Honorees

Cheryl Fishbein

President, JCRC-NY

Cheryl Fishbein has a long history of voluntary leadership involvements. She is President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC) and will become its first-ever Chair on July 1, 2022.  She is past Chair of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and served on the Executive Council of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. She is on the President’s Advisory Board of UJA-Federation of NY and is past Chair of the Caring Commission, the Hurricane Katrina Relief Committee, the Missions Committee and the Trauma Task Force at UJA-Federation.

Cheryl has served or is currently on the Boards of the Jewish Agency for Israel North America (JAFINA), JCC Association of North America, American Jewish Committee (AJC), Jewish Funders Network (JFN), World Jewish Congress North America Division (WJC), Israel Trauma Coalition, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, JCC Krakow and the Jewish Federation of North America (JFNA), where she was Chair of the International Emergency Relief Committee. She also chaired the Ambassadors Committee of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and is Chair of the Society Fellowship. She is Secretary of the Board of Israel 21c and on the Advisory Boards of the Jan Karski Foundation and Jewish Home and Hospital. She is past Chair of the Domestic Council of the Washington, DC office of JFNA. Cheryl serves on the International Board of Governors of ANU, Museum of the Jewish People, and is a past President of its American Friends. Cheryl is the past President and Chair of the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, and a past Member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI).

Cheryl maintains a private practice as a clinical psychologist and an attorney. She has worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and as a consultant to individuals looking to donate to charitable organizations. She holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from SUNY at Stony Brook, a law degree from New York University and a BA degree in psychology from Barnard College.

She is married to Philip Schatten and they have four children and seven grandchildren.

Linda Mirels
on behalf of the Kirsh Foundation

Linda Mirels is the Chair of Ki Corporation, a family holding company which manages a portfolio of diversified investments including major holdings in food distribution and real estate.

An active philanthropist, Linda is an honorary lifetime member of the Board of UJA-Federation of New York and served as Chair of the Board. She was appointed the Co-Chair of the New York-Israel Commission, responsible for creating a framework to strengthen economic and cultural ties between New York and Israel. Currently, she serves as a Board Member for the American Jewish Committee, the Israel Campus Coalition, the Tony Blair Foundation and The Metropolitan Opera.

Linda also serves on the Advisory Board of her family’s foundation which engages in a range of philanthropic endeavors designed to foster self-sufficiency and entrepreneurship primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa and Israel — the family philanthropic philosophy follows the maxim “give a man a fish, you feed him for a day: teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

Linda is a native of southern Africa. Born in South Africa and raised in Eswatini, she maintains a deep connection to both nations. She received a degree in Social Work with honors from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Washington, Seattle. Linda is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and has a certification in organizational consulting from the William Alanson White Institute.

Eric Rechtschaffen

Board Member, JCRC-NY
Managing Director and Head of Valuations
Sculptor Capital Management

Eric Rechtschaffen has a long history of involvement with Jewish causes. In college he was active in several groups at the Penn Hillel and was Treasurer of PennPAC, the campus pro-Israel group. He has continued his involvement with Jewish community organizations over the years, currently serving on the Board of Directors of JCRC-NY and as the representative of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs to the Conference of Presidents Young Leaders Division.

Eric is a Managing Director and Head of Valuations at Sculptor Capital Management. In his role, he oversees all aspects of the valuation process for all of Sculptor’s investments. Prior to joining Sculptor, Eric was an Associate in the Real Estate Investment Banking group at Barclays. Prior to joining Barclays, he held positions at UBS, Merrill Lynch and BlackRock. Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts in Diplomatic History from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration in Real Estate and Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Eric is married to Kim Rechtschaffen and has two children.