Dear Friend,

At Keshet, our hearts and minds continue to be with our loved ones in Israel. We fervently pray for the return of the hostages and hold onto the sanctity of life for all. We weep with the Israeli and now also Palestinian civilians who have suffered unimaginable loss.

At such a time, hope, courage, and love are our most powerful tools in the face of sorrow and fear. We are grateful to our gala honorees who lead always with courageous hearts. 

Please read on below to learn more about two of our honorees, Dr. Jenny Siegel and Michel W. Twitty, and join us — in Boston or online — on Thursday, November 9, 2023. Together, we will honor courage and the power of community.

Dr. Jenny Siegel and Michael W. Twitty

Dr. Siegel is a trailblazing transgender health advocate and Medical Director of the Transgender Health Program at Massachusetts General Hospital – Boston (MGH/B).

She is also the Lead for Health Equity and Community-Based Education for the hospital’s Internal Medicine Residency Program.

Dr. Siegel’s commitment to social justice began early in her career. She realized that medicine could be a powerful tool for social change, so she went to medical school to improve the health and well-being of her community.

One of Dr. Siegel’s patients shared:

I have seen many, many doctors in the Boston area. Only a handful stand out amongst them as exceptional people and care providers, and Dr. Siegel was one. Put simply…if everyone had access to a doctor like Dr. Siegel, we would all be healthier, happier, and more well.

Michael W. Twit­ty is an award-winning Jewish, Black, Southern, and gay culinary historian and educator. In 2023, he received the Everett Fam­i­ly Foun­da­tion Jew­ish Book of the Year Award for Kosher­soul: The Faith and Food Jour­ney of an African Amer­i­can Jew. He is also the author of The Cooking Gene, which won the 2018 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Book of the Year and the writing category.

His nationally acclaimed writing focuses on cultural awareness and the interconnectedness of humanity through a lens of food security, activism, and culinary justice.

In Michael’s own words:

I’m gay and it’s part of what makes my soul’s recipes unique and powerful. If you say love wins overall — then mean it, live it.

In these painful times, all of us at Keshet wish you support and strength.

I hope that you will join us on November 9th — to find solace in connection, comfort in community, and to hold onto hope, together, for a future of safety and dignity for us all.

L’Shalom,

Shana Cohen
Senior Philanthropy Officer
she/her