The Mittleman Jewish Community Center is excited to announce our annual Community Celebration on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 5:30 PM.  The MJCC’s Community Celebration is an opportunity to salute our members and Oregonians of note.  We will honor Gayle Romain with the MJCC Pillar of Excellence award, induct a new member into the Oregon Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and present our Harry Glickman Scholar Athlete Award to two high-achieving high school athletes. Guests please RSVP at oregonjcc.org/celebration

Our keynote speaker for the evening will be Erez Kaganovitz. Photographer, native Tel Avivi, and TEDx speaker, Erez Kaganovitz is the human behind the Humans of Tel Aviv, Humans of Israel, and Humans of the Holocaust projects. Through his work, Erez has helped bridge a cultural gap in society both within and outside of Israel. His compelling work brings understanding, emotional connection, and unity to many around the world. Humans of Israel combines photojournalism with digital storytelling in order to give a sense of what makes Israel, and the diverse humans in it, tick. With intriguing, thought-provoking photographs and the stories about the humans behind them, the project puts a human face on an extraordinary place and challenges preconceptions those outside of Israel may have by communicating a sense of our shared humanity. The Humans of Israel project offers a fresh look at the rich and remarkably diverse lives of Israelis and showcases Israel’s diversity, multiculturalism, and vibrant civil society.  As a core element to the MJCC’s celebration of Israel @ 75, Erez’s Humans of Israel project will be displayed in the MJCC from March through mid-May 2023, and across Portland, and other parts of Oregon through March of 2024.

Co-Sponsors of the Humans of Israel Exhibit:  Israel360 of Neveh Shalom, JCCA Israel Engagement Fund, Jewish National Fund USA, Multnomah County Cultural Coalition, Nefesh B' Nefesh, Oregon Cultural Trust and PDX Hillel. With support from Fred and Sara Harwin, The Kostiner Cultural Education Fund, and Jeff Reingold of Income Property Management.