Circle of Generosity Gala: Celebrating 120 Years!

Join Hebrew Free Loan to celebrate our 120th anniversary!

Honoring Mark Abelson and Racky Newman, Community Leaders, and Alex Rayter, Distinguished Loan Recipient

Featuring a special cabaret vocal performance by Illana Zauderer Parker, winner of KGO Radio's "Best Music You Never Heard!"

Kosher dietary laws observed
Purchase tickets at www.hflasf.org/gala
Sponsorship and tribute opportunities available - for more information contact Jamie Hyams at 415.546.9902 x106 or jamie@hflasf.org. 

About Our Honorees

Mark Abelson is First Vice President of Hebrew Free Loan and has served on our Board of Directors since 2007. He has practiced law for over 40 years and is a partner in Campagnoli, Abelson & Campagnoli. Mark sits on the San Francisco Bar Association Legal Malpractice Executive Committee. He and his wife Janet, aka Gilah, were co-founders of the Ronald Wornick Jewish Community Day School, and he was the school’s third President. Mark is a National Council member of AIPAC, and incoming chair of the Israel sub-committee at the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund. He has also been active with the American Jewish Congress and Jewish Community Relations Council. His prior board service includes Congregation Beth Jacob and Kehillah High School. Mark and Gilah have been married for 40 years, with three sons and three daughters-in-law: Jeremy and Mia, Joel and Lauren, and Noah and Liza. They have three grandchildren, with a fourth on the way.

Raquel “Racky” Newman has served on our Board of Directors for four years, bringing with her a long history of visionary leadership and dedicated service to the Jewish community. Racky graduated from Radcliffe, received a master’s in social planning from the University of Nebraska, and went on to earn her doctorate in education from University of San Francisco. She is President of Rhoda Goldman Plaza and is active with the New Israel Fund’s Regional Council. Racky is a Past President of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of San Francisco, Jewish LearningWorks, and Palo Alto University. She was also President of Camp Swig and very involved in the transition from Camp Swig to Camp Newman, which she helped to establish. She has served on numerous other boards, including Congregation Emanu-El and the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund. Racky was married to Nick Newman for 25 years, until his death from cancer, and she is the mother of four children: Peter, Tom (and spouse Ron), Ted, and Sarah; and two grandchildren: Vianna and Cassandra.

Alex Rayter immigrated to the U.S. from the Former Soviet Union at age 10, and as a young adult he received three Hebrew Free Loans. The most recent loan helped him and his wife Lola to build their family, bringing her children to the US. This process spanned four and a half years and required several costly attorneys. Alex is the managing principal of Phoenix 2.0, a Bay Area IT consulting firm. He serves on the Board of Directors and several committees at the Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund. He co-chairs MishMash, the Federation’s Russian-speaking Jewish young adult community, and is a winner of the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Young Leadership. Alex also serves on the board of Club Z and is active with the Jewish Home. He is a founding member of the steering committee for Hebrew Free Loan’s Full Circle Club, which engages former loan recipients in supporting the agency. Alex and Lola live in Daly City with their three children.