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Dr. Herbert London and Dr. Gerald Fischbach Honored at Marpeh Lanefesh Dinner

December 18, 2006
For Immediate Release
For More Information, Please Contact:
Sarah Cohen — LUBICOM Marketing Consulting
718. 854. 4450 x 111

New York, NY…Two distinguished New Yorkers were honored at a special dinner on December 13^th by Marpeh Lanefesh, Israel’s largest not-for profit agency providing community housing for the mentally challenged. Dr. Herbert London, President of the Hudson Institute and a well known thinker and political activist was the evening’s Guest of Honor and Dr. Gerald Fischbach, Scientific Director of The Simons Foundation, and a leading international authority on neurological diseases was recognized with the organization’s “I will be their voice” award.

A distinguished audience including such notables as Roy Innis, national director of CORE; Norman Podhoretz, editor-at-large of Commentary magazine; Henry Stern, former NYC Parks Commissioner; Elizabeth McCaughey, former Lieutenant-Governor of the State of New York; Nina Rosenwald, Co-Chair of the Board of American Securities Holding Corporation; Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union; Lawrence Kadish, founding member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, attended the Marpeh Lanefesh “I Will Be Their Voice” Award Dinner at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Both honorees paid tribute to Marpeh Lanefesh for its pioneering efforts, housing more than 450 mentally challenged patients in 33 hostels and apartments throughout Israel. The proceeds of the dinner will be earmarked towards a special fund to help Marpeh Lanefesh acquire some of the facilities it currently leases, refurbishment of apartments, and providing the residents with more programming. The entire medical and scientific community in Israel recognizes the effectiveness of the Marpeh Lanefesh approach.

Dr. London spoke of the enormous contribution of Marpeh Lanefesh in dealing with the mentally challenged, singling out the organization’s work with families affected by the War in the North last summer. In addition to heading the Hudson Institute, a world renowned think-tank in Washington DC, Dr. London is professor emeritus and the former John M. Olin Professor of Humanities at New York University. Dr. Fischbach, a former Dean of Faculties of Health Sciences at Columbia University, and former Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institute of Health lauded some of the trailblazing efforts of Marpeh Lanefesh’s methodology in treating patients. Dr. Fischbach joined The Simons Foundation in early 2006 as the Scientific Director to oversee its new Autism Initiative.

The awards to Drs. London and Fischbach were presented by Elly Kleinman, President and CEO of the Americare Companies, serving as co-Chairman of the American Board of Marpeh Lanefesh. Each honoree was presented with a silver menorah in honor of the upcoming Chanukah holiday. The master of ceremonies of the special dinner was Menachem Lubinsky, president and CEO of LUBICOM Marketing Consulting and co-chairman of the American Marpeh Lanefesh Board of Directors. Mr. Lubinsky paid tribute to Rabbis Yosef Buchsbaum and Rabbi Shmuel Polak, the founders and leaders of Marpeh Lanefesh who were present.

Also present at the dinner was Yaacov Nadler, a therapist who voluntarily traveled on a 10-day mission to Israel jointly organized by OHEL Children’s and Family Services and Marpeh Lanefesh. Mr. Nadler was part of a team that provided counseling to victims and the homeless during the Israel-Lebanon war.