United Jewish Federation holds annual event

The United Jewish Federation of San Diego County held its annual Men’s Event recently. As usual, the fundraiser – which took place at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego - drew an enormous crowd of more than 900 people. That’s quite a turn-out for any charitable affair, let alone an all-male gathering.

This year’s keynote speaker was Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, one of the most distinguished defenders of individual rights and possibly the best-known criminal defense lawyer in the world.

Dershowitz was the guest of honor at a private reception for major donors prior to the dinner and program, posing for pictures with many of the guests before joining the crowd in the main ballroom.

Dan Gardenswartz, Jerry Goldberg and David Kabakoff co-chaired the successful gala. As usual, La Jollans came out in droves to contribute to the cause - and to hear Dershowitz’s eloquent talk. As Dershowitz described it, “All of us here are great patriots. We love this country. We live in the best of times and the most dangerous of times – dangerous not only for Israel, but for Jews around the world.”

Among the many local supporters were Gary Jacobs, Ed Samiljan, Ray Fink, Steve Strauss, City Council President Scott Peters, Brian Miller, Andrea and Larry Oster, Rick Kornfeld, Mark Moss, former Charger Michael London, David Geffen, Don Lipkis, Alan Viterbi, Andy Ratner and Paul Treger.