Thousands of people voted again this year for the Hanukatalizator (“Hanukkah Catalyst”) Award, organized by JCC Budapest – Bálint House and awarded to the most active and inspiring members of the Jewish community, Kibic reports.
As the award is 10 years old this year and the competition was very close in both the open and anonymous voting, the organizers decided to award two audience prizes and a community prize this year. Thus, this year’s Hanukatalizator Award went to Rabbi Jonatán Megyeri and actor-director András Borgula, founder of the Golem Center, while the JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház Community Award went to the volunteers of the Sanyinéni Telephone Crisis Line.
For almost three years now, Jonatán Megyeri has been proving himself to be an excellent teacher with a large following. In his teaching, he uses cutting-edge social platforms to transmit Jewish religion, tradition and history, which is proving particularly useful during the epidemic.
András Borgula is the founder, artistic director and director of the Golem Theater. The brand new center of Jewish culture owes its existence to him and Barbara Marcsa; both have almost single-handedly renovated the place, and the GóleMenza operating there is unbeatable when it comes to popularizing babka and other Jewish food. As a sign of its social sensitivity, it also regularly cooks for the needy in Budapest’s 8th district.
The name of the Sanyinéni (“Aunt Sanyi”) Crisis Line was at first just a fun nickname, but since everyone called them that, it stuck. The group’s 12 volunteers kept the crisis line open for 365 working days during the pandemic for those in need in our community, and for anyone else. Their sacrifice and selfless work clearly align with the values of Bálint Ház, so it’s no wonder they were voted the most valued by the organization’s staff.
Read the original Kibic article here.
