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Jan

27 2022

Federation - Affinity Afternoon

12:00PM - 1:00PM  

Contact Federation Administrator
ws
info@jewishgulfcoast.org

The Jewish Federation of Florida’s Gulf Coast is pleased to announce a special virtual event for the Cardozo, Maimonides, and Montefiore Affinity Groups. Taking place on Thursday, January 27th at 12PM via ZOOM, community members from the legal, medical, and financial professions will gather virtually to hear from accomplished speakers from their fields, respectively. This event is free of charge, interested participants can register at JewishGulfCoast.org/AFFINITY.

 

Our Jewish Federation is proud to be reviving the affinity groups of Maimonides Society, Cardozo Society, and Montefiore Society. Once again medical professionals, legal professionals, and professionals in the realm of finance will be invited to band together for the good of our Jewish community.

 

The Jewish Federation of Florida’s Gulf Coast Maimonides Society is the place for physicians, dentists, nurses and other healthcare professionals – people dedicated to healing the sick and committed to the notion of tikkun olam (repairing the world). The Cardozo Society welcomes Jewish attorneys, judges, law professionals and law students living in Florida’s Gulf and aims to celebrate the legal profession’s commitment to the principles of the Federation. The goal of establishing the Montefiore Society is to develop a sense of camaraderie among Jewish accountants, stock brokers, bankers, financial planners and advisers, insurance brokers, investment consultants, wealth management advisers and others in financial services across Florida’s Gulf Coast.

 

The Maimonides Society - Gavriel Friedson, Director of International Emergency Management and Global Ambassador of United Hatzalah Israel, has been saving lives since the age of fifteen. Over the course of sixteen years on the job, Friedson has distinguished himself through more than 10,000 emergency calls, ranging from acute medical crises to multiple casualties and catastrophic events.

 

He has been first medic on the scene at a number of terrorist attacks during his years as a first responder. Having spent most of his life volunteering with Israel’s rescue agencies, he returned to the United States in 2017 to help expand United Rescue’s operations for international cooperation, responsible for helping to identify additional locations and emergency programs. Gavriel Friedson served in the elite Nahal Infantry Brigade and later in the Spokesperson’s Unit of the IDF. He holds a BA in communications from IDC and a master’s degree in Public Health specializing in Emergency and Disaster Management from Tel Aviv University.
 

 
 
 
 

 

The Cardozo Society - Gary S. Lesser, Managing Partner at Lesser, Lesser, Landy & Smith, PLLC, is the President Elect of the Florida Bar, after ten years of service on the Florida Bar Board of Governors. Gary was appointed Chair of Florida Bar Legislation three years in a row, and also served as Chair of the Professional Ethics Committee, and served on the Strategic Planning, Disciplinary Review, Communications and Board Review on Professional Ethics Committees.

 

Gary is the Firm’s Managing Partner and is one of Florida’s leading personal injury attorneys, handling a large number of high profile personal injury cases over the years, including automobile injury, wrongful/accidental death, premises liability, gun liability, negligent security, product injury, and other related injury cases. Gary has lectured at seminars all over Florida on the topics of personal injury and various ethics issues. He has been interviewed by local and national media regarding personal injury cases, important ethical/legal issues, and his service to the community.

 

He has continued the Firm’s tradition of community involvement, taking active leadership positions with the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, Jewish Federation, and the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County. Gary also served as the Chair of the Palm Beach County Bar Association’s Professionalism Committee and Chair of the Medical Legal Committee for many years.

 

Gary was born in West Palm Beach. After graduating from Forest Hill High School, Gary attended George Washington University, where he graduated with a B.A. in International Affairs, and was named to the Dean’s List and served as President Pro Tempore of the Student Senate. He was Associate Editor of the GW Hatchet, the school newspaper, and the Editor-in-Chief of the GW Journal, a monthly political opinion commentary. Gary attended the University of Miami School of Law earning his Juris Doctorate. He was a member of Bar & Gavel Society, and he served as Associate Editor of the Yearbook of International Law and Editor-in-Chief of Res Ipsa Loquitur, the law school’s newspaper.
 

 
 
 
 

 

The Montefiore Society - Daniel 'Coach' Ratner is a motivational speaker and author of 4 books. His talks and books are focused on wealth creation, relationships, and reaching one's potential. Coach Ratner was a coin dealer for over 40 years trading in hundreds of millions of dollars of rare gold & silver coins.

 

He teaches the importance that Jews need to take responsibility for the Jewish people. After living 54 years in the Washington DC area, he now lives with his 5 children in Jerusalem.