(Courtesy of JCC MetroWest) Members of the MetroWest community came together at the JCC in West Orange on the evening of Aug. 15 to welcome Wall Street mogul and philanthropist Leon Cooperman. Cooperman promoted his new business memoir, “From the Bronx to Wall Street: My Fifty Years in Finance and Philanthropy,” as part of JCC MetroWest’s Jewish Authors & Ideas series of lectures and events.

Cooperman kept 200 audience members rapt in JCC MetroWest’s theater as he regaled them with tales of his career in a fireside chat with Evan Ratner, also a financier and philanthropist. The evening was kicked off with a presentation of gifts from Leo, a recipient of a Cooperman Family Philanthropy award as part of JCC MetroWest’s Camp Deeny Riback’s Otzmot program. The Otzmot program provides young adults with special needs an opportunity for vocational training and peer acceptance in a warm Jewish communal setting and is funded by the Cooperman Fund for a Jewish Future. From there, the stage was set for an hour of inspired stories and advice from the investment legend who is a subscriber to Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, engaged in giving away the entirety of his multi-billion-dollar fortune, as well as a subscriber to the Jewish Future Pledge, a commitment to donate half of all charitable gifts to support the Jewish people and/or Israel.

The evening ended warmly with Cooperman signing copies of his book for the eagerly awaiting audience, a chance for all to connect after an energizing event.

“We thank Mr. Cooperman for spending the evening with our JCC MetroWest community, who he and his wife Toby have generously supported for many years. We also thank the evening’s sponsors, the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center and the Jewish Service for the Developmentally Disabled for helping us make this special event possible,” said Karen Lewis, JCC MetroWest’s director of development.