Tribute Event 2009
at Park Ave Synagogue, Manhattan
Please Save the Date !
This year we will be honoring the following extraordinary Jewish leaders :
Rabbi Jules & Navah Harlow
HarlowsRabbi Harlow, Founding Editor of The Rabbinical Assembly, specializes in translating and editing Jewish prayer, with the goal of making the poetic beauty of the liturgy available to the non-Hebrew reader. He has composed and adapted prayers which respond to modern events in Jewish history. His prayer books include Mahzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and Siddur Sim Shalom. He is Literary Editor of the Torah Commentary Etz Hayim, and a translator of S.Y Agnon. His interview of I.B. Singer on NBC TV was nominated for an Emmy. In the late nineteen-nineties he served as Rabbi of The Great Synagogue in Stockholm (which recently affiliated with Masorti Olami). During those years, with his wife Navah, he organized and conducted a Dialogue on Tolerance, with Jewish and non-Jewish high school students in Stockholm and Warsaw.
Navah Harlow is Founding Director of the Center for Ethics in Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. Her groundbreaking work in end-of-life care, medical advance directives, and the right to self-determination has been widely acknowledged here and abroad. Her curriculum guide for doctors, Speaking with Families of Seriously Ill Patients, has been distributed to teaching hospitals throughout the United States. She was instrumental in establishing the first hospice under Jewish auspices in Manhattan. For many years she co-chaired The International Congress of Ethics in Medicine, sponsored by Beth Israel Medical Center, The Karolinska Institute, and Ben Gurion Medical Center. Her sensitivity to diverse cultures and her fluency in five languages have been an asset in working with Masorti Olami communities.
Since 2005, the Harlows have been teaching a group of b'nei anousim in Lisbon, helping these descendants of Jews forcibly baptized by the Inquisition return to Jewish tradition through halachic conversion. They are also teaching Masorti kehillot in Madrid and Valencia.
They are blessed with two children (who chose perfect spouses) and five grandchildren. 

Cantor Nancy Abramson
Nancy AbramsonNancy Abramson has served as cantor at the Park Avenue Synagogue since July, 1997.  She has dedicated her career to sharing the highest levels of cantorial art with her community, through davening, performance and education.  She is a cum laude graduate of the combined program of Columbia University and The Jewish Theological Seminary, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.  She earned a master's degree in music education from Columbia University's Teachers College.  Cantor Abramson received her cantorial training at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Cantor Abramson is a vice president of the Cantors Assembly, the first female officer in the Assembly's history.  She serves on the executive board of the Zamir Choral Foundation and is a member of the Women Cantors Network.  Her previous pulpits were at West End Synagogue in Manhattan and Congregation Sons of Israel in Westchester.  She has taught prayer and synagogue skills at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, and has directed the music program at Camp Ramah.
Cantor Abramson has sung on the stages of Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, at the North American Jewish Choral Festival with the Selah Vocal Ensemble, and throughout Israel with the Rinat Choir.  She studies voice with Ray Evans Harrell.
Cantor Abramson was born and raised in Milwaukee.  She began her Jewish musical career in the children's choir at her synagogue, and attended the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.
Cantor Abramson is married to Mitch Glenn.  They have three children, Arielle, Molly and Ezra, who all sing beautifully. 
Mr. Michael Abadi 
Michael AbadiMichael grew up in Bogota, Colombia and obtained his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering there. He then moved to the US to attend graduate school and obtained a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering at MIT, followed by an MBA at Stanford University.
A natural entrepreneur, throughout his professional and personal life Michael has always worked in areas that enable him to stay close to his roots in Latin America; he believes the Jewish Communities worldwide have a lot in common, but also a lot to learn from each other. For the past few years, Michael has enjoyed working at the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs in addition to Masorti Olami, acting as a special liaison for the Latin America region and building lay leadership and co-operation programs for the communities there.
For many years Michael has dedicated an enormous amount of both business and personal travel time to visiting Masorti congregations, and has established excellent working relationships with rabbis, lay leaders and young adults in 15 countries. Through all of these visits and endeavors, he is helping to develop the future leadership of the Masorti movement in Latin America.
Michael currently lives in Charlotte, NC, and has been married to his lovely wife Denise for 25 years. They have two children, Sara and Mark, who live in New York and Chapel Hill, NC respectively.
We hope you will participate and will encourage your friends and colleagues to join us in honoring these outstanding individuals.

For more information, to purchase tickets or ads, or to make a donation, please visit www.masortiworld.org/tribute2009