begins at 14:00.

Hundreds of immigrants from English-speaking countries – including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, and USA – were nominated for the prize. The prize recognizes outstanding Anglo Olim who have helped Israel in a meaningful way by encapsulating the spirit of modern-day Zionism and contributing in significant ways towards the State of Israel. Recipients were chosen by a prestigious panel of committee members in the following categories: Science & Medicine; Community & Non-Profit; Education; Entrepreneurship & Technology; Art, Culture & Sports; and IDF & National Service Young Leadership.

A truly inspirational group of honorees include:

Professor Howard (Chaim) Cedar, Professor of Developmental Biology & Cancer Research at Hebrew University in the field of Science and Medicine

Estelle Friedman, Director of Production of Israel Education Television in the field of Culture, Sports & Arts

Barbara Levin, Founder of the Tali school system in the field of Education

Dr. Rachel Levmore, Rabbinical Court Advocate & Director of the Agunah & Get-Refusal Prevention Project in the field of Community and Non-Profit

Scott R. Tobin, General Partner of Battery Ventures in the field of Entrepreneurship and Technology

IDF Staff Sgt. (res.) Sahar Elbaz in the field of IDF and National Service Young Leadership Award

In addition, former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, renowned Israeli politician and aeronautical engineer, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to shaping and impacting Israel through diplomacy and dedicated Hasbarah efforts on behalf of the State of Israel.

Details of the 2016 Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize recipients:

Community and Non-Profit: Dr. Rachel Levmore is the Founder and Director of the Agunah & Get-Refusal Prevention Project of the International Young Israel Movement and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

As a rabbinical court advocate, she assists Agunos in Israel and in the Diaspora to free themselves from the chains of unwanted marriage through a dignified process. Dr. Levmore revolutionized Israeli society’s view on women’s halachic personal status by participating in the authorship of the Israeli reciprocal halachic prenuptial “Agreement for Mutual Respect”, thus preventing get-refusal.

As a ground-breaking author of the seminal halachic book Min’ee Einayikh Medim’ah on prenuptial agreements, PhD in Talmud & Jewish Law and decades-long social activist, Levmore has worked tirelessly to prevent get-abuse, culminating her efforts as a member of the Israel Commission for the Appointment of Dayanim. Dr. Levmore made Aliyah in 1976 from the USA.

Entrepreneurship and Technology: Scott R. Tobin serves as General Partner at Battery Ventures, which he joined in 1997. He leads investments in Israel, the United States, and Europe. Scott has focused on a variety of interests at Battery, including: venture capital and private equity investments in enterprise infrastructure, application software, business services, media and financial services. Scott has been named multiple times to the Forbes Midas List, which ranks top venture capitalists from around the world. In 2008, he relocated to Battery’s Israel office to build the team and to lead the firm’s further expansion into Israel, the Middle East and Europe.

He graduated with honors from Brandeis University with a BA in International Relations and Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Scott is involved in a number of social-impact initiatives in Israel, on a local community and national level.

He proudly serves on the Board of Directors of “Maoz”, an organization identifying and accelerating the impact of Israel’s best and brightest public sector leaders, who collaborate on cross-sectorial solutions to Israel’s most pressing challenges. He officially made Aliyah in 2011 from the USA.

Science and Medicine: Professor Howard (Chaim) Cedar, a Safra Distinguished Professor at the Department of Developmental Biology & Cancer Research at Hebrew University has made pioneering contributions in the field of genetics.

He discovered that, in addition to the genetic “text” inherited from our parents, which contains all of the instructions for making every component of the human body, there is also a system of “annotation” that marks this “text” and represents a further layer of information. This annotation, which is accomplished chemically through DNA methylation, marks genes as being either active or silent and constitutes the cornerstone of human development. Methylation plays a role in many diseases and especially cancer where Prof. Cedar’s discoveries have led to the development of new approaches for diagnosing and treating this disease. DNA methylation also holds the key for understanding how the environment impacts on human behavior. Prof. Cedar made Aliyah in 1973 from the USA.

IDF and National Service Young Leadership: Staff Sgt. Sahar Elbaz is a recently released lone soldier from the IDF’s Givati Brigade. During Operation Protective Edge, Sgt. Elbaz and his unit came under attack in Rafah, in Gaza. Ignoring his commander’s order to take cover, Elbaz returned fire, overcame a jam in his weapon, and eliminated four of the five attacking terrorists.

Describing the event, one of his commanders said, “Sahar’s story will be taught at commanders’ courses for many years to come.” Elbaz arrived in Israel, on his own, from the USA four years ago, and immediately joined the Givati Brigade, where he served as a combat soldier in the Rimon unit. Elbaz was one of only five soldiers to receive the chief of staff’s citation in Operation Protective Edge, which was bestowed upon him for his bravery, resourcefulness and fortitude. Sahar made Aliyah in 2012 from the USA.

Culture, Sports and Arts: Estelle Friedman, began her long journey in educational television in 1968, as a screenwriter and TV teacher for the English teaching TV series “More About English.” Soon after, she was appointed producer of the English Department and produced over 500 episodes teaching English on TV. Her success opened the door to becoming Director of Production at Israel Educational TV, where she worked producing programs that became an integral part of Israeli culture. Many generations have acquired the basics of the English, Hebrew and Arabic languages, and basic concepts of Judaism, thanks to the innovation and accessibility Estelle brought to educational programming. She has touched the lives of millions of young people and adults, and contributed to the education of Israelis as well as the creation of a culture of values ​​of Israeli society. Estelle’s work was born out of a Zionist sense of duty to provide new skills and learning tools for students in Israel. She made Aliyah in 1964 from the USA.

Education: Barbara Levin began, in 1976, as principal of the First Traditional School, where pluralistic Jewish subjects were included in the curriculum for children from both secular and observant families. The school grew from a group of 33 to 300 pupils and served as the prototype for schools that wanted to adopt its unique curriculum. Today, there are 96 schools, 134 nursery classes, and some 35,000 pupils in the TALI educational system.

While serving as principal of the Frankel School for 29 years, Barbara also managed to successfully institute a wide range of innovative projects, including Community Theater, a twinning program, the Frankel Center for Jewish Family Education, an initiative to begin teaching English from first grade, and a program that integrated pupils with autism into the school’s classes.

Retired in 2005, Levin continues to consult schools and volunteers teaching prayer skills for youth as well as with seniors in her local community. She made Aliyah in 1969 from the USA.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Moshe Arens entered the political arena in 1973, when he was elected to the Knesset on the Likud party list. He served as Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and as the Israeli Ambassador to the USA.

The author of two books, Arens currently writes a column for Haaretz Newspaper and serves as Chairman of the Board of Governors of Ariel University in Samaria. He enlisted in 1944 for two years in the US army’s Engineers Corps and then completed a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. In 1951, he returned to the United States and studied engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and aeronautical engineering at the California Institute of Technology where he was a student of Qian Xuesen, then worked for a time in the aircraft industry. He returned to Israel in 1957, and became professor of aeronautics at the Technion, serving in this position until 1962. From 1962 until 1971 he was a Deputy Director General at Israel Aircraft Industries, where he was in charge of most major development projects, including the Kfir fighter jet project. In 1971, he won the Israel Defense Prize.

Arens has been Chairman of Teuza, a venture capital firm. He is the author of two books: Broken Covenant, published in 1995 by Simon and Schuster and by Yediot Sfarim in Hebrew, and Flags Over the Warsaw Ghetto, published in 2011 by Gefen Publishing House; it has also been published in Hebrew and Polish. He made Aliyah in 1948 from the USA.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)