January-February 2012 - The Jewish Georgian

January-February 2012 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 11
Sawyer receives National Human Relations Award
The American Jewish Committee, the
nation’s oldest human relations organization,
saluted D. Jack Sawyer, Jr., for his
unflagging community involvement and
commitment to AJC Atlanta’s mission of
human rights and building bridges of mutual
understanding, while erasing all forms of
bigotry.
The prestigious 2011 National
Human Relations Award was presented to
Sawyer, president of Wilmington Trust
Southeast Region, at an elegant dinner at
the St. Regis Hotel, on December 8.
Don Perry (from left), Jack Sawyer,
Elaine Levin, and Dr. Herbert Shessel
The evening began with an invocation
by Rabbi Ron Segal, of Temple Sinai,
and continued with a welcome by American
Jewish Committee President Lenny
Silverstein.
Co-chairs of the annual dinner were
Lovette and Michael Russell, whose father,
Herman J. Russell, received last year’s
award; Linda and Steve Selig; Kane and
Joel Katz, whose law firm, Greenberg
Traurig, was a principal sponsor of the
event; Marjorie and Steve Harvey; The
Very Rev. Sam Candler and his wife, Boog;
and Louise Sams, of lead sponsor Turner
Broadcasting, and Jerome Grilhot.
The Very Rev. Sam and Boog
Candler (left) and Nina and Bill
Schwartz (all photos: Kim Link)
Jack Sawyer joined a distinguished
roster of past recipients, including former
President Jimmy Carter, Senator Sam
Nunn, philanthropist and Cox Enterprises
past chairman James Cox Kennedy, and
entrepreneur Herman J. Russell, in being
honored with the National Human
Relations Award.
The Atlanta AJC Regional Office,
founded in 1944, carries forth the 105-yearold
American Jewish Committee’s promotion
of democratic ideals, minority rights,
and protection of human rights across the
globe.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, who
personally asked to write a message of commendation
to Jack Sawyer for the dinner
program, referred to Sawyer’s “tireless
work and charitable advocacy as an icon in
the Atlanta community for years.”
An advocate for progress, Sawyer
serves on the Board of Directors of the
Southeast Anti-Defamation League and the
Civil War to Civil Rights Steering
Committee of the Atlanta History Center.
He has been both chairman and honorary
chairman of the High Museum of Art’s
Driskell Prize Dinner, supporting African-
American art. His humanitarian and cultural
leadership focuses on service on the
Board of Directors of Children’s Healthcare
of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, Open Hand,
the High Museum of Art, Friends of
Georgia Music Festival, the Georgia
Museum of Art, the Atlanta Humane
Society, and Zoo Atlanta. He has led the
Atlanta History Center’s Swan House Ball,
both as chairman and honorary chairman.
The American Jewish Committee
Dinner was generously supported by lead
benefactors William B. Schwarz Family’s
Chatham Valley Foundation, with William
B. Schwartz III, of Wilmington Trust, representing
his family; the Selig Family; The
Coca-Cola Company; Wilmington Trust;
and the St. Regis Atlanta. In addition to the
co-chairmen and sponsors acknowledging
Jack Sawyer’s community leadership were
Wilmington Trust’s Mark Graham and his
wife, Nikki, who traveled from
Wilmington, Delaware, for the occasion;
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed; Gregg and
Beth Paradies; Laura Turner Seydel; Steve
and Linda Selig; Elaine Levin; Don Perry;
Chip and Sharon Shirley; Elizabeth Allen;
Debbie and Lon Neese; Steve and Sheri
Yeshiva Atlanta Shabbaton is a rousing success
After months of planning, the day had
arrived. Nearly 100 Yeshiva Atlanta students,
along with another 20 prospective
students from various middle schools
around Atlanta, boarded buses and headed
to the mountains of North Georgia. There,
at Camp Blue Ridge, they would not only
discuss the topic of unity (and its importance
to both the school and the greater
Atlanta Jewish community) but would live
it intensely for 48 hours.
This year’s Yeshiva Atlanta
Shabbaton, which took place October 28-
30, featured Divrei Torah by four different
YA students—girls representing grades 9-
12—and by the school’s new dean of
Judaic Studies, Rabbi Asher Yablok. The
students were also responsible for all parts
of the prayer services, from serving as
chazzan to opening the makeshift ark to
reading the Torah. The teachers who chaperoned,
including Head of School Dr. Paul
Oberman and Assistant Principal of Judaics
Ariella Allen, were simply part of the congregation;
their respect for the students’
leadership was obvious.
According to Oberman, “The Student
Council members did a fabulous job getting
everything organized in advance, and
the rest of the student body was equally
engaged over the course of the weekend.
Every student stepped up and took responsibility
for some aspect of the Shabbaton,
whether it was setting up meals, organizing
an afternoon hike, or simply interacting
with the 8th-graders who were in attendance
as prospective YA students.”
The Shabbaton’s schedule was packed,
starting mid-afternoon, when the 8thgraders
arrived early to the camp and were
treated to an hour-long ropes course adventure.
With the arrival of the rest of the students,
the camp was abuzz with activity as
the students prepared for Shabbat, which
included Kabbalat Shabbat, dinner, and a
festive oneg program that included several
very amusing grade skits.
Shabbat day was just as packed, with
the students leading both the shacharit and
mincha services. The highlight of the day
came via special guests Bill and Paula Gris,
who both gave talks. The Grises were
among the founding families of Yeshiva
Atlanta, and Mr. Gris served as the school’s
first basketball coach. The students loved
his stories of the school’s early days, especially
the one in which an opposing coach,
upon seeing the six-member basketball
team (the school had a total enrollment that
year of seven students), asked him,
“Where’s the rest of your team?” One of
the boys quickly responded, “He’s home
sick.”
Far more powerful were Bill’s stories
about what is was like to be a Jew in
Atlanta in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
His description of the first time he and
Paula went to see a movie after moving to
Atlanta from the New York area, only to
confront a sign proclaiming “Black
Balcony,” made a huge impact on the students.
“There were also separate water
fountains for blacks and whites,” he
explained, “which confused us terribly,
because we assumed that it was the same
water we were all drinking.”
Paula, who has worked extensively on
Holocaust-related issues and who served as
Labovitz; City Council President Robb Pitts
and his wife, Fran; Ingrid Saunders Jones,
of The Coca-Cola Company, another lead
benefactor; Elaine and Miles Alexander; Dr.
Bobbie Bailey; Darrell Mays; Lisa and Joe
Bankoff; Carolyn and Rhett Tanner; Ron
and Kay Quigley; Devyne Stephens; Ladi
Drew; and Cindy and Bill Voyles.
Fulton County Commission
Chairman John Eaves (left) with Joel
Katz
Louise Sams (from left) with Miles
and Elaine Alexander
a chaperone for the Atlanta delegation to
the March of the Living, made an equally
moving presentation. It was particularly
striking to hear her reaction to that morning’s
prayer service. “I was moved to tears
to hear your joyful and enthusiastic singing
of Hallel to mark the occasion of Rosh
Chodesh [the first day of the new month],”
she told the students.
At the conclusion of Shabbat, the students
took part in a Charlbach-style havdalah
and then enjoyed grilled hamburgers
and hot dogs as they sat around a roaring
campfire. Sparks and songs filled the air,
and it was clear to all there that the
Shabbaton had been a big success.
Kudos are of course in order to the
Student Council members who planned
and organized the Shabbaton: Co-
Presidents Yondi Kadosh and Michael Lor,
Vice-President Avi Ginsburg, Treasurer
Alexa Ratner, and Secretary Yifat Kadosh.
Special thanks, too, are due the school’s
Student Council advisors, Mrs. Amanda
Bunder and Rabbi Reuven Travis.