The Jewish National Fund Wisconsin Region will honor community activists at its annual dinner to be held on Sunday, Sept. 9, 6 p.m., at Brynwood Country Club.
Honorees are: Sally and Jeffrey Cooper; Judy and Bernard Kristal; Rosalind Riva and Dr. William Merkow; Rusti Hansher Moffic and Dr. H. Steven Moffic; Susan Weinberg Richheimer and Todd Richheimer; Pamela Frydman-Roza and Dr. Allan Roza; and Merle Wasserman.
“The coveted JNF Honoree Award is presented to show JNF’s appreciation to the honorees for their devotion to Jewish and other causes and the State of Israel,” said Dianne Spector, dinner co-chair with Neena Florsheim.
The program will also include a performance by the Milwaukee Jewish Community Chorale with a narrative by Ruth Resnick.
Sally and Jeffrey Cooper
Milwaukee natives Sally and Jeffrey Cooper are members of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, where she served on the board for six years.
Sally works in design and sales at Milwaukee Marble & Granite, and Jeffrey is an attorney at Stupar, Schuster and Cooper, S.C.
She is a current and he a past member of the board of directors of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center and they have co-chaired a number of its events, including the Kidshare Gala in 2006 and 2007. Jeffrey served on the JCC’s board for 12 years, three as treasurer.
The Coopers have also served on the board of the American Heart Association, where Jeffrey still serves. They have worked on its Heart Ball for three years, and were co-chairs in 2001.
Sally was the Milwaukee Jewish Federation Young Leadership co-chair in 1999 and Jeffrey was the MJF Young Men’s Campaign chair and Young Men’s Leadership chair. He is a past member of the MJF board. They have three teenage children.
Judy and Bernard Kristal
Lifelong Wisconsin residents, Judy and Bernard Kristal are members of Temple Menorah, where they serve on the board of directors, she as past vice president and he as financial secretary and past Israel Bond chair.
Bernard became an accountant in 1959 and worked as a partner in public accounting firms from the 1960s until 2002. Judy worked as an occupational therapist for 20 years.
The Kristals volunteer in many capacities for the federation, including as campaign workers and division co-chairs. Judy is also on the board of the federation’s Women’s Division and the 2007 allocation panel. She was a past co-chair of the Women’s Division’s Political Awareness Series.
They also serve on the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations board. First vice president, Judy formerly co-chaired a number of MJCCR projects and task forces.
In addition, Bernard volunteers for the Jewish Community Pantry and is a member of the Israel Bonds Cabinet.
Rosalind Riva Merkow and William Merkow
Madison native Rosalind Riva Merkow and Milwaukee native Dr. William Merkow have been members of Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha since 1950, where he is a past president. They are also members in perpetuity of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun.
Riva co-owned “Riva Ruth,” an Israeli import boutique in the Knickerbocker Hotel. Bill practiced surgery at Waukesha Memorial Hospital for 40 years, eight as chief of surgery. He also taught family and community medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Since 1990, he has been associate medical director at Quad/Med Clinic, a division of Quad/Graphics, Inc.
The parents of three sons and 10 grandchildren, they are members of Hadassah, where she has worked on many committees in Madison and Milwaukee; the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning; and the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, where she participated in young leader activities.
Riva began collecting for the Jewish National Fund at age 11 and continued volunteering for Jewish and general community organizations from that time to the present. Bill too has been active in supporting Jewish and general civic, educational, arts and medical organizations.
Rusti Hansher Moffic
and H. Steven Moffic
Milwaukeean Rusti Hansher Moffic and Dr. H. Steven Moffic and their daughter and son have been members of Congregation Shalom since 1990, when they returned to Milwaukee after 25 years.
Rusti served three terms as sisterhood co-president, several terms as religious services and music committee co-chair and currently serves on the temple board as secretary. She also volunteers for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League and Arts in Community Education program.
Rusti taught learning disabled children and now studies fashion design at Mount Mary College. Steve, a psychiatrist, is a tenured professor in the departments of psychiatric and behavioral sciences as well as family and community medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
In addition to teaching, Steve has maintained a private practice, created some 500 publications and presentations and concentrated his skills on providing for underserved members of the community. He has chaired a number of ethics committees and won awards for contributions to medicine, ethics and teaching.
Susan Weinberg Richheimer
and Todd Richheimer
Susan Weinberg Richheimer, originally of Bloomfield, Mich., and Milwaukee native Todd Richheimer are the parents of three young sons, age two-, three- and four-years-old and members of Congregation Sinai.
Todd is co-owner of Visual Impressions, Inc., a company specializing in printed and embroidered garments.
They have both spent time in Israel, where Todd attended the Alexander Muss High School in Israel and spent a semester at Tel Aviv University.
Susan is a member of the Harold & Terry Nash JCC Parenting & Family Center. She serves on the board of the National Council of Jewish Women and is a past board member of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. She has worked on the Men Opposing Violence Through Education program at Jewish Family Services as well as other volunteer work in the general community.
Todd co-chaired the MJF Young Men’s Division from 2004-2006, served on the MJF Young Leadership board and won the MJF’s Benjamin Nichol Award in 2005. He is a board member of JFS.
Pamela Frydman-Roza
and Allan Roza
Pamela Frydman-Roza and Dr. Allan Roza were born and raised in Canada. Having learned Zionism at home, they both spent a year of their youth living there, he in a young leadership program of Canadian Young Judea, and she volunteering on a kibbutz and studying in an ulpan.
They honeymooned in Israel and have since visited many times. Several years ago Pam participated in the Arava Institute for the Environment’s bike trip from Jerusalem to Eilat.
Pam has worked as a Hebrew teacher in several area schools and Allan has practiced medicine for 20 years as a transplant surgeon at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
The parents of two daughters, they are members of Congregation Beth Israel.
Merle Wasserman
Merle Wasserman, who grew up in Chicago, is the mother of three adult children, grandmother of seven and member of Congregation Sinai. An adjunct professor at Upper Iowa University and retired psychotherapist, Merle has increased her volunteer activities since retiring in 2003.
In 2006, she received the federation’s Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Worker Achievement for its annual campaign. This year she will serve as chair of the Guardian Division for “snowbirds.”
She is also a co-chair of the Women’s Division Jewish Awareness Series, as well as a member of Hadassah-Milwaukee Chapter and JNF.
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