Hundreds gathered in Jerusalem on Monday night to celebrate the contributions that immigrants have made to the State of Israel both in general and particularly over the past two turbulent years at the 10th annual Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize ceremony.

Speaking at the Beit Ha’Am Cultural Center in downtown Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, the aliyah advocacy group, said the accomplishments of the prize winners demonstrated the resilience of the Israeli people in the face of hardship.

“In the midst of all of this pain, there is also a remarkable strength. Despite the challenges we face, we have proven constantly [and] consistently demonstrated that even in our darkest moments, our spirit can endure, remain hopeful and rebuild,” Fass said. “These extraordinary individuals have not only achieved excellence in their respective fields but have also significantly enriched Israeli society and beyond, whether in medicine, education, technology, the arts or community leadership. It is a privilege to celebrate their remarkable contributions, which strengthen the Jewish state and inspire future generations of olim to continue shaping our homeland.”

The six recipients of the 2024 award are: Phyllis Heimowitz, the co-founder of A Partner Left Behind, which represents the non-spouse partners of fallen IDF soldiers; Eylon Levy, a former government spokesman who founded a public diplomacy nonprofit; Dr. Debra Gershov-West, the director of the emergency department at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital; Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, a Foreign Ministry special envoy focused on combating antisemitism; and Natan Sharansky, the refusenik and former Jewish Agency chairman and government minister.

The award ceremony also featured a memorial to Omer Neutra, 21, who had immigrated to Israel from New York and served as a “lone soldier” in the Israel Defense Forces. Neutra’s death at the hands of Hamas on Oct. 7 had been confirmed by the IDF on Monday morning, ending more than a year of hope that he was still alive. Neutra, a tank commander, and his team were among the first soldiers to respond to the Hamas attack. 

Recipients of the 2023 awards were also recognized at the ceremony, as last year’s event was cancelled because of the outbreak of the war.

Nefesh B’Nefesh’s co-founder, Tony Gelbart, told eJewishPhilanthropy that recognizing the immense contributions of English-speaking immigrants to Israeli society can serve as an inspiration to other people wanting to make aliyah.  

“We have to recognize the people, the olim, who came here and contributed so much in medicine, in healthcare, in teaching, in aviation, the military and in high-tech…all these people have contributed immensely during their entire lifetime,” he said. “They come here and show what they can achieve and how valuable it is to the country.”

One of the 2023 recipients, Lt. Col. (Res.) Danny Grossman, a U.S.-born decorated fighter pilot who is also chairman of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Israel, which is working to address post-traumatic stress disorder following the Oct. 7 attacks, remarked that instead of succumbing to despair, he views the past year as a challenge.

“We have to take what we get and what we have and work with it to improve upon it,” he told eJP. “You have to reinvent yourself every single day of your life to prove that you want to…and can do something on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people. I see that as a challenge every single day. I think this award… incentivizes for [everybody] the idea that they can also make a contribution in their own way. Everyone in their own way can do something to contribute to the state of Israel, to the Jewish people.”

Gershov-West, director of the emergency department at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital and founder of the Frontline Emergency Medicine nonprofit, was among the 2024 honorees who were selected for their contributions throughout the year following the outbreak of the war.

“It has been a challenging year, all-encompassing,” Gershov-West, who immigrated from Australia, told eJP. On Oct. 7 she led her hospital’s emergency department through the mass casualty event treating 113 wounded soldiers and civilians, and since treating hundreds more. “I have thrown in my lot with the Jewish people and do everything I can possibly do to help. There are a lot of olim who make a difference. It is nice to have that recognized.”

In response to the urgent need for frontline medical training following Oct. 7, Gershov-West established the Frontline Emergency Medicine mobile simulation unit under the Health Research and Science NPO. With a team of over 50 international volunteers, specialists in trauma, emergency and tactical medicine, as well as support from widespread donations, FEM has conducted more than 100 workshops, training over 3,000 frontline medical professionals in critical lifesaving skills.

Architect Shari Mendes, a 2023 award recipient and the founder of Israel’s Lemonade Fund, an Israeli breast cancer emergency relief fund, also found herself in the public eye last year as she became the unofficial spokeswoman for an IDF reserve unit where she served to care for the bodies of female soldiers and other women killed in the Oct. 7 attacks.   

While still working with the IDF and speaking at events about her work with them, Mendes — who immigrated to Israel from New Jersey — also continued her efforts with the Lemonade Fund, which was providing support to many cancer patients who had been evacuated from their homes.

“There was a lot of war impact to cancer patients that nobody thought…they’re out of their houses without their papers, So we put together a war grant program. You know cancer doesn’t know about war,” she told eJP. “There’s much more need now because costs have gone up because of the war, and there’s no less cancer. So the recognition means a lot to me because I feel like we’ll be able to get the word out and people will hear about what we do.”

Canadian-Israeli businessman and philanthropist Sylvan Adams, who funded the prize, presented a special recognition award to Sharansky, lauding the Soviet human rights activist and former head of the Jewish Agency, as a “force of nature.” Thanking Sharansky for his lifelong dedication to Israel and world Jewry, Adams described him as “the embodiment of modern Zionism.” 

“You are a beacon of perseverance, courage, unwavering determination who has inspired generations of people, including U.S. presidents all around the globe,” said Adams. “Your journey standing up to brutal totalitarian authoritarianism is a testament to the strength of the human spirit, but also a demonstration of the unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and Eretz Israel. Your efforts almost single-handedly led to the immigration of more than a million Soviet Jews, which profoundly and positively impacted our state.”

The 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dr. Yehezkel Caine, president of the Herzog Medical Center who immigrated from England in 1959, for his lifelong commitment to advancing medicine and aeromedicine on the global stage. 

Dr. Carmi Z. Margolis, the Bronx-born founding dean of Ben-Gurion University Medical School for International Health and a 2023 recipient of the prize, said he had not heard of the prize when he was told he was to be a recipient and was amazed at the “positive feeling” at the ceremony.

“It was a great experience. The truth is, that it is embarrassing in a certain way. I guess I was brought up not to flaunt things,” he said. “But having said that — it feels good.”