Campaign Celebration held at Audubon Tea Room
By JENNIE WALLAS
The beauty and elegance of the opulent Audubon Tea Room set the stage for honoring Dr. Julius Levy, Jr., as the recipient of the eighth annual Roger Bissinger Memorial Award at Federation’s 2013 Campaign Celebration. Allan Bissinger, made the presentation to Levy, citing him as an inspiration to all and noted “our community is lucky to have him.”
Having been singled out to receive the coveted award, Levy was acknowledged as the one member of the Jewish community who best emulates the spirit, character, and leadership qualities epitomized by the late Roger Bissinger. Before a crowd of 175 attendees, Bissinger cited Levy’s distinguished and steadfast commitment and leadership, which he said have benefited the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans and other civic, educational, and cultural organizations.
Congregation Gates of Prayer Rabbi Robert Loewy, heaped more praise onto Levy for his vast years of service to the Jewish people and that “warm feeling of connecting with a menshe,” he noted.
A past president of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans as well as a past annual campaign chair, Levy also served as the past president of Temple Sinai and has been a former board member of the New Orlenas Jewish Community Center, the Anti-Defamation League, Woldenberg Village, the former Jewish Telegraphic Agency (now known simply as JTA) and the Joint Distribution Committee.
As chairman of the Department of Surgery at Touro Infirmary and Tulane Lakeside Hospital, Levy has enjoyed a long and distinguished career teaching anatomy at Tulane University.
At the top of his acceptance remarks, Levy unveiled a keen sense of humor, explaining to the audience the difference between a street mugger and Federation, “The street mugger demands your money or your life. Federation asks for your money and our life!”
It was noted that Levy has been to Israel numerous times before on Federation missions and has traveled to many Federation “hot” spots in the former Soviet Union, Morocco and Cuba.
Levy made an unusual suggestion to the assembled donors to the Federation campaign. He suggested that they compose a letter to their yet unborn, great-great grandchild. This is a child, whom we will never know, he explained. Yet in that letter one can express what we did to make a difference in the lives of others, he said.
R. James Woolsey, former Central intelligence Director. (Photo by Jennie Wallas)
Following Levy’s remarks, the keynote speaker was welcomed to the podium. R. James Woolsey, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1993 to 1995 was welcomed. Woolsey’s talk centered about the interaction of energy and national security relative to the Middle East, and the panoply of issues surrounding the dominance of oil in the global economy.
“Drill, baby drill,” or “conserve, baby, conserve,” neither side solves the fundamental problem, he said. According to his figures, 90 percent of world energy is fueled by petroleum oil. OPEC controls 78 percent, he said , while the United States controls 1.9 percent of world oil resources. As long as that scenario plays out, he noted, the United States never will influence world markets. The problem exacerbates as long as OPEC drops production to keep prices up. Mr. Woolsey punctuated his energy comments by saying that the United States is behind communist China.
Chairman of Woolsey Partners, LLC and a venture partner with Lux Capital Management, Woolsey currently chairs the board of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and co-founded the United States Energy Security Council. He was Undersecretary of the Navy in the Carter administration, and was a delegate and advisor on the SALT I and START talks with the Soviet Union on nuclear disarmament.
Federation campaign contributors in the Audubon Tea Room. (Photo by Jennie Wallas)
At the conclusion of his remarks, Dana Shepard presented Woolsey with a special gift of a keepsake fleur-de-lis as thanks from the Federation. She also acknowledged 2013campaign chairpersons Lou and Susan Good, Amy and Jedd Malish, Louis Shepard and Jan Miller, and took particular notice to acknowledge event sponsors Herman, Herman and Katz, LLP and the Whitney Bank.
The ambiance of the room’s soaring ceilings and gleaming floors permitted attendees to reflect on the success of this year’s annual campaign. Following the formalities, attendees who paid $25 each to attend the event and who had contributed at least $18 minimum gift to Federation, were treated to a dessert reception with supervised kosher options and an open bar.
