[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 37 (Monday, March 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E455-E456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO HONEY KESSLER AMADO AND JUDITH PODOLSKY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 5, 2007

  Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize two remarkable and 
accomplished women who are being honored as Women of Valor by the West 
Coast region of the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center 
in Jerusalem. Honey Kessler Amado and Judith Podolsky are both being 
named Women of Valor at a concert by the world-renowned Klezmer 
musician Giora Feidman on the evening of March 14, 2007, in Beverly 
Hills, California. I cannot imagine more deserving recipients of this 
honor.
  Honey Kessler Amado has been keenly active in the Jewish community 
since college, when she served as a religious schoolteacher under her 
mentor and rabbi, Rabbi Mordechai Soloff. Honey became active in the 
Los Angeles Jewish community soon after her marriage to Ralph Amado, 30 
years ago. She is now a central figure in the Los Angeles Jewish 
community and is regarded as an expert on issues affecting the 
community. She first worked in the Soviet Jewry movement, during which 
time she and Ralph traveled to the Soviet Union to visit Refusenik 
Jews. Her involvement and passion for the issue led her to become chair 
of the Commission on Soviet Jewry of the Community Relations Committee 
of the Jewish Federation Council.
  Honey's work in Soviet Jewry led to her involvement in the Jewish 
National Fund, where she served as a regional and national officer. She 
also served as co-chair of the Jewish Feminist Center of the American 
Jewish Committee (AJC). She currently sits on the regional and national 
boards of the American Jewish Committee and serves as co-chair of AJC's 
regional International Relations Committee.
  Honey also serves on the speakers' bureau and the Synagogue Advisory 
Council of Jewish World Watch, and on the board of the Los Angeles 
Jewish Symphony. At her synagogue, Temple Isaiah in West Los Angeles, 
she sits on the board of trustees and serves as chair of the Jewish 
World Watch Committee, having chaired and sat on several other 
committees of the synagogue.
  In 2002, Honey was a member of a 9-person delegation from the AJC to 
go to Germany as a guest of Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation to 
address post-Holocaust relations between Germans and Jews and between 
Germany and Israel. In September 2005, she was invited to return to 
Germany as a representative of the AJC on an Adenauer Foundation 
delegation observing the campaign of the CDU/CSU party in Germany.
  This past December, Honey volunteered through Sar-EI (Volunteers in 
Israel) to work for two weeks on an Army base in Israel.
  Honey and Ralph have three children: Jessica, Micah and Gabrielle. 
They have an extended circle of family and friends, which includes 
Esther, an Ethiopian law student they have been sponsoring through the 
North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry, and Brenna, a young 
Navajo child in New Mexico Honey mentors through Futures for Children.

  Judith Podolsky has both volunteered and offered her professional 
services to the Jewish community for many years. She has been a 
tremendous fundraiser for numerous causes and is regarded as the 
consummate fundraiser for Israel.
  Judy has received awards from the Masorti Foundation, the Schecter 
Institute, the University of Judaism and the Los Angeles Human Rights 
Commission for her remarkable contributions.
  Judy has played an historic role in the Los Angeles Jewish community. 
She served as the first female President of a Los Angeles area 
synagogue--Beth Kodesh (now Shomrei Torah). In addition, she has served 
as the vice president of the Women's League for Conservative Judaism. 
Judy is a member of the Executives Support for the Associates/IMC 
Support Groups of the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging. She is 
also a member of the Los Angeles Human Rights Advisory Commission and a 
lifetime member of Hadassah.
  After 18 distinguished years as one of Jewish National Fund's most 
successful and beloved staff members, Judy enjoyed a brief retirement. 
She has recently joined the staff of the American Committee for the 
Shaare Zedek and is responsible for attracting one of the largest gifts 
ever received by the Medical Center.
  Judy is a beloved, admired and respected mother, sister, aunt. She is 
a confidant to countless others. Her husband Stanley and her extended 
family will be with her to receive this prestigious award.

[[Page E456]]

  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Honey Kessler Amado and 
Judith Podolsky for their tireless dedication to the Los Angeles Jewish 
community and in congratulating them on being named Women of Valor by 
the West Coast Region of the American Committee for Shaare Zedek 
Medical Center in Jerusalem.

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