Heroes & Hollywood Come Together To Fight Hate & Anti-Semitism
Close to 800 guests attended the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s 2019 National Tribute dinner in Los Angeles. The Simon Wiesenthal Center bestowed its highest honor, the Humanitarian Award, on Robert A. Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company for his commitment to the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance. Iger gave a moving speech that emphasized the importance of civility, human rights and basic decency in our society.
“In the last few years, we have been harshly reminded that hate takes many forms, sometimes disguising itself as a more socially acceptable expression like fear or resentment or contempt,” Iger said. “It is consuming our public discourse and shaping our county and culture into something that is wholly unrecognizable to those of us who still believe in civility, human rights, and basic decency.”
Medals of Valor were given out to those who exemplify the good deeds of outstanding individuals who honor mankind and whose courage and bravery shine a light in the darkest of places. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue received such medal for his community service and his actions during and after the October 27, 2018 Tree of Life synagogue massacre. Rabbi Myers’ medal had the inscription, “He who saves a single life, it is as if he has saved an entire world.” Other recipients were Holocaust resistance hero, Kurt Kleinman; and immigrant rights activist, Florence Phillips.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance closed the evening with an important message.
“To restore hope and confidence in our future, Americans should heed the advice of the great 12th-century thinker, Maimonides, who taught that one must never allow extremism on either side of the pendulum to become our permanent abode,” Hier said. “Human beings, he insisted, should learn to oscillate between the extremes. Sometimes veering more to the east and other times more to the west, with the sole objective always being the greater good of the community. Recognizing that politics in the absence of patriotism will almost always lead to tyranny.”
Photos: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages
