Last month, for our 10th annual mensch list, we invited your nominations of extraordinary volunteers in our community, and once again the outpouring of suggestions of amazing people was overwhelming. 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.
He gives homeless something to smile about
by Naomi Pfefferman, Arts & Entertainment Editor
In 1991, Dr. Jay Grossman was waiting at a stoplight in West Los Angeles when he spotted a bedraggled homeless veteran who was missing his front teeth. The dentist was a bit hesitant as he reached into his wallet to give the man a handout; he worried that the veteran might spend the money on drugs or alcohol instead of food or shelter. “But then I thought, ‘Where is the tzedakah in that?’ ” READ MORE.
Doggedly devoted to canine rescue
by Naomi Pfefferman, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Shannon von Roemer got the call at 9:30 p.m. on a Saturday two years ago: A woman had found a gray-and-white pit bull cowering in the bushes in Inglewood, with its paw and hip crushed and its back torn up after the animal was thrown from and dragged by a car. READ MORE.
A voice for the disenfranchised kids of L.A.
by Danielle Berrin, Senior Writer
For 18 years, Harriet Zaretsky has been devoting her time to helping the abused, abandoned and neglected foster children that the rest of society tends to forget.
Beginning in 1996, she became a court-appointed special advocate with CASA of Los Angeles, serving as a case manager for some of the most troubled children in the foster-care system. Out of an estimated 28,000 children in foster care in L.A., CASA takes on approximately 800 cases each year that are deemed to be the most dire. “This program brings foster kids in, only when they’re failing,” Zaretsky said. “We’re dealing with the worst 30 percent of foster kids in L.A.” — meaning, the most vulnerable. In her role, Zaretsky acts as both an advocate and overseer, tracking individual cases from start to finish as children make their way out of broken homes and into the tortuous world of foster care. READ MORE.
Traveling an Ethical Road Leads to Fulfillment
by Danielle Berrin, Senior Writer
When Oron Maher began building his Southern California real estate business four years ago, he turned to the Los Angeles Business Journal for the scoop on his industry, and what he found disturbed him. READ MORE.
Advocate for people with disabilities
by Aron Chilewich, Staff Writer
“Life is like that. Every day is a new thing,” Harriet Rechtman said, dismissing any suggestion that the three decades she has spent as an advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is extraordinary. Sitting at the dining room table of the Woodland Hills home where she has lived since 1974, Rechtman speaks frankly of a life of helping others steered more by her willingness to live serendipitously than by any forethought. READ MORE.
Giving autistic kids a shot at a team sport
by Jared Sichel, Staff Writer
In early 2014, UCLA post-graduate education student Ben Schwartzman and his classmate and friend John Daniel were staring at their computer screens and robotically crunching numbers on Microsoft Excel when they both decided they needed a change.
“We were just looking at data on our computers and hating our lives,” Schwartzman said, laughing. “We were like, ‘We should do something fun.’ ” READ MORE.
Lifelong love of Jewish education began in childhood
by Claudia Boyd-Barrett, Contributing Writer
For most people, working full-time plus overtime hours as vice president of finance at a property management firm would be enough to stay busy.
But for Nira Sayegh, 52, of Beverly Hills, helping run NPS Realty & Management Corp. with her husband, Pinny, is only a fraction of her responsibilities. READ MORE.
Exposing crimes against Iraqi Jews
by Karmel Melamed, Contributing Writer
His voice cracking with emotion, his eyes welling with tears, Joseph Samuels, 84 and a retired Jewish real estate developer, recalled the pogrom’s angry Muslim mobs in Baghdad that his Iraqi family and the Jewish community there faced during the Holocaust. Known as the “Farhud,” this violent pogrom was carried out against the Jews in early June 1941 and has rarely been spoken about publicly by those who survived the massacre. READ MORE.
Lending a hand at Cedars-Sinai for 38 years
by Jared Sichel, Staff Writer
When Ellen Brooks retired in 1977 at the age of 34 from her job as a production assistant on the Warner Bros. lot, she was looking forward to spending some time traveling the country with her new husband, Dr. Philip Brooks, a gynecologist approaching his 50th anniversary at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Brooks was preparing to take some advanced classes and attend seminars around the United States, and Ellen wanted to spend that time with him. READ MORE.
Bringing cameras to Skid Row residents
by Ryan Torok, Staff Writer
Dave Bullock is a co-founder of the Skid Row Photography Club, which provides digital cameras to Los Angeles’ Skid Row residents — the club’s members — and through their pictures allows outsiders like himself a chance to see their lives in another light. Bullock raises the funds to buy the cameras, and he collects used ones for the project, as well. READ MORE.
Hatzolah leader brings first aid to Jewish community — and beyond
by Ryan Torok, Staff Writer
On a rainy weekday in December, Shmulie Hauptman wore a reflective Hatzolah of Los Angeles jacket. A two-way radio was clipped to his belt. His car, a Lexus hybrid, was parked outside the Starbucks at Pico and Robertson, where he met with the Journal. Inside the car were a spare oxygen tank, burn kits, a defibrillator and other emergency supplies. READ MORE.
Feeding others is his emotional sustenance
by Jane Ulman, Contributing Editor
“Can you get any breakfast burritos?”
Fred Zaidman, who had recently added helping the homeless to his list of volunteer passions, went into action, soon securing a commitment from Bristol Farms for 75 burritos for a breakfast for the homeless that The City School, a charter middle school, was sponsoring on Thanksgiving morning. On the day itself, Zaidman chatted with the guests and distributed Target gift cards and movie tickets that he had purchased with his own money. Afterward, he drove around the Fairfax Avenue/Venice Boulevard area seeking out homeless men and women and handing them hamburgers, which he had also bought — and, when those ran out, he gave each person a couple of dollars. READ MORE.
This mom is rockin’ the cause for Crohn’s Disease
by Avishay Artsy, Contributing Writer
A couple of years after her son Lowell was born, he was having severe stomach pains, and Stacy Dylan knew it might be serious.
She found out Lowell has Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract that’s especially likely to affect Ashkenazi Jews. READ MORE.
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