Hebrew Theological College may be nearly a century old, but all you had to do was just enter the room at its recent gala to get the message loud and clear: HTC’s focus is not on looking back, but looking forward.
The November 27 event, which marked HTC’s 96th anniversary, drew close to 500 attendees. As guests walked into the main ballroom, they were greeted by a giant banner that highlighted the ways HTC has reinvigorated itself, including exciting developments across the high school; new college leadership; expanded course offerings; dynamic new rabbeim; and an expanded facility footprint. These upgrades, together with a stronger and broader management team, provided the baseline for this year’s dinner theme: “HTC Invigorated.” The new HTC video unveiled at the gala night reflected this theme as well.
The dinner celebrated three sets of honorees: Robert W. and Lee Matanky, recipients of the Distinguished Leadership Award; Dr. Shmuel and Chana Goldstein, who received the Distinguished Parents Award; and Roz and Renan Sugarman, recipients of the Distinguished Service Award.
“Each of these families has made their own unique mark on HTC’s historic legacy,” said Brian Levinson, Chairman of the HTC Board. “We’re grateful to be able to recognize their contributions at this pivotal moment in our organization’s trajectory.”
Dr. Alan Kadish, president of Touro College and University System, and who also serves as HTC president, delivered greetings to start the evening. Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Avraham Friedman gave a D’var Torah related to the upcoming Chanukah holiday.
The evening also featured a keynote presentation from Yaakov Katz, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post and author of “The Weapon Wizards: How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower.” In his talk, Katz focused on the unique resolve of the Israeli and Jewish people to keep its head up and move forward, and said that what makes Israel unique is the Torah and that Hashem is on our side.
HTC thanks Les Blau, David and Miriam Meyers, and Michael and Dvora Nussbaum for chairing the gala Between the honorees, the speaker, the exciting videos, and the general buzz in the air (including the dinner finishing on schedule), the evening was truly – yes, one more time – invigorated!
