Jewish Heritage Month Celebration
Batei Tsibur, the organization of Jewish employees at NYCHA, held its annual Jewish Heritage Month Celebration in the Ceremonial Room at 90 Church Street on May 11. As in years past, Harley Diamond, Assistant Chief in the Law Department and a professionally trained singer, led the group in the U.S. and Israeli nation anthems, and organization president Alan Pelikow, Interim Director of the Lease Enforcement Department, served as a scholarly master of ceremonies.
EVP for Legal Affairs and General Counsel David Farber spoke about aspects of his life, including his residence in Edenwald Houses during the 1950s. Mr. Farber considers living in Edenwald as contributing to his life’s successes.
Guest speaker Rabbi Steven Burg led the group in an energetic discussion about his work as Eastern Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a global human rights organization researching the Holocaust and hate in a historic and contemporary context.
Rabbi Burg also discussed his work at the Wiesenthal Center’s New York Museum of Tolerance, where the mission is to challenge visitors to confront bigotry and racism, and to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary terms.
The discussion covered many historical and current world events, as well as the need to be inspired from the past, engaged in the present and assume responsibility for the future — including our socially responsible work at NYCHA.
