Roundtable President & CEO Jeffrey DeBoer was honored this week with the Lamplighter Award by the American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), along with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson, for their leadership and dedication to community and service.

Roundtable Leaders’ Comments

• Coinciding with the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and approaching the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, the evening began with a moment of silence, followed by a tribute from the United States Marine Corps Color Guard.

• Immediate Past Roundtable Chair and event chair, John Fish (Chairman and CEO, Suffolk), introduced House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who, alongside Rabbi Levi Shemtov, presented the Lamplighter Leadership Award to Speaker Johnson.

• In his introductory remarks as the event chair and last year’s recipient of the Lamplighter Award, Fish stated, “On this important day, we are all reminded there is far more that unites us as Americans, than divides us.”

• After accepting his award, DeBoer commented,

• “I am honored to support the American Friends of Lubavitch, particularly because of my deep respect and appreciation for the good deeds the Chabad does. But also because of my utter dismay and disgust by the rise of anti-Semitism in America and in many places around the world.
  
  Moreover, I am moved to provide assistance because of my deep distress over the violence that has been planted and allowed to grow on the campuses of our nation’s greatest universities. We must realize that speech is sometimes violent, but violence is never speech. One is allowed, up to a point. The other should never be allowed particularly on university campuses where young people are supposed to be learning.
  
  Together, we must continue to stand up against hate and bigotry in all its forms.” (Jeffrey DeBoer's Speech)

Lamplighters

• The American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) is part of the largest network of Jewish educational, cultural and humanitarian institutions in the world, with branches in all 50 states and over 100 countries on six continents.

• The annual Lamplighter Awards honor exceptional communal, political, corporate and academic leaders.

Several hundred people attended the event, reception and dinner, including several Senators and House members; Gold Star families and members of the U.S. armed forces; and nearly two dozen ambassadors.