(Courtesy of JNF) Since 1964 when the first Jewish National Fund honoree was Sen. Matthew Feldman, the first Jewish mayor of Teaneck, the Teaneck council of JNF has celebrated 51 consecutive years of recognition of JNF supporters and projects in Israel.

This year’s Annual Dinner and Dessert Reception will be held Tuesday evening, December 11, at the Jewish Center of Teaneck, 70 Sterling Place, at 7:00 p.m. Honorees at this annual event are Joanne Palmer, noted journalist and editor of The Jewish Standard; Sandee Brawarsky and Barry Lichtenberg of Cong. Rinat Yisrael and Cong. Beth Sholom in Teaneck; and Isaac and Nechama Student of the Jewish Center of Teaneck.

Joanne Palmer, who will be receiving the Community Service Award, has been singled out for her journalistic achievements by the Rockower awards for both writing and editing. By her own admission, she is a compulsive reader, writer, editor, talker and listener, which makes her a perfect fit for her job, which she loves immensely.

She has been the Jewish Standard’s editor for six years, spent seven years as communications director for the United Synagogue of America and was the Standard’s managing editor for five years before that, so her connections to the paper, the community and the Jewish world are strong.

Joanne lives in Manhattan with her husband, Andy Sherman, and their dogs. They are active members of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun. Their daughter, Miriam Palmer-Sherman, their son-in-law, Rabbi David Vaisberg and their fantastic grandchildren, Nava and Judah, live in Metuchen.

Sandee Brawarsky is an award-winning journalist and editor who serves as culture editor of the New York Jewish Week. She meets frequently with Israeli writers and writes often about Israeli culture. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and other publications.

Barry Lichtenberg is an accomplished trial and appellate attorney. He is a founding member of Lichtenberg PLLC, a Manhattan law firm specializing in complex commercial and real estate litigation. Mr. Lichtenberg has lectured widely on legal and Jewish topics and his articles have appeared in a variety of publications.

Barry and Sandee are the proud parents of Akiva, Meir and Miriam, each of whom devoted a pre-college gap year to Torah study in Israel.

Isaac and Nechama Student are committed Zionists and have been members of the Jewish Center of Teaneck since they moved to Teaneck over 40 years ago. Isaac has served on the board of trustees of the ICOT for many years, was past chairman of the religious committee, past first vice-president and past president. Nechama has been active as well as part of the Kiddush committee and chairs many special events at the Center,

Isaac and Nechama come from very different backgrounds; Isaac’s parents were Polish while he was born in Russia and grew up in Cuba; Nechama is a native Sabra. Their oldest child, Dahlia, made aliyah over 21 years ago, and has three children, the oldest one currently serving in the IDF. Their middle child is Rabbi Gil Student of Brooklyn, married with one daughter, and their youngest is Galit, also married, with three children, living in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Both Isaac and Nechama are committed Zionists and have been to Israel many times visiting family and enjoying the great work in Israel by the Jewish National Fund.

The guest speaker that evening will be Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder of Nefesh B’Nefesh, a partner with the Jewish National Fund, which since 2002 has assisted more than 50,000 people from North America and the U.K. in their immigration to Israel.

Other highlighted projects are the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, located at Kibbutz Ketura, deep in the Negev, which advances cross-border environmental cooperation through education and research.

With the Arava International Center for Agricultural Training (AICAT), JNF imparts professional agricultural knowledge and skills to students from developing countries who then return home with a new skill set and an eagerness to spread the positive Israeli message.

For more information about this singular event, please contact Michael Feinman at [email protected] or 212-879-9300, x503.