THE CROWD:

“I watched as a family approached the wall. The husband got down on his knees and kissed the ground,” shared Nicole Laderberg, speaking about her personal experience visiting Jerusalem’s Western Wall, perhaps the most sacred historic site in Israel for the Jewish people.

“It was such a moving, emotional moment. I felt that I too was connected, my family was part of the chain,” added Laderberg.

She had come to a cocktail reception at the handsome costal hillside residence of Allison and Howard Hyman to welcome one of the world’s most prominent business leaders and philanthropists.

Charles R. Bronfman, formerly co-chairman of the Seagram Company Ltd. and principal owner of the Montreal Expos baseball club from 1968 until 1990, traveled from Canada to the Newport Coast representing Taglit-Birthright Israel, an international program that he co-founded and launched in 2000.

Nicole Laderberg traveled to Israel as part of the birthright Israel program. She joined a young man, Ryan Chase, at the Hyman reception, to share the impact of the trip with guests.

“I am a reformed Jew by birth, and I was not particularly religious,” said Chase, a recent USC graduate working in real estate. “The trip was an eye-opener. I could not have possibly imagined how being in Israel would change my life. It is an amazing place. I met incredible people. I am a very different person today because of being there.”

Bronfman, attired in a traditional blue blazer, shirt, tie and gray slacks could not have been more unassuming for a man whose mission is to change the world, strengthen the bonds of the Jewish people, preserve Jewish identity for future generations, and send a message of hope to all concerning the progress and possibility of peace in the Middle East.

To this end, Bronfman, working with the State of Israel and other philanthropists and business leaders, created Taglit-Birthright Israel to send young Jewish adults, ages 18 to 26, on a free educational 10-day journey to Israel.

Since its inception, some 165,000 youth have participated internationally, with some 1,000 representing Orange County.

Bronfman had come to meet participants, parents and local leaders in order to expand the program and raise local support including additional funding from like-minded philanthropists in the O.C. community.

“We have sent youth from 52 countries around the world, with 65% coming from the USA,” he shared with the crowd. “Each trip costs $2,800, and we are presently hoping to send another 50,000 young people.”

The soft-spoken Bronfman credited his late wife, Andy, with the passion and determination that made the Birthright concept reality.

“People told us that this was too ambitious, too expensive, too impossible to pull off,” Bronfman said adding, “I don’t believe in gloom. I believe that the Jewish people are strong, and my wife Andy and I believed that this program could change an entire generation.”

In the end Bronfman said they simply decided to ignore the negative critics and “take a chance and see what happens.”

What has happened is that Bronfman has created a rite of passage for Jewish youth into adulthood. He has also formed a relationship between North American youth and Israeli youth that would not have existed otherwise.

“Peace can only be achieved between people who share ideals of common good. I believe this experience transforms Jewish life in particular, but also potentially the lives of many people who will be affected by the coming together of these young travelers.”

Hosts of the reception, Allison and Howard Hyman are Jews from Glasgow who fell in love with the Orange Coast and moved here to educate their youngest children In America.

The couple welcomed friends and neighbors including Ryan’s parents, Nancy and Irving Chase; Sandy and Allan Fainbarg; Sidney and Shirley Field; Dede and Kenneth Beard; Gideon Bernstein; Jodi and Martin Greenbaum; and Ruth and Seymour Lobel.

Also enjoying the Hyman hospitality were Stacy and Phillip Kaplan, Ilene Schneider, Isidore Myers, Sue and Ralph Stern, Donna and Howard Weinstein, and Phyllis and Sidney Sapsowitz.

Helping to organize the event were Shalom Elcott, chief executive of Jewish Federation Orange County, Eileen Garbutt, Doris Jacobson, Jackie Menter, and director of development for Birthright Israel in Orange County Jay Feldman attending with his fiancée, Jennifer Werger.

For more information or to become involved as a sponsor, please contact Jay Feldman at (949) 435-3484.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.