A conversation about how Jewish communities in Eastern Europe have used remembrance as a way to build their communities and move forward. Mark Levin is the CEO of National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ), which supports Jewish life in the region for several decades. Dan Alpert is the Executive Director of Friends of JCC Budapest and has visited Jewish communities across the world, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. The conversation would also reflect on the “hand off” from one generation to the next to continue the support of Jewish life locally and globally.

About the Speakers

Mark Levin is one of the organized Jewish community’s leading experts on national and international political and legislative issues. In 2008, Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko awarded him the Order of Merit medal in New York City, and he was the Soviet Jewry Freedom Award recipient at the Boston-based Russian Jewish Community Foundation’s annual gala.

Mark has served three times as a Public Member of the U.S. Delegation to meetings of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He has been a member of the organization’s professional staff since 1980. Prior to coming to NCSJ, he worked for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Mark is a University of Maryland graduate and Washington Hebrew Congregation member.

Dan Alpert currently serves as Chief of Staff to Delegate Linda Foley in the Maryland General Assembly overseeing constituent outreach and legislation focusing on the environment, transportation, and labor issues. He is also the founding Executive Director of Friends of JCC Budapest, a U.S. non-profit organization educating the American public about Hungarian Jewry and supporting Jewish life in Budapest. Previously, he was a JDC Global Jewish Service Corps Fellow in Budapest, Hungary working with JCC Budapest on global partnerships and U.S. engagement efforts.

He has served on the World Jewish Congress Executive Committee, was Vice Chair of the Maryland-Israel Sister State Committee, and President of Camp Airy’s alumni association. He has worked with and traveled to dozens of Jewish communities across the world, including attending the 80th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the 30th anniversary of the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires. Dan is a Washington Hebrew Congregation member.