The Mensch List 2012

Last month, for our seventh-annual mensch list, we again invited all of you to submit your nominations of extraordinary volunteers, and again the outpouring of suggestions of amazing people was overwhelming. We faced this enormous response only to wonder, once again, how to choose from, among others, a woman who lost vision in one eye and then created an entire institute to help others with impaired sight; a UCLA student who’s made it her mission to teach her peers about the Holocaust; and an Iranian Jew in Los Angeles tirelessly working to raise awareness about persecution of Jews in his native land. (And those are just three who made the cut.)

This list could have been much longer — what we offer here is just a sampling of the extraordinary people who give so much to make the world a better place. If your nominees were not included this time, please remember, we’d love to see those names, and more, again next year. We are inspired by all of these stories, and highlight this list of mensches each year to motivate us all to live up to their example.

The Mensch List

Paulinda Schimmel Babbini, raising ovarian cancer awareness

Georgia Freedman-Harvey, artist who creates in order to heal

Sarah Loew, co-founder of Loew Vision Rehabilitation Institute

Orna Eilon, unpaid CEO of the MATI Israeli Community Center

Frank Nikbakht, unflinching voice for Jews in Iran

Asthon Rosin, director of UCLA Hillel’s Bearing Witness program

Joel Lipton, Big Sunday volunteer photographer

Al Ashley, helping day schools reform and strengthen their financial systems

Connie and Harvey Lapin, parent activists in the world of autism

Dr. Matthew Lefferman and Eric Weissman, Sunday sports league advocates