Community Corner

Chevy Chase Residents Receive Humanitarian Awards

Michal Mazal and Daniel S. Mariaschin, a Chevy Chase couple, will receive Distinguished Humanitarian Awards from the B'nai B'rith International Board of Governors on Thursday.

Chevy Chase couple Danial S. Mariaschin and Michal Mazel have spent decades dedicated to humanitarian efforts.

This Thursday, they'll be recognized by the B’nai B’rith International Board of Governors, which will present each of them with a Distinguished Humanitarian Award at the Sphinx Club in Washington, DC.

"The award recognizes their long-term and exemplary dedication in their work with B’nai B’rith and beyond. [The couple has] demonstrated personal and professional commitments that embody the very core of Tikkun Olam—making the world a better place," according to a news release from B’nai B’rith International, which describes itself as "the Global Voice of the Jewish Community, [and] the oldest and most widely known Jewish humanitarian, human rights and advocacy organization," founded in 1843.

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Amy and Bruce Pascal of North Potomac also will receive Distinguished Humanitarian Awards on Thursday.

This year marks Mariaschin's 25th year with B'nai B'rith, of which he is executive director. Mariaschin also is director of B'nai B'rith's International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy. He directs all B'nai B'rith programs, services and staff in more than 50 countries, according to the news release.

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Mariaschin—who also has received the Cultural Pluralism Award from the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad and state decorations from the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Romania—"is the public face of B’nai B’rith, meeting with world leaders to advance human rights, help protect the rights of Jewish communities and promote better relations with Israel. Dan is regularly interviewed in the media and his many op-eds have appeared in news publications around the world," the news release added.

Mazal, who was born in India and raised in Israel, has worked in Tel Aviv at Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Diaspora. "After moving to the United States, she coordinated the scholars-in-residence program at the American Zionist Youth Foundation, which brought Israeli speakers to Jewish communities across America, and she served as a correspondent for the Israeli women’s magazine, Olam Ha-Isha," according to the news release.


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