JTS and B’nai Torah Congregation to Honor Beatriz and Harold Jacobsohn at a Special Dinner

Followed by a Gala Concert

The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and B’nai Torah Congregation of Boca Raton will host a special dinner honoring Beatriz and Harold Jacobsohn, with the theme “Inspiring the Jewish World through Leadership and Action,” on Sunday, December 6, at 5:30 p.m. Professor Arnold M. Eisen, chancellor of JTS, will be the keynote speaker. He will be joined by honorary chairs Dr. Tobi and Rabbi David Steinhardt and co-chairs Dr. Tania and Gary Koolik and Stephanie and Rabbi David Englander. Beatriz and Harold Jacobsohn will be presented with the prestigious JTS Community Service Award that evening, in recognition of their dedicated service to the synagogue, the community, and the Conservative Movement, and for exemplary leadership in support of JTS. The dinner will be held at B’nai Torah Congregation at 6261 SW 18th Street in Boca Raton, Florida. The cost to attend is $136 per person. RSVP by December 1 to Carolyn Kantor, director of Principal Gifts, at (561) 852-3454 or cakantor@jtsa.edu.

The dinner will be followed by a gala John Leopold and Martha Dellheim Concert at 7:30 pm, which is open to the public as a gift to the community from JTS and B’nai Torah Congregation. It will feature Cantors Boaz Davidoff, Nancy Abramson, Gerald Cohen, and Elizabeth Shammash, and will introduce Summer Greenwald-Gonella, Josh Kowitz, and Jennifer Rolnik, students at H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music of JTS. Alan Mason will provide accompaniment.

The Jacobsohns’ involvement with JTS began by funding scholarships for rabbinical students, after a pivotal conversation in 2004 with Rabbi David Steinhardt, who was then a member of the Chancellor’s Rabbinic Cabinet. In 2007, Harold joined the JTS Board of Trustees and became a member of the Academic Affairs Committee, devoting his attention to the undergraduate division, Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies. Harold has also been a trustee and officer of Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton since 2004. Beatriz and Harold are also involved in the Jewish education work in Israel of Yemin Orde, the Schechter Institute of Judaic Studies, and WIZO, and they are supporters of AIPAC. They have participated in three JTS missions—two to Israel and one to Spain—and have been participants in JTS’s Kollot: Voices of Learning program since its inception, studying with Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz for more than 10 years.

Born in Cali, Colombia, Beatriz and Harold have been active members of B’nai Torah Congregation since their arrival in the United States. The family moved to Florida in 1984 and has been active in real estate investments and development. Beatriz and Harold’s daughter and son-in-law, Tania and Gary Koolik, live in Boca Raton with their three children. Their son and daughter-in-law, David and Dana, live in Bethesda, Maryland, with their three children.