Date
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
2025 Book of Life Celebration
Please join us for this year’s Book of Life Celebration. This special event will honour and celebrate Jewish lives and values, as we recognize the inspiring stories of those who have left a legacy for the future of our community through the Jewish Foundation.
Join us for cocktails and a discussion between Rabbi David Wolpe, named the "Most Influential Rabbi in America" by Newsweek, and Jonah Platt, an actor and host of the podcast Being Jewish.
Registration closes March 25, 2025, or when all available tickets are sold. Get yours now before we sell out!
Kashrut observed
SPEAKERS
RABBI DAVID WOLPE
Named the "Most Influential Rabbi in America" by Newsweek, one of the "50 Most Influential Jews in the World" by The Jerusalem Post, and twice named one of the "500 Most Influential People in Los Angeles" by the Los Angeles Business Journal, David Wolpe is the Max Webb Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple. He serves as the American Defamation League's inaugural rabbinic fellow and a scholar in residence at the Maimonides Fund.
Rabbi Wolpe has taught at Harvard, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the American Jewish University, Hunter College, and UCLA. Rabbi Wolpe has been published widely, including in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and The Atlantic. He has been featured on The Today Show, Face the Nation, ABC This Morning, and CBS This Morning. Rabbi Wolpe is the author of eight books, including the national bestseller Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times. His latest is titled David, the Divided Heart. It was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards, and has been optioned for a movie by Warner Bros.
JONAH PLATT
Jonah Platt is a trusted voice in the modern conversation on Jewish identity, culture, and current events. He is the host of Being Jewish with Jonah Platt, the new hit podcast that explores the diverse spectrum of Jewish identity through conversations with a wide array of notable guests, such as Top Chef’s Gail Simmons, political analyst Van Jones, Rabbi David Wolpe, and actress Patricia Heaton. A true entertainment multi-hyphenate, Jonah has acted in prestige projects from Hollywood (Being the Ricardos) to Broadway (Wicked), written for a number of TV comedies, and is currently producing his first feature film, The Mensch, in which he will co-star alongside Ginnifer Goodwin. He is also a sought-after singer and musician, an award-winning vocal arranger, a director of improv and theatre, and is currently co-writing the musical adaptation of Lois Lowry’s best-selling novel The Giver. His words on the Jewish experience have appeared in Variety, New York Post, LA Magazine, Jewish Journal, Hey Alma, Kveller, and The Wrap. He’s been a featured expert on KTLA News, Fox News Digital, Atlanta News First, Israel’s i24, and News Nation.
Book of Life Chairs
Judy and David Engel
Our 2025 Honourees
Naomi Azrieli
Renee Bleeman and Ron Bernbaum
Roy and Ronna Birnboim Family
Tali and Barry Burstein
Farla Efros and Mike Muyal
Debbie Elman and Sloan Levett
Karmit and Gilad Epstein
Jamie Golombek
Cheryl and Mark Grammer
Mardi and Haim Hirshberg
Jewish War Veterans of Canada
Shelley and Norman Levine
Lisa Lewis
Evelyn z"l and Samuel Librach
Jonah Mayles
Leslie and Nir Orbach
Jeanette and Colin Podolsky
David z"l and Dorothy Samuel
Mindy and Steven Shinoff
Roseline and Willy Tencer