Photos: Greetings From Mirowitz Gala

Published May 12, 2023

More than 350 guests crowded the ballroom at the Ritz Carlton on May 7 for “Greetings From Mirowitz” — the annual gala to benefit Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School and collectively raised nearly $300,000 for the school.

Rabbi Daniel Bogard
Rabbi Daniel Bogard, Mirowitz dad and spiritual leader at Central Reform Congregation, presented the Community Service Award to his rabbis and colleagues, Rabbi Susan and Rabbi Jim, whom he said have “changed the landscape of St. Louis Jewry, and have taught all of us what it means to be a mensch and justice seeker."

The gala celebrated the impact of growing up at Mirowitz and featured a new video connecting Mirowitz alumni with current students.

The event celebrated Rabbi Susan Talve and Rabbi James Stone Goodman, as recipients of the Community Service Award. (See video here!)

In the community, they are admired spiritual leaders of Central Reform Congregation, but at Mirowitz, they are simply “Harry’s grandparents.” On Monday mornings, you’ll find them leading Harry and his Mirowitz classmates in Havdalah, encouraging them to find a divine spark in each other’s eyes. “They are beloved at Mirowitz for their devotion to our students, but they were honored for they way they live their lives as agents for social change and role models for Mirowitz students,” says Mirowitz Head of School Raquel Scharf-Anderson.

The event also honored Buddy Lebman as the recipient of the Meyer and Marcelle Kranzberg Visionary Award.

Lebman was a major force behind the creation of Mirowitz’s RJA legacy school. Before that school opened in 2000, Jewish day schools only existed in the Orthodox and Conservative communities.

“I felt that there was not enough time to learn about being Jewish in a weekend religious school,” said Lebman.

So he spent three years discussing the idea of a Jewish day school with the Reform rabbis, and secured start-up funding from the school’s founding philanthropists. He was the first board president, hired Marsha Grazman and Carol Rubin as the first administrative team, and in those early days, was willing to do anything — even maintenance work — to help the school.

“I kvell when I think about how Mirowitz has grown from its six initial students,” said Lebman. “It has progressed even more than I ever thought it would and has an outstanding reputation. And those graduates! I’m so impressed with their Jewish knowledge and command of Hebrew. The community is better because of them.”