 Senior advisor to the mayor Joel Isendorfer Thank you, thank you. Good evening on behalf of our great host mayor Eric Adams Welcome to Gracie mansion Tonight is a celebration of Jewish heritage and it's deeply meaningful Celebration for our mayor who has been a tremendous friend to the Jewish community for decades As we just finished celebrating the holiday of Shvua's As we just finished celebrating the holiday of Shvua's Which commemorates the time we came together as one unified group to receive the Torah our heritage Tonight is especially significant Tonight we join together as one unified New York City Jewish community To celebrate Jewish heritage in the largest Jewish city outside of Israel When it comes to getting stuff done I have the privilege of seeing up close Mayor Adams Every day as he continues to lead the fight against anti-Semitism And implements innovative ways to stop it Thank you all for your continued support and partnership Now please join me in welcoming the 110th mayor of the great city our great friend the honorable Eric Adams Wow, wow, look at, look at this crowd You know, look at this, look at this crowd saying good friends, Joe, really good seeing you and your family, Josh You know, this is, this is such an important celebration As we come in and acknowledge a Jewish heritage time of the year The other day I was at CUNY Law School The graduates, some of them stood up and they turned their backs because I was a former police officer And I left today, I left before the keynote speaker And I later learned what was her speech And I want to tell you something, one of the most devastating part about history Is when people remain in the room and allow people to desecrate others I would tell you if I was on that stage when those comments were made I would have stood up and denounced them immediately because we cannot allow it to happen And now I know why they turned their backs on me Because I would never turn my back on you Never turn my back on the men and women of our military service I would never turn my back on the men and women who are part of the New York City Police Department I would never turn my backs on people who are in this city and make this city what it is The silence that we are seeing in the midst of the hate we are experiencing Will never be the silence that will be in City Hall as long as I'm the mayor of New York City That is not acceptable We must raise our voices We must send a loud message that our secret weapon is our ability to live among each other And hidden in the crevices of this community is a powerful term called Mithva Built into your culture is given back If you look in the history of the relationship in general of what you do for America But specifically for the African American community Dr. King had a rich relationship with the Jewish community The civil rights movement was about the embodiment of the Jewish community and the African American struggle We are the same We've gone through the same journeys together All over the globe what you have endured is no different than what African Americans have endured all over the globe We are connected in our struggles to build a better environment and a better city and a better country I am so proud to be the mayor of the Tel Aviv of America that we call New York City We have the largest Jewish population outside of Tel Aviv And this trip that I have taken to Israel And Michael Miller and his family showing us the beauty of what the Israeli people have shown This is a great community And you represent what's great about the greatest race alive and that's the human race We have so much to be proud of here in this city We have so much we must continue to fight for And our honorees today personified what's great about this city And don't let anyone kid you New York City is not coming back New York City is back The city is back We're resilient And you can never defeat America because you can never defeat New York City And this large gathering of so many of you who are my friends This community stood strong for me Unwavering was very clear who they wanted to be the mayor of this city You knew me as the state senator fighting on your behalf You knew me as the bold president and you know me as the mayor I took the trip to Greece to combat anti-Semitism with other mayors across the globe Because I know they come for you today, they come for me tomorrow And we must stop the progress of hatred that we are experiencing I think of the joke of the two hunters in the jungle hunting for a lion They come up against the lion and one of the hunters said we need to run And the other hunter said we can't outrun the lion And the hunter replied I don't have to outrun the lion, I just have to outrun you And I laughed when I heard that but then I thought about it for a moment We cannot outrun each other Because if the lion devours you, that lion is still in the jungle of life We must make sure that we come together and defeat the lion of crime The lion of anti-Semitism, the lion of homelessness The lion of attacking your yeshivas, the lion of going up against each other The goal is not to outrun the lion, the goal is to get the lion out of our jungle So we can live in a level of safety and prosperity that we deserve So I don't want to outrun you, I want to join you I want to embrace you, I want to learn of your culture and your understanding That is why we did breaking bread, building barns So we can sit around the table together and send a message of the beauty of our diversity And what we offer to each other, we need each other so much We can learn from each other And that is what this experience is about when we come under this big tent On Gracie Mansion, the People House We learn from folks like you Eleonora And what it is to grow up as a young Jewish girl in the city from Israel We learn from you Joe Shami And what your family is coming together, Rabbi Potasnik and Joe, Joe Lysdorffa Who are watch each one of his children grow up We learn from each other And I'm so excited about where we are Because I believe for the first time in history There's an army of people that says we're not going to surrender to hate We're not going to allow hate to define us And we're not going to allow those who believe that they can divide us We are united And that unification is going to determine who we are going to be as a nation This is the greatest country on the globe because this is the greatest city on the globe There's something special about being a New Yorker There's something that we represent that's unique to this country And I believe we need to lean into that and not be embarrassed about the quality of life that we have created No one is lining the borders of this country to leave They're lining the borders of this country to come in We have a good product We are made up of the best stuff on earth We're New Yorkers, we're Americans and we believe in what this country stands for I thank you for coming here tonight Under our big tent and being part of this Jewish heritage celebration And so I want to bring on someone I've learned to respect and admire Our new acting council general of the state of Israel Israel Nitzan to say a few words I should say you're right The word is wow I was not that excited to be in a Jewish event since my bar mitzvah, I think, but that's... Good evening First of all, greetings to everyone here tonight I want to start by saying thank you to our good friend, the esteemed mayor of New York City This great city, Mayor Eric Adams, for hosting us this evening For those of you who are watching this celebration As we... Maybe I'll open with... I mentioned my bar mitzvah, I should say since I'm leaving soon, New York I have here with us The upcoming deputy council general of Israel, Tsach Sahr And I'm sure many of you are going to know him If not all of you are going to know him When he starts his assignment here in August You'll have the chance to say hello later this evening And I want to thank also Francine Robvogel, our chief of staff For all her support to me and I know to the community As we celebrate Jewish heritage and commemorate Also the 75th anniversary of the state of Israel The miracle called the state of Israel We reflect upon a rich legacy That spans thousands of years We say that Israel is 75 years old It's actually 75 years young and 3000 years old The Jewish people have made remarkable contributions To art, science, literature and countless other fields Living in an undeniable mark on human history And especially in two main places In the last several hundred of years The state of Israel and the city of New York I think that this is the place to be Jewish Outside of Israel While we celebrate and reaching this milestone We cannot ignore also the rise of anti-Semitism That continues to plague our world and our life Both locally, globally and in our neighborhoods here Yet in the face of adversity We commend One word is critical here and one word is very important And is leadership Of course your leadership Mayor Adams As well as the leadership of all the elected and community leaders Standing up every day, every hour In support of the Jewish community here We commend you for doing that I want to thank you also Mayor Adams For acknowledging and criticizing and condemning The latest hate speech and anti-Semitic rhetoric and CUNY law Leadership is key and leadership is critical And your leadership is greatly, greatly appreciated and valued And we need also to I also need to say how grateful we are For all the hard work of different law enforcement agencies Here in New York for keeping the Jewish community safe And I think that we should give them a round of applause Many of them are here working very hard Keeping all of us safe As well as not only the Jewish community but all communities safe So here we're here to recognize friendships, relationships The relationship is a friendship that blossoms between people of different backgrounds Our friends, neighbors and colleagues from throughout the city Have embraced and supported us as a consulate, as a Jewish community Fostering an environment of inclusivity, understanding and acceptance These friendships serve as a powerful reminder for all of us That love and respect can transcend religious and cultural differences It is our responsibility to build the bridges It is our responsibility to build these relationships and commitments By fostering dialogue, promoting education and nurturing strong bonds of friendship We can build a world that upholds the values of diversity, tolerance and peace And again, Mayor Adams, you and your administration As well as our many friends here work very hard And prove the importance of leadership in building these bridges Promoting this tolerance and understanding I'm grateful for your leadership Mayor Adams Thank you So I'll just conclude by saying Happy Jewish Heritage Month Happy Independence Day, the State of Israel We love you, we love this city and we're proud to be here Thank you very much Thank you Heskul, I see you out there also Good seeing you brother And we have said how are you So we want to honor some of our real heroes You know Josh, you always talk about how we have to honor those who are working hard We want to make sure we do that So let's call up our honorees Alright, we're introducing Monty and Avery Lipman, founders of Republic Records Home to world-renowned artists, their efforts in art and culture Made a great impact of New York City and beyond And when you look at the success of this company Some of the artists that they represent How they give back And you know music is a powerful force And I just really want to thank them For the number of people that they have touched And continue to develop them with an important craft Just you know the power behind the sound Congratulations to you guys, thank you so much And for the next honoree, Penita and Michael Friedman Thank you folks, we're going to go real fast here My name is Monty, this is my little brother Avery We run Republic Records, we started the company in 1995 Just a few blocks from here I'm happy to report 28 years later, it's the nation's number one record label You may not have heard of us, but I promise you you've heard of the artists we work with Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, and New York's own Nicki Minaj What Monty didn't tell you, our company was started with our bar mitzvah money All right, Temple Beth El, West End Avenue Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn in the house I just want to say, I had some remarks, but how lucky we all are to have Mayor Adams He's inspiring, he's passionate and we thank him so much And I just want to quick shout out to my wife, Janet, who keeps the tradition alive in our house And I love you and I love my family, thank you And for the next honoree, introducing Penita and Michael Friedman on behalf of the Taunters organization The Taunters volunteers help others through the power of joy Working support people, facing serious illness and hardship Come to the stage to receive your award This organization here is made up of volunteers, volunteers They give back, they are there for people who are in painful moments And they just really, when I heard about the organization, it just inspired me How we can just give back, we're blessed with so much And to volunteer and give back and what they're doing is really what this community represents So thank you for the thousands and thousands of mitzvahs that you do Keep doing a great job, congratulations to you And for the last honoree of tonight, let's welcome Daniel Rose A dedicated philanthropist and leader serving on boards and committees Working tirelessly to uplift communities all around the world Daniel's family is a rich tradition of helping the city that they love And I just want to thank Daniel, his dad, his son Where's your son, let your son come up and join him His son, you know, his whole family is a family of really giving back in a real way And I just want to thank you Daniel, why don't you come up and say a few words Thank you, Mayor Mayor, distinguished guests, thank you for this honor I'm humbled to join these other advocates up here today to receive this honor Mr. Mayor, you have been a true friend and an incredible leader on many issues And sincerely we thank you for your leadership And resolve as you continue to exude the defense of Jewish interests As the grandson of Holocaust survivors, it is hard to watch the rise in anti-Semitism I, for one, am most comforted in knowing that we have a leader like you to have our back Thank you so much for this honor, thank you Mayor Thank you Please welcome the future performer, Benny Friedman