2026 ANNUAL GALA

Preserving Our History, Building Our Future

The Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum starts with history. It is the only institution responsible for preserving the rich diversity of Jewish life and culture in the National Capital Region. Through active outreach and collecting, the Museum safeguards archival material and stories that would otherwise be lost—stories that illuminate how Jewish Washingtonians have contributed to civic life, shaped their communities,
and navigated moments of challenge and change.

Thank you to those who join us in supporting the Museum’s mission to collect, preserve, and share the diverse stories of Jewish history and culture in the National Capital Region. Through exhibitions and programs, we build connections across generations and communities, encourage reflection on the relevance of the past to today, and inspire civic and community engagement.

Our annual gala helps sustain this work, ensuring that these stories continue to inspire visitors today and propel the Museum forward for generations to come.

For more information about the 2026 Gala, please contact Malki Karkowsky, Chief Advancement Officer, at 202-290-2593 or [email protected]

Tina and Albert H. Small, Jr., Co-Chairs of the Honorary Gala Committee

Elisa Glazer, Co-Chair
Jeffrey Z. Slavin, Co-Chair
Nancy Robinson Breuer
Meg Flax
Melissa Hausfeld
Harrison Jennings
Rosalyn Jonas
Sherry Bindeman Kahn
Michael Tubman
Chris Wolf

2026 Gala Patrons have contributed $10,000 or more to advance the Museum’s mission.

Curator
Jeffrey Z. Slavin

Conservator
Stacy Burdett and Tom Diaz
Christopher Wolf and James Beller

Collector
Ava Abramowitz and Neil Rackham
Debbie Levy and Rick Hoffman

Designer
Judith Bartnoff and Eugene Sofer
Nancy Robinson Breuer and Lanny Breuer
Diane Lipton Dennis
Meg and Sam Flax
Elisa and Kenneth Glazer
Helaine Greenfeld and Richard Mintz
Sherry Bindeman Kahn and David Kahn
Tracy and Greg Kalik
Nussdorf Family
Norman Pozez and Melinda Bieber
Dr. Robert and Patricia Silverman
Eugene Sofer and Judith Bartnoff

Educator
Cooley LLP
Diane Abelman Wattenberg

Docent
Alexandra and Michael Horowitz
Noam Kutler and Stephanie Schwartz
Rona and Allan Mendelsohn
Nides-Moseley Family
Aaron Rosenfeld and Kelley Drye
Jeff and Mary Zients

Nurit Bar-Josef was appointed Concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2001 (then the youngest such appointee to a major U.S. orchestra) by Maestro Leonard Slatkin.  She was previously Assistant Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops from 1998-2001 and Assistant Principal Second Violin of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1997-1998.  She studied with Aaron Rosand at The Curtis Institute of Music and continued her studies at the Juilliard School with Robert Mann.  

Ms. Bar-Josef’s solo appearances have included the National Symphony, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, St. Louis Symphony, National Philharmonic, and Britt Festival Orchestras, Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra (San Diego), among others.  An active chamber musician, she has performed at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Bay Chamber Festival (ME) and Aspen Music Festival, and festivals in Tanglewood, Portland (ME), Kingston (RI), Steamboat Springs, Garth Newel, and Caramoor.  She was a founding member of the Kennedy Center Chamber Players for nine years, as well as a founding member of the Dryden Quartet.  Nurit also serves on the faculty of Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan (PMF America), the Taipei Music Academy and Festival (Taiwan), and participates in the Mainly Mozart (San Diego) All-Star orchestra.    

Ms. Bar-Josef has been a featured guest on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition and has had the honor of performing at the White House with Maestro Christoph Eschenbach.  She has performed as guest Concertmaster for the Seattle, Houston, Pittsburgh, Boston Symphonies, as well as the L.A. Philharmonic.  She has served as guest Principal Second for the Houston Symphony as well and was a member of the Carl Nielsen International Competition (Odense, Denmark) jury in 2019.  Nurit plays on a Annibale Fagnola, 1908 (Turin) violin.   

Nurit resides in the Washington, DC area and enjoys long bike rides and hiking with her husband and two energetic dogs in her free time. 

Lanny A. Breuer is Vice Chair of Covington & Burling and one of the nation’s most respected leaders in public service and the law. The son of Holocaust survivors, he grew up in New York with a deep appreciation for the importance of justice and democratic institutions. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he led major enforcement initiatives involving public corruption, fraud, national security, and international law enforcement cooperation, and received the Department’s highest honor, the Edmund J. Randolph Award. Earlier in his career, he served in the White House as Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton, including during the impeachment proceedings, and began his legal career as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. At Covington, he helps lead the firm’s global white‑collar defense, investigations, and crisis management work, advising corporations, institutions, and individuals facing complex legal, governance, and reputational challenges.

Lanny has long been deeply engaged in civic, philanthropic, and Jewish life in the Washington region. He serves on the Mid‑Atlantic Board of the Anti‑Defamation League, is a former presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, and serves on the board of Washington Hebrew Congregation. His commitment to pro bono service includes representing the University of California in its challenge to the rescission of the DACA program, serving as counsel to a foster mother in one of the longest‑contested adoption trials, and early in his career representing a U.S. Marine in a landmark challenge to the military’s ban on gay servicemembers. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University, where he now serves as Chair of the Columbia Alumni Association. He and his wife, Nancy, have two married sons and a granddaughter.

The Honorable David Tatel served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1994 to 2024, succeeding future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After graduating from the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago Law School, he served as the founding director of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and then director of the National Lawyers Committee. He headed the Office for Civil Rights of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare during the Carter administration and then founded and led the education practice at Hogan Lovells, where he is now Senior Counsel. Judge Tatel has chaired the National Academy of Sciences committee on Science, Technology and Law, as well as the boards of The Spencer Foundation and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Tatel is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Tatel is the author of Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice, (Little Brown, 2024).

Tatel and his wife, Edie, live in Virginia and Washington, D.C. They have four children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Previous Honorees

David M. Rubenstein, 2025
Esther Safran Foer, 2025
Senator Ben Cardin and Mrs. Myrna Cardin, 2024
Josh and Marjorie Harris, 2024
Pinchas Zukerman, 2024

See highlights from the 2025 Gala

Please consider a 100% tax-deductible donation to the 2026 Gala if you are unable to attend.