—Benefit will feature The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Michael Zegen in conversation with Tablet Magazine’s Stephanie Butnick; performance by klezmer-rock band Golem—
New York, NY – The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will honor Howard and Elyse Butnick and their family at the annual Generation to Generation event on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. The virtual event also will include an interview The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Michael Zegen, the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, by Tablet Magazine Deputy Editor and Unorthodox podcast Co-Host Stephanie Butnick and a performance by the New York City-based, klezmer-rock band Golem.
For decades, the annual L’dor V’dor, Generation to Generation event has brought together survivors and their families and friends to commemorate those who were lost and to look toward a future of hope and renewal. The benefit supports the Museum of Jewish Heritage’s timely mission to fight bigotry and antisemitism through lessons of the Holocaust.
Generation to Generation will be held virtually to support the Museum, located in Battery Park City. The benefit will begin at 7:00 PM ET streaming live here, YouTube, and Facebook. To RSVP and contribute to the event, visit https://mjhnyc.org/generation-to-generation. Sponsorship packages are available.
Heritage sponsors of the event are The Butnick Families and The Oster Family Foundation. Serving as event Co-chairs are: Barbara & Paul Brensilber, Evelyn & Harry Goldfeier, Adrienne & Alan Henick, Rita Lerner & Cliff Salm, Caryl & Lewis Levine, Ann Oster, Cheryl & Ronnie Portnoy, Sandy & David Rogol, Marilyn Rosen, and Debbie & Wayne Zuckerman.
Howard and Elyse Butnick have been active supporters of the Museum of Jewish Heritage since its inception. Howard is presently a Trustee of the Museum and chairs the Marketing committee. Howard grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, with his brother Joel, and they worked alongside their parents, Milton and Dora Butnick, in a family hotel and real estate business. Milton and Dora, like many of their fellow Holocaust survivors in New York, were very philanthropic and cared deeply about Holocaust remembrance. Now, Howard and Elyse’s children, the third generation, Stephanie and Francesca, along with their growing families, have continued the critical work of remembrance.
Stephanie Butnick is the Deputy Editor of Tablet Magazine and a host of Unorthodox, the #1 Jewish podcast on iTunes. She and her co-hosts published The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar’s and Everything in Between. Stephanie has written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and hosts GENerally Speaking, an interview series with fellow grandchildren of Holocaust survivors through the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
Michael Zegen can currently be seen starring on the critically acclaimed Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino. The series recently won a 2020 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, and the 2018 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series among many other accolades. Previous television includes his standout role on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, as well as television arcs on The Walking Dead, Girls, How To Make It In America, Happyish, and all seven seasons of Rescue Me.
In film, Michael can next be seen in The Stand-In opposite Drew Barrymore. He was seen in Michael Mayer’s film adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, opposite Elisabeth Moss. Other films include Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha; John Crowley’s Oscar-Nominated film Brooklyn; Greg Mottola’s Adventureland; and Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock. On stage, Michael starred in the Broadway production of in Ivo Van Hove’s Tony-award winning A View From The Bridge. His other theater credits include originating the role of ’Ted’ in The New Group’s production of The Spoils, written by and co-starring Jesse Eisenberg for director Scott Elliott and the role of ‘Liam’ in Joshua Harmon’s smash hit play Bad Jews, directed by Daniel Aukin for Roundabout Theater Co.
Klezmer-rock band Golem was founded by Annette Ezekiel Kogan in New York City, and since then has become a leading re-interpreter and innovator of Yiddish and Eastern European music. Golem is known for its fearless wild energy, combined with a boundless love of tradition. The band performs nationally and internationally in rock clubs, festivals, and theaters, as well as weddings and parties. Television highlights include Louie, Hunters with Al Pacino, and Netflix’s upcoming show, Dash and Lily. Golem is “not your father’s klezmer band, unless of course your father was Sid Vicious” (Jewish Week).
ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE – A LIVING MEMORIAL TO THE HOLOCAUST
The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. The Museum is committed to the crucial mission of educating diverse visitors about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust. The third largest Holocaust museum in the world and the second largest in North America, the Museum of Jewish Heritage anchors the southernmost tip of Manhattan, completing the cultural and educational landscape it shares with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage maintains a collection of more than 40,000 artifacts, photographs, documentary films, and survivor testimonies and contains classrooms, a 375-seat theater (Edmond J. Safra Hall), special exhibition galleries, a resource center for educators, and a memorial art installation, Garden of Stones, designed by internationally acclaimed sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. The Museum is the home of National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.
Currently on view is the acclaimed exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. This is the most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz and its role in the Holocaust ever presented in North America, bringing together more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs from over 20 institutions and museums around the world. Also on view are Ordinary Treasures: Highlights from the Museum of Jewish Heritage Collection and Rendering Witness: Holocaust-Era Art as Testimony.
The Museum receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit mjhnyc.org.