August 2021
Suzy Polgar
The annual Negev Dinner, held in cities across Canada since 1948, has been known as THE place to be! Year after year, this premier event has honoured people who have had a profound effect on our local communities, and year after year, members of the local Jewish and greater community have shown their support for the honourees, for Israel, and for the Jewish National Fund.
JNF Hamilton is excited to honour Cindy and Lowell Richter at the 2021 Hamilton Negev Dinner — a couple who is loved and respected in Hamilton and beyond for their dedication and commitment to helping others, and for the selfless manner in how they give back and pay it forward.
The beneficiary project in Israel the Richters have chosen to support is the Bervin-JNF Canada House for Excellence in Sderot, an academic centre for high school students in the Gaza envelope, with a mission of giving the young people in the periphery educational advantages needed to improve their social mobility and prosperity by closing the educational achievement gap. The building will be completely fortified, as Sderot is located along Israel’s most hostile border and recent times have reminded us how crucial this is. This facility will give them the security of knowing that building will be protected against attacks and they will be safe while pursuing their studies.
Bari Weiss, journalist and the author of “How to Fight Antisemitism,” will be the dinner’s keynote speaker. Weiss wrote her book in 2018, in response to the terrorist attack at her childhood synagogue in Squirrel Hill, PA. She was relevant and popular then and was even doing the nighttime talk show circuit. And now, as antisemitic incidents have hit an all-time high, Weiss’s current writings, blogs and podcasts have launched her into being one of the most popular and relevant speakers today as she addresses the rise of antisemitism and intolerance across the political spectrum.
With Ontario opening up, we are thrilled to finally gather in person to toast Cindy and Lowell and to hear the speech that Bari Weiss has been working on for two years. Hopefully we can gather in person, but if that doesn’t happen, we will pivot to plan B. Everything is business as usual and if it’s not, JNF Canada has proven it can adapt and create gala evenings in different ways. Please join us on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at LiUNA Station. Tickets begin at $180 with a special price of $100 for the under 40 crowd. Please contact our office 905-527-5516 or hamilton@jnf.ca for more information.
