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Algemeiner Journal Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Celebrity Studded Gala Dinner

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From left to right -  Dovid Efune, Harvey Weinstein, Elie Wiesel and Simon Jacobson at red carpet entrance to Algemeiner 40th Anniversary dinner on  April 23. Photo Credit: Sarah Rogers
From left to right – Dovid Efune, Harvey Weinstein, Elie Wiesel and Simon Jacobson at red carpet entrance to Algemeiner 40th Anniversary dinner on April 23. Photo Credit: Sarah Rogers
The Algemeiner Journal celebrated its 40th Anniversary with a celebrity studded dinner at Gustavino’s in NYC on Tuesday April 23. The dinner was also punctuated with the release of the Algemeiner first annual list of the “Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life”.

453 people filled the hall of this famed catering venue under the 59th Street Bridge to hear words of praise from such personalities as Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor, Consul General of Israel in NY Ido Aharoni, entertainment mogul Harvey Weinstein and famed writer, lecturer and Nobel Laureate Professor Elie Wiesel.

The Algemeiner Journal was created 40 years ago in 1972 by Gershon Jacobson as “the courageous independent voice of the Jewish people and the State of Israel”. Originally a weekly Yiddish publication with a small English section added in 1994, it differed from the otbrooher Yiddish publications of the time, such as “The Forwards”, because of its inclusion of traditional Judaism, pro Israel Zionistic slant and its balanced unbiased reporting with an emphasis on morality and justice. It therefore appealed to such journalists as Elie Wiesel who became a close friend of the Jacobson family.

With the demise of Gershon Jacobson in 2005, the helm was passed over to his son Rabbi Simon Jacobson. Simon Jacobson, himself a famed lecturer, writer and Jewish philosopher took the publication toward a new direction with its transformation into an English Weekly in 2009 and the addition of a small Yiddish section. He founded the Gershon Jacobson Jewish Continuity Foundation (GJCF) with an emphasis on fighting ignorance, apathy and divisiveness. Simon Jacobson assumed the position of Publisher and Chairman of The Algemeiner and proceeded to modernize the publication by rounding it off with Jewish news from all over the globe and targeting both Traditional and Secular Jews as well as Non-Jews.

Dovid Efune was appointed Editor and Director of The Algemeiner in 2009 and with his youthful exuberance took the paper into the 21st Century. The GJCF launched the all English website Algemeiner.com and it has become a primary source of online Jewish world news. It has been dubbed by many as the “Jewish Huffington Post” because of its democratized content model which includes a mixture of feature writers and hundreds of bloggers.

The 40th Anniversary Celebration included the attendance of some of those chosen as the Algemeiner’s “Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life”, including Malcolm Hoenlein, Abraham Foxman, Arthur Schneier, Izzy Ezagui, Ruth Messinger and Czech Ambassador to the US Petr Gandalovic who represented Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas. The Algemeiner list was published to coincide with Time’s “The 100 Most Influential People in The World” list and included such Jewish greats as Author, Prof. Elie Wiesel; Hotel Magnate and Philanthropist, Sheldon Adelson; Businessman and President of AJC, Ronald Lauder; Philanthropist and Birthright Israel creator, Michael Steinhardt; Israel Consul General, Ambassador Ido Aharoni; UN Ambassador, Ron Prosor; Chief Rabbi of the UK, Lord Jonathan Sacks; Former Senator, Joseph Lieberman; Founder of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Yechiel Eckstein and Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. It also included Non-Jews such as Founder of Christians United for Israel, Pastor John Hagee, Newark Mayor, Cory Booker and publishing magnate, Rupert Murdoch.

The evening was hosted by Fox News personality Heather Nauert and the national anthems were sung by Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky and famed singer Tony Orlando. Additional greetings were than offered by Israel’s UN Ambassador, Ron Prosor and Editor and Director Dovid Efune who spoke about the vision and future of The Algemeiner. Izzy Izagui, the first Israeli soldier to lose an arm in battle and return to active service spoke about his experiences.

The awards ceremony included a presentation to the Algemeiner 40th Anniversary Gala Honorees Neil and Sharon Book and the Algemeiner Warrior of Truth Award to famed Jewish Journalist and Author Professor Elie Wiesel by film producer Harvey Weinstein. It also included words by Publisher Simon Jacobson and the presentation of the Top 100 by Ambassador Ido Aharoni.

In his acceptance speech Elie Wiesel spoke about how in the early years Jewish newspapers hardly spoke about Israel, The Algemeiner Journal was a leader in this area and today all papers speak continuously about Israel. Wiesel stated that he loves to learn and “the more I learn the more questions I have.” Wiesel than stated, “ as Jews we need to turn information into knowledge, knowledge into sensitivity and sensitivity intro commitment. Whatever the questions are, we need to find the answers. Indifference is not an option.” He concluded, “we Jews can teach humanity certain lessons that are absolutely indispensable and humanity will than have a chance for survival.”

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