JEWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA
OFFICERS & DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
President
Ira D.
Giller
Giller &
Giller, PA
975 41st
Street, Suite 401, Miami Beach, FL
33140
Ira Giller, A.I.A., is a prominent Architect and President of one
of Florida's oldest architectural firms, Giller & Giller, Inc. He is also a
State-Certified General Contractor and a real estate developer. His civic
activities include Past President and Trustee of the Miami Beach Chamber of
Commerce; Miami Beach Kiwanis Club Past President, past Trustee of the Bass
Museum, Miami Beach Zoning Board of Adjustment, Jefferson National Bank
Advisory Board, and past Chairman of the Young Presidents Club of Mt. Sinai
Medical Center. Some of Ira's many architectural projects include the award
winning The Netherland (Miami Beach), Baggage Claim Facilities at Miami
International Airport, Escambia Jail Complex, Miami National Guard Armory,
North Dade Regional Library, 21st Street Community Center on Miami
Beach, Lincoln Lane West Parking Facility, and the Miami Beach Chamber of
Commerce Building. Ira Giller was the architect and contractor for the
restoration and expansion of the Jewish Museum of Florida's buildings.
Vice
President, Administration
Jeffrey
Gilbert
Greenberg
Traurig, PA, 401 East Las Olas Boulevard, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
Jeffrey Gilbert has
been associated with Attorneys Greenberg Traurig since 1988 as a Commercial
Litigator in the Ft. Lauderdale office. Jeffrey has represented numerous
financial institutions, insurance companies and other lenders, as well as
numerous clients involved in landlord and tenant litigation. Jeffrey also
handles construction litigation, developer-related litigation, receiverships,
trademarks, copyrights and appeals. He received his B.A. from Northwestern
University and his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law while an
Associate Editor of the University of Miami Law Review and published two notes
therein in 1982.
Vice
President, Finance
Barton
Goldberg
Colonial Bank,
S. Florida Region, 300 41st Street, Miami Beach, FL 33140
Mr. Goldberg is Chairman
Emeritus of Colonial Bank of Florida, South Florida Region. As an attorney, he
is a member of the Florida, Dade County and Miami Beach Bar Associations. He is
past president of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce and an active supporter
of Mt. Sinai Medical Center, United Way of Dade County, Temple Emanu-El and
Jewish Federation. He is also a past president of the Florida Bankers
Association.
Vice
President, CRC, Programs
Isabel May
9999 Collins
Avenue, Bal Harbour, FL 33154
Isabel May, of
the Greenberg-May Foundation, is a philanthropist who is involved in numerous
Jewish organizations in South Florida and Long Island.
Vice
President, Outreach
MariLyn
Potash
1890 NE 197
Terrace, Miami, FL 33179
Marilyn Weiss Potash
received her AA from Packer Collegiate Institute and her BA from the University
of Miami and her BS from Florida International University. She is a
professional volunteer and works currently with the Board of Directors as
Secretary for the Holocaust Documentation Center Inc. and has been an oral
interviewer since 1980 and also for SHOAH. She Docents and volunteers at the
Jewish Museum and her profession is as a travel agent.
Vice
President, Campaign
Leonard A.
Wien, Jr.
925 Arthur
Godfrey Road, Suite 205, Miami Beach, FL 33140
Leonard Wien, Jr. is General Partner, Wien Family
Holdings LP, President of the Wien Family Foundation and operating founder of
Network & Computer Consultants, Inc. a computer network integrator that
served more than 100 firms. He managed the Miami office of Grubb & Ellis, a
large National Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Company, served as Executive
Vice-President of Development of the Adler Group, a large real estate
development company that developed more than one million square feet of
properties during his time with them. Wien served as founder and President of
1st Commercial Realty, Inc. and served as President and owner of 1st Base
Software Corporation. Through that company, he created 36 data base programs,
which were marketed under the name of IST BASE SOFTWARE by McGraw Hill. Wien is
Chairman, IT Steering Committee, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Chairman Planned
Giving Committee, Mt. Sinai Medical Center Foundation, Chairman, The
Ambassadors of the Wien Center for Alzheimer's & Memory Disorders, Member
of the Board of Trustees, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Member of the Board of
Trustees, Mt. Sinai Foundation, Vice President Mt. Sinai Medical Center
Foundation and Founder - Mt. Sinai Medical Center. He is a member of the Boar
of Beth Israel Congregation and member of the Board of the American Jewish
Committee, Miami Chapter, Chairman of Energy Security Committee, American
Jewish Committee Dade & Broward Chapters.
Vice
President, Operations
Linda
Zilber
1231 95th
Street, Bay Harbor Islands, FL
33154
Linda Zilber
has been the Mayor of Bay Harbor Islands. a past president of Cancer Lifeline,
Bay Harbor School PTA and of North Shore Kiwanis. She serves on the Mount Sinai
Medical Center Foundation, is a Notable at the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital
for the Aged at Douglas Gardens and is active in the Gold Coast Chamber of
Commerce.
Treasurer
Paul
Drucker
2445 NW 24
Court, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Dr. Paul Drucker, before
retiring in 1988, had a clinical practice of obstetrics & gynecology in
Edison, NJ for 25 years, and was an attending physician at St. Peters Hospital,
Perth Amboy General Hospital and J. F. Kennedy Hospital. Prior to that, Paul
was a U.S. Air Force Reserve Medical Corp First Lieutenant and then as Captain,
Director OB-GYN at Donaldson AFB in Greenville, SC. He is a graduate of
Montclair, NJ High School, Drew University in Madison, WI, U Mass and Jefferson
Medical College. An avid tennis enthusiast, he resides in Boca Raton, and is
most proud of his two grandchildren.
Chair,
Advisory Council
Myra Farr
9800 West Bay
Harbor Drive, Bay Harbor Island, FL
33154
Long active in the
National Council of Jewish Women, Myra Farr has also devoted her energies to a
wide variety of local and national organizations. She has been involved in the
Greater Miami Jewish Federation since its inception in 1939 as treasurer,
member of the executive committee, campaign chairman for the Women's Division,
and still serves on the Board. Mrs. Farr has served as President of the Board
of the Douglas Gardens Miami Beach Community Mental Health Center and serves on
the Board of the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged. In 1996, she
received the Women Worth Knowing Award from the Miami Beach Commission of the
Status of Women. As an active community leader, Mrs. Farr has been awarded the
Hannah G. Solomon Award and the Theta Sigma Phi Community Headliner Award.
Other community activities include work for the National Conference of
Christians and Jews, United Way - Special Gifts Division and she was a delegate
to the White House Conference on Families. In 2007 she was awarded the
Presidential Citation for a Lifetime of Volunteerism.
Co-Chair,
Advisory Council
Helene
Dubbin
801 N.
Venetian Drive, Miami, FL 33139
Helene Dubbin, a past
president of the Museum, received her Bachelor of Science in Social Work from
Florida International University and went out into the community by working at
Fellowship House, United Community Care Project of United Home Care Services,
coordinated youth crime prevention for Youth Crime Watch, and worked in Dade
County Public Schools as college assistance program advisor at Design and
Architecture Senior High and New World School of the Arts. Mrs. Dubbin has been
active in the Dade County Community Relations Board, Museum of Science Board of
Trustees and Board of Governors, Temple Beth Am, South Dade Jewish Federation,
South Miami Teen Center, the Mental Health Association, the Theodore R. Gibson
Memorial Fund, and MOSAIC.
Immediate
Past President
Norman
Levine
Ribotsky,
Levine & Co., PA, 901 NE 125th Street, Suite 107, North Miami,
FL 33161
Norman Levine, CPA, Senior
Partner of the firm Ribotsky and Levine, is a graduate of NYU and former
president of the NYU Alumni Association of South Florida. He is former
president of the North Dade Estate Planning Council, chairman of Israel Bonds,
recipient of their 2004 Neal J. Menachem Memorial Award and past-president of
ARMDI (American Red Magen David of Israel), where in 2003 he was the recipient
of their Distinguished Joseph Handelman Humanitarian Award. June 15, 2004 was
proclaimed Norman Levine CPA Day in Miami-Dade County. AMIT honored him in 2005
for his dedication and commitment to Jewish causes and South Florida Business
Journal awarded him second place in their Key PartnersÕ Award for CPAs. Levine
was one of 12 honorees throughout the western hemisphere honored by State of
Israel Bonds in 2007. Norman Levine has raised nearly $3 million dollars for
the Jewish Museum of Florida.
DIRECTORS
Isabel Bernfeld
Anderson
1455 West Avenue, Miami
Beach, FL 33139
Isabel Bernfeld Anderson
is a Life Member and Vice President of Renanah Hadassah and was honored as
their Woman of the Year in 2004. She is a Chair of Hadassah College Jerusalem
Committee. With a background in administration and finance, she retired in
1996. She is Volunteers Chair of the Museum and maintains her activities with
the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, the Cancer
Lifeline of Mount Sinai Medical Center and Hadassah.
Judi Berson-Levinson
900 Bay Drive, PH 1, Miami
Beach, FL 33141-5630
Judi Berson-Levinson, Ed.D
has extensive experience in higher education, government, business and the
hotel industry. She has an Ed.D in Adult Education/Human Resource Development
from Florida International University, has done Doctoral Work in Public
Administration at Nova Southeastern University, has an MA in Counseling and
Human Services from Montclair State College, and a BA in Business
Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University, both in New Jersey. She was
Director of Financial Aid at Miami-Dade College-Wolfson Campus, the University
of Miami, and Broward Community College, until she retired as Vice President of
Student Affairs in 2000. In her
role as Vice President of Normandy Bay Corp, she was General Manager of the
Edison and Royal Hotels in South Beach and launched the annual Sand in Our
Boots Miami Beach WW2 Events in 1999. She has been Chair of the CityÕs
Community Development Committee, Vice Chair of the Historic Preservation Board,
and is recipient of a 2003 Woman Worth Knowing Award. She is currently treasurer of the Miami Beach Historical
Association and secretary/treasurer of the Miami Beach Kiwanis Scholarship
Board.
Dr. Berson-Levinson has
also published three books and numerous articles.
Elaine Bloom
5255 Collins Avenue, #3J,
Miami Beach, FL 33140
Community
leader, public official and businesswoman, Rep. Bloom served in the Florida
House of Representatives for over 18 years (1974-78 and 1986-2000), and as
Speaker Pro-Tempore 1992-94. She has been a leader in many Jewish and general
community organizations, including the National Council of Jewish Women,
Greater Miami Jewish Federation (over 30 years on the Board), Florida
Philharmonic and Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. An advocate for equality,
justice and human rights, she was elected Founding Chairperson of the Dade
County Commission on the Status of Women (1971-73). Rep. Bloom chaired many
legislative committees including Health Care, Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Joint
Legislative Auditing, the Task Force on the Future of the Florida Family, the
Joint Committee on Economic Policy as well as several major subcommittees,
including Social and Economic Services and Public Transportation. She authored
more than 100 major laws that impacted every aspect of life, including the
Florida International Banking Act, the Teacher Competency Act, the Tourism
Promotion Act, the Health Care Reform Act, and many other laws affecting women,
children and the elderly. A specialist on the tough issues of the state budget,
she was primarily responsible for the funding of many projects affecting
Miami-Dade County and South Florida, including social and health care services,
transportation, causeways, museums and cultural institutions. She also wrote
laws that created and protected state funding for cultural programs and was
responsible for the original Florida grants that enabled the Mosaic Project and
the Jewish Museum to come to fruition. She has been a radio and TV talk show
host, a development officer (fundraiser) for Bar Ilan University in Israel and
for Jewish education programs in the U.S., and a board member of publicly
traded technology companies.
Murray H. Dubbin
801 N.
Venetian Drive, Miami, FL 33139
Born into one of
Florida's pioneer Jewish families, Murray Dubbin is the third generation in his
family to be involved in politics. Educated in the public schools of Dade
County, Dubbin earned his BA and LLB (converted to JD in 1967) from the
University of Florida. He was a member of Tau Epsilon Phi social fraternity and
Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity. Dubbin was elected to the Florida House of
Representatives in 1963, one of the first two Jews elected to the legislature
from South Florida. He served through 1974. During his legislative career he
was chair or a member of significant committees, including: Chair of the
Committee on Constitutional Revision, which produced the 1968 Florida
Constitution; Chair of the Committee on Rules and Calendar for 4 years; Chair
of the Dade County Delegation; member of the Committees on Appropriations,
Finance and Tax and Education, K-12 and Higher Education. Following retirement
from the Legislature, Dubbin was appointed to the Florida Board of Regents (now
known as the Board of Governors) and served between 1977 and 1984. He Chaired
the Board 1983-1984. Dubbin has practiced law from 1951 to date and in 2006
retired as Miami Beach City Attorney. He presently is in private law practice
and is a Mediator certified by the Fla. Supreme Court and the Federal Court of
the Southern District of Florida. Dubbin is active in the ADL and is a member
of the executive committee of the Florida Regional Board. Murray and Helene
have 4 sons and 10 grandchildren.
Norman M.
Giller
Giller &
Giller, PA, 975 41st Street, Suite 401, Miami Beach, FL 33140
Mr. Giller was the first
president of the Museum. As a banker, he is a former vice chairman of the Board
of Jefferson Bank of Florida. As an architect he founded the firm Giller &
Giller over 50 years ago, and has served as president of the Florida South
chapter of the American Institute of Architects. A native Floridian, Mr. Giller
has been active in civic affairs as the founding president of Concerned
Citizens of Northeast Dade. He served as president of the Gold Coast Chamber of
Commerce and president of the South Florida Council of the Boy Scouts. He is
past chairman of the City of Miami Beach Design Review Board, a trustee of Mt.
Sinai Medical Center and a member of Temple Beth Sholom.
Leslie Jay
Gross
The CCR
Companies, 10700 N. Kendall Drive, Miami, FL 33176
Leslie Jay
Gross graduated from Coral Gables High School in 1961, winning the Silver
Knight award in General Scholarship as #1 student in Dade County,
with both of his sons following in his footsteps and winning the same award in
1988 and 1990. Leslie graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude and
Harvard Law School. After practicing real estate related law and forming
numerous real estate investment partnerships, he founded and is principal owner
of The CCR Companies, which finance real estate development projects and manage
a real estate opportunities hedge fund. Leslie has been active in the Actors
Playhouse since 1987, serving as secretary and director. He has been active in
the Harvard Club of Miami and was its president from the mid-eighties to
mid-nineties and is on the Board of Directors of the Israel Bonds of South
Florida.
Lewis M. Kanner
6915 Barquera Street,
Coral Gables, FL 33146
Mr. Kanner, a descendent
of a family who settled in Florida in the 1880s, is a partner in the law firm
Salomon, Kanner Damian & Rodriguez, P.A. He has been active in the Florida
Bar Association where he chaired committees for the Florida Bar Association,
the Real Property and Probate Section of the Florida Bar (Chairman 1977-78) and
the Florida Board of Bar Examiners (Chairman 1980-85). Mr. Kanner was a
treasurer for and is a Fellow of the Historical Association of South Florida,
member of Temple Israel and American Jewish Committee.
Kathy
Orovitz Kramer
6655 SW 98th
Street, Pinecrest, FL 33156
Kathy Orovitz
Kramer is the daughter of Jim Orovitz, the founding President of MOSAIC, and
granddaughter of Max Orovitz, an original founder of Mount Sinai Medical Center
and Temple Israel of Greater Miami. Kathy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker
and has been employed by the Bertha Abess Children's Center for more than 10
years. She additionally works with the Children's Bereavement Center located in
Coconut Grove as a lead facilitator providing group counseling. Kathy is a supporter of the American
Jewish World Service with whom she has also traveled. Kathy and her husband Jim
have two children, age 18 and 17.
They are members of Temple Judea in Coral Gables, where Kathy is the President
of the Women of Temple Judea.
Alan J.
Levy
Great American
Farms, Inc., 11 SW 15th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315
Alan J. Levy has been a resident of Broward County since 1942. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Levy was reared in Fort Lauderdale and graduated from Fort Lauderdale High School in 1958.
He graduated from the
University of Georgia in 1962 with a B.B.A. in Business Administration and
became involved in the Broward County agricultural community while serving as a
Vice President of Van Buren County Fruit Exchange, Inc., a produce marketing
operation located at the Pompano Beach Farmers Market. He spearheaded the Save
the Pompano State Farmers Market Committee, and thereby it retained its
vibrancy and location. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Great American
Farms, Inc., a Pompano Beach based produce marketing firm. He has been involved in cattle and
farming operations in Florida, Michigan and North Carolina and has developed
agricultural ventures in South and Central America. He is a member of the local
Board of Advisors of Northern Trust Bank, and served as a founding member of
the Performing Arts Center Authority which was responsible for the initial
design and building of the Broward Center of the Performing Arts. In addition
to other activities, he is a trustee of the David Posnack Foundation and is the
immediate past Chairman of the Board of the National Conference for Community
and Justice. He is a member of the Pompano, Ft. Lauderdale and Florida Chambers
of Commerce, the PEG Board, and served on the Environmental Quality Control
Board and currently serves as a member of the Broward School Readiness
Coalition.
Avis Lee
Neiman
1000 Quayside
Terrace, Miami, FL 33138
Avis Lee Neiman is an
accomplished painter, water colorist and print maker, and also works to further
and expand the cultural, educational and philanthropic needs of both her
communities - her hometown of Chicago, and her adopted town, Miami. She is
active locally in AlzheimerÕs Care Committee of Douglas Gardens, Funding Arts
Network, President of the Quayside chapter of Jewish Adoption and Foster Care
Options (Jafco) as well as QuaysideÕs social committee, and is active on the
board of the Greater Miami WomenÕs Auxiliary of the Jewish Hospital & Home
of Douglas Gardens, the recording secretary of the Florida Grand Opera Guild
and a member of the Citizens Interested in the Arts (CIA). Avis was president
of her Chicago chapter of AMIT Women and is active in Hadassah, Sisterhood of
two congregations, Jewish United Fund and Neiman Educational Foundation of Associated
Talmud Torahs of Chicago. She has a B.A. degree from the University of Michigan
and a B.F.A. from the Art Institute of Chicago. Avis sponsors the MuseumÕs
Judaica Competition. She is studying voice at the Frost School of Music.
Michael
Orovitz
9300 West Bay
Harbor Drive, #2A, Bay Harbor Islands, FL
33154
Michael
Orovitz is Executive Vice President of City National Bank of Florida. He is s
Life Trustee of Mount Sinai Medical Center of Greater Miami, is a Past
President and Member of Board of Trustees of Temple Israel of Greater Miami.
Michael is a member of the Board of Directors and a Founder of the Miami Jewish
Home & Hospital, Founder of Mount Sinai Medical Center of Greater Miami and
Past President of North Shore Miami Beach Kiwanis Club.
Leonard
Robbins
Greenspoon
Marder, PA, 100 W. Cypress Creek Road, Suite 700, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309.
Leonard Robbins was a
senior partner and principal in Abrams Anton PA before moving on to Greenspoon
Marder, PA. He has been a resident of Broward County since 1925, having
graduated from Ft. Lauderdale High School, followed by earning a BA from the
University of Florida and his JD from Harvard Law School. As a Captain in the
U.S. Army Air Force in WWII, he completed 50 combat missions in the European
Theater of Operations, and was decorated with a Distinguished Flying Cross with
1 oak leaf cluster, and Air Medal with 5 oak leaf clusters, a European Theater
Ribbon with 4 battle stars; and 2 Distinguished Unit Citations. Leonard is a member of numerous bar associations
including Broward County, South Broward, Florida and American Bar Association.
His diverse civic associations include, in part, past presidencies and
directorships of the Broward Community Foundation and the Opera Guild of
Broward, Director of the Florida State Chamber of Commerce, past president of
Harvard Law School Association of Florida, Greater Hollywood Chamber of
Commerce, Hollywood Beach Kiwanis, Hollywood Mensa, Golf Assoc., Chairman of
the Broward Forum. He is a member of the Broward County Historical Commission,
the Jewish War Veterans, Elks, American Legion, Urban League, and more and
serves on the boards of the Miami Jewish Home & Hospital for the Aged, Gold
Coast Jazz Society, Art & Culture Center of Hollywood and the Florida Grand
Opera. He is a past director of Home Federal Savings & Loan Assoc. and
Flagship National Bank of Broward County.
Muriel
Rosen
9999 Collins
Avenue, Bal Harbour, FL 33154
Muriel Rosen
supports many facets of the arts in our Miami community as well as North
Carolina. She and her husband Arnold were founding members of the Miami Salon
Group. They established an Appalachian Summer Festival almost 25 years ago at
Appalachian State University in Boone. Muriel went to school at Ida M. Fisher
Jr. High, and then went on to Miami Beach Senior High. She is a graduate of the
University of Miami.
Louis
Schneider
1250 S. Miami Avenue,
Miami, FL 33130
Louis Schneider is a
retired tax attorney from New York City, a child Holocaust survivor and active
in the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center of Florida.
Sara
Solomon
1643 Brickell
Avenue, Suite 4902, Miami, FL
33129-1260
Sara Solomon is
a Guardian Ad Litem and has worked in this capacity for over thirteen years.
She is also a mentor in the Take Stock in Children high school program,
providing college scholarships to disadvantaged students. Sara is involved with
the Funding Arts Network, the Women's Fund, Voices for Children and is on the
board of the Miami City Ballet.