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JAKE EHRENREICH
Jake Ehrenreich is host of the award winning The Jake Ehrenreich Show and is founding member and curator of The Catskills Hall of Fame™ , featured on the show. Jake spent his formative summers in the Catskills bungalow colonies with his Holocaust survivor family, and later in hotels as a musician and performer which paved the way for his professional career. Jake has appeared on Broadway in Dancin', Barnum, and They're Playing Our Song, and toured internationally as Ringo in Beatlemania. He wrote and starred in the hit show A Jew Grows in Brooklyn which broke box office records at the Lambs Theater in the heart of Broadway. NYC declared A Jew Grows in Brooklyn Day in 2012. He is featured in the film The Last Laugh alongside Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, and Making Light in Terezin, and is Executive Producer of the multi award winning short film Welcome to Where You’ve Always Been. His book A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, The Curious Reflections of a First-Generation American is a national bestseller, and his literary writings appear in Summer Haven, The Catskills, The Holocaust and the Literary Imagination. Jake’s most recent CD is A Treasury of Jewish Christmas Songs - a Billboard Top Pick. He was awarded a Special US Congressional Citation and was inducted into the Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame in 2016.
TOVAH FELDSHUH
Tovah Feldshuh is a six-time Emmy & Tony nominee and has been awarded three honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters. Additionally, for her theatre work, she has won four Drama Desks, four Outer Critics Circle Awards, three Dramalogues, the Obie, the Theatre World, and the Helen Hayes and Lucille Lortel Awards for Best Actress. Her numerous TV and film roles include The Walking Dead, Golda’s Balcony the Film and the Catskills movie A Walk on The Moon.
SHECKY GREENE z"l
Shecky Greene is a legendary stand up comedian and actor. He was known for his nightclub performances in Las Vegas where he became a headliner in the 1950s and 1960s. He appeared in many films and TV shows, including Merv Griffin, Ed Sullivan and over 40 appearances on The Tonight Show[ for which he also served as a guest host. He is an inductee of the Catskills Hall of Fame.
JEFF ABRAHAM
Jeff Abraham is senior account executive at Jonas Public Relations and a board member of The National Comedy Center. He is one of Hollywood's foremost comedy historians and has represented top comedians including George Carlin (for the last 11 years of his life), Andrew Dice Clay, Steve Harvey, George Lopez, and Bill Maher. Jeff has been consultant to numerous documentaries and TV specials including Make ‘Em Laugh (PBS); 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time (Comedy Central) A Salute To Friar’s Club (Cinemax) and the acclaimed Encore film, Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis.
ALAN DERSHOWITZ
Alan Dershowitz is a Brooklyn native, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz has been called 'the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer' and one of its 'most distinguished defenders of individual rights.' He is the author of 40 works of fiction and non-fiction, including 7 bestsellers.
RABBI JOSEPH POTASNIK
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik is the Executive Vice President of The New York Board of Rabbis. He has served as Chaplain of the New York City Fire Department since 1999, and is Rabbi Emeritus at Congregation Mount Sinai in Brooklyn Heights, NY. Rabbi Potasnik is co-host of “The Rev and The Rabbi” on WABC Talk Radio, and is the religious commentator for 1010 WINS Radio. He is host of the TV program Faith to Faith on Jewish Broadcasting Service (“JBS”).
THANE ROSENBAUM
Thane Rosenbaum isDistinguished University Professor at Touro University, Legal Analyst for CBS News Radio and the author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction. He writes a twice-monthly essay for the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles and has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, CNN, and the Daily Beast, among other publications. He is the founder of the Forum on Life, Culture & Society (“FOLCS”), and hosts The Talk Show at the 92nd Street Y, moderating conversations with governmental leaders, opinion makers, journalists, and award-winning artists for over 25 years.
KENNETH D. GREENBLATT
Kenneth Greenblatt is a Broadway Producer and Founder of GFour Productions. He has won numerous Tony awards including Best Musical Tony awards for Nine, and La Cage Aux Folles. Other productions include My One and Only, (Tommy Tune and Mike Nichols); Zorba, (Anthony Quinn); The Rink, (Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, and Jason Alexander); and Ring of Fire, music by Johnny Cash. He made his Broadway directing debut with Catskills On Broadway, starring and conceived by Freddie Roman.
SIMON BERGSON
Simon Bergson is the Founder, President and CEO of Manhattan Beer Distributors, one of the largest beer distributors in the country. Simon was born in a Displaced Persons Camp in Austria and was 6 months old when the Bergson family came to the United States. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation in Oswiecim, Poland, is Trustee of the Museum of Jewish Heritage- A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, and Board Member and past chair of SOBRO (South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation). Simon was awarded with the “Knights Cross of the Order of the Merit of the Republic of Poland” for his dedication and work toward Polish-Jewish relations.
HOWARD RAPP
Howard Rapp is nephew of the iconic Charles Rapp and President of Charles Rapp Enterprises, the premiere talent booking agency in the history of the Catskill Mountains. He and his partner Arnold Graham (VP) are considered experts in the history of the Catskills and have been featured in numerous books, movies and specials. The Charles Rapp agency is credited with helping to develop the careers of many stars from Milton Berle, Robert Klein and Jerry Seinfeld, to Catskills Hall of Fame inductees Sid Caesar, Totie Fields, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme. They continue their roles in the newly created NYK- Rapp Enterprises.
ARNOLD GRAHAM
Arnold Graham is Vice President of Charles Rapp Enterprises, the premiere talent booking agency in the history of the Catskill Mountains. He and his partner Howard Rapp (President) are considered experts in the history of the Catskills and have been featured in numerous books, movies and specials. The Charles Rapp agency is credited with helping to develop the careers of many stars from Milton Berle, Robert Klein and Jerry Seinfeld, to Catskills Hall of Fame inductees Sid Caesar, Totie Fields, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme. They continue their roles in the newly created NYK- Rapp Enterprises.
PAUL JESER
Paul Jeser served as the Director of the Western Regional of the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem since 2002. Paul directed Jewish Federations in Lewiston, Maine, and in Orlando, Florida, and was the Executive Director of CLAL, founded by Elie Weisel and Rabbi Yitz Greenberg. He was the National Campaign Director for JNF and the Vice President for Regional Development for the American Friends of Hebrew University. He ran a US Army Jewish Chaplaincy program in Augsburg, Germany, and was an officer with a drug rehabilitation center in Vietnam for which he received a Bronze Star.
ELAINE GROSSINGER ETESS
Elaine Grossinger Etess was the first woman president of the American Hotel and Motel Association and was a member of the advisory council to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Travel and Tourism. She ran the iconic Grossingers Hotel after her mother Jennie’s death in 1972. She has appeared on many panels and documentaries about the Catskills. She is an inductee into the Catskills Hall of Fame as a representative of the Catskills hotel owners.
JULIE BUDD
Julie Budd began her singing career in the Catskill Mountains at the age of 12. Julie soon became a regular guest on the Merv Griffin Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, The Carol Burnett Show and The Jim Nabors Hour. Appearing at Caesars Palace at the age of 16, Budd became the youngest opening act for Frank Sinatra. She also became a frequent performer on the Las Vegas Strip, supporting Sinatra, Liberace, George Burns, Shecky Greene and Bob Hope. In addition to her many recordings, she performed the title song for the 1972 film Living Free.
MIKE BURSTYN
Born to a famed family of Yiddish theater actors, Mike is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Israeli Union of Performing Artists for his lifelong contribution to the culture of Israeli stage and film.
Fluent in 7 languages, he is Director of Dubbing at NETFLIX and wrote and directed his award-
winning Israeli feature film Azimuth. He stars in the hit Israeli TV series Judah on HULU, and as the voice of Amos in the English version of the Netflix hit series Fauda.
Recipient of many Drama desk and outer Critics circle nominations, Mike starred on Broadway in Barnum, Ain’t Broadway Grand, The Megilla, The Rothschilds and On 2nd Avenue.
JACK LAUB z"l
Jack Laub is an American professional basketball player and pharmaceutical executive best known as the only NCAA player to ever play six varsity years. He is a recipient of the French Legion of Honor for his military service in World War II. He is an inductee to the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the City College of New York Basketball Hall of Fame, the University of Cincinnati's Athletics Hall of Fame and the Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame, at which Jake Ehrenreich, curator of The Catskills Hall of Fame officiated at his induction.