Shalom Center, 10/22/2004

The Menorah Awards: Honoring Ruth Messinger & Seymour Hersh; Peter Yarrowas emcee and singer

The Shalom Center recognizedthree extraordinary people on the Sunday night of Hanukkah, December 12th at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.

Seymour Hersh brought the light of truth into dark places of shame and crime - in this generation when he revealed the truth about torture at Abu Ghraib, and one generation ago when he broke the story of how US troops had massacred Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai. His book Chain of Command is a crucial expose of "the road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib."

Ruth Messinger, a former Borough President of Manhattan and president of American Jewish World Service, has brought the light of compassion to dark places of sorrow, sickness, and despair around the globe and in the city.

Peter Yarrow, who of course is the Peter of Peter, Paul, and Mary, has brought us all the light of his music, including the inimitable "Light One Candle" - a Hanukkah song dedicated to freedom, justice, and peace.