The 58th annual Four Chaplains Memorial Service and Brotherhood Award Program will be held on Sunday, March 5, at 2:30 p.m. at the First Reformed Church, 8 North Church St., Schenectady. It honors the four chaplains who gave their lives in the sinking of the troopship Dorchester on Feb. 3, 1943. It also honors current community members whose services and devotion in the practice of brotherhood deserve Jewish War Veterans acknowledgement, according to JWV organizers.
Recipients for 2023 award will be Rabbis, and husband and wife, Jonathan Rubenstein and Linda Motzkin of Saratoga Springs.
Rabbis LINDA MOTZKIN, JONATHAN RUBENSTEIN. Photo courtesy of Emma Dodge Hanson.
The two recently retired from Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs after 36 years of joint leadership in the Capital Region’s religious community. The two had been co-rabbis at the temple since 1986.
Rabbi Jonathan Rubenstein led Temple Sinai’s Slice of Heaven bakery project, a non-profit bakery operated from the synagogue’s kitchen, which continues to produce baked goods to help those less fortunate.
Rabbi Linda Motzkin is among one of only 13 female scribes in the world and initiated the Community Torah Project, a long-term process of making a Torah scroll, which has involved more than 4,000 participants in the U.S. and internationally.
The two combined their work in a project known as Bread and Torah in 2004 and continue to share their passions with interactive educational programs around the world. The couple have been educators and ambassadors of goodwill to 15 states and Washington, D.C., and to Jewish communities in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand, Hungary, and Poland.
Albany Post 105 of the Jewish War Veterans has led an effort to recognize a member of the community with this award since 1966.
Those planning to attend are asked to make resevations by Thursday, March 2, with [email protected] or 518-727-7314.
