Honorees

Rabbi Bentzion and Dvora Kravitz, who recently celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary, have always shared a passion for Judaism and Jewish survival.

From the outset of their marriage, they dedicated their lives and opened their home to Jews and non-Jews searching for meaning in life. One year, in the early 1980’s, they hosted a vegetarian Passover Seder for Jewish members of the Hari Krishna movement.

While Dvora was raising their growing family and simultaneously going to graduate school, Bentzion worked as a campus rabbi at Cal State Northridge, Valley College, USC and UCLA. During those years he noticed a growing movement of missionaries focused on converting Jews to a cult-like theology called ‘Messianic Judaism.’ “Jews for Jesus” is one of such movements.

Jewish educators and outreach programs were not equipped to address this new form of proselytizing. To fill the void, and with Dvora’s blessing and assistance, Bentzion launched Jews for Judaism, originally working out of their home.

Rabbi Kravitz quickly became a renowned lecturer, appearing on both television and radio, and lecturing extensively throughout the United States, the former Soviet Union, South Africa, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Israel. During the past 25 years his lectures and classes have been enthusiastically attended by more than 125,000 people of all denominations and faiths.

He developed a unique counseling style that continues to earn him one of the highest success records in the Jewish community for counseling Jews involved in cults and Christian missionary groups. He is responsible for personally helping hundreds of lost Jews return to their faith, and for teaching other Jews for Judaism professionals his methods so they, too, could successfully counsel those seeking Jews for Judaism’s help.

One of his proudest accomplishment was the publication of his highly acclaimed booklet, The Jewish Response to Missionaries. There are now more than 320,000 copies of the booklet in print – in seven languages including English, Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German – and they are also available online.

Rabbi Kravitz was born in New York in 1954. He majored in communications at the University of Texas in Austin and went on to earn his degree from the Rabbinical College of America.

Still actively leading Jews for Judaism as Executive Director as well as speaking, counseling and writing, Rabbi Kravitz is also a Reserve Deputy, Chaplain and Advanced Critical Incident Counselor for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department and a Department of Justice certified firearms instructor. His hobbies include skiing, guitar, scuba diving and martial arts.

Dvora was born and raised in New Jersey and attended high school in Israel. She earned her Bachelor’s in Sociology from UCLA in 1976, and her Masters in Psychology from Loyola Marymount.

A licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Dvora’s expertise has often been called upon during the development of Jews for Judaism programs. She has worked as a social worker for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and is currently a highly respected Special Education teacher for the Los Angeles School District. Dvora enjoys yoga and exercising and is an accomplished flute player, avid reader and fabulous cook. It is not uncommon for her to prepare a 4-course Shabbos or Holiday meal for 30 guests who are seeking both physical and spiritual nourishment.

On July 6, 2003, Rabbi Bentzion and Dvora Kravitz blended their skills beautifully when, traveling in Israel, they witnessed a 14-year-old girl getting hit by a fast-moving car. They saw her get thrown into the air and land head-first on the pavement. Bentzion’s critical incident training enabled him to immediately get the situation under control and he used CPR to save the girl’s life. Dvora’s therapeutic training enabled her to take care of the girls’ three friends who were at the point of hysterics, helping to keep them from going into shock and guiding them through the trauma.

Bentzion and Dvora are the proud parents of six children and four grandchildren. Their children are all involved with Judaism and Jewish survival, and since 2004, their eldest son, “Rabbi Zalman,” has been part of Jews for Judaism’s professional team – increasing the number of individuals and families Jews for Judaism is able to counsel, and bringing a new generation’s passion and views into the development and implemenation of the programs and initiatives that are launching Jews for Judaism into a new era!

Joey and Tracey Goldstein will receive the Aleph Club Leadership Award for their generosity and support of the Jewish community, and many other worthy causes.  Joey is a past-president of Young Israel of Century City, where he and Tracey are active members. They are also active with Yavneh Hebrew Academy where Joey sits on the both the board of directors and the financial committee. They have been actives supports of Jews for Judaism since 2006, when they helped launch Jews for Judaism’s Aleph Club a key foundation of the organization’s sustainable funding to support its counseling and educational services.

Joey and Tracey also run their successful and highly respected businesses Dairy King and Southern Fresh Produce. They are the proud parents of four children, Jeremy, Jonathan, Melissa and Benjamin.