Honoree Steve Davidowitz, center, is congratulated by Eric Lee and Rosa Lee during a tribute gala held Sunday afternoon at the Friedman Jewish Community Center.
                                 Mark Guydish | Times Leader

Honoree Steve Davidowitz, center, is congratulated by Eric Lee and Rosa Lee during a tribute gala held Sunday afternoon at the Friedman Jewish Community Center.

Mark Guydish | Times Leader

Well-wishers gather to honor Steve Davidowitz

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<p>Steve Davidowitz became a serious runner 15 years ago and has participated in the TCS New York City Marathon for almost that long, even in 2020 when the race was virtual.</p>
                                 <p>Submitted photo</p>

Steve Davidowitz became a serious runner 15 years ago and has participated in the TCS New York City Marathon for almost that long, even in 2020 when the race was virtual.

Submitted photo

They came to say congratulations, and mazel tov.

They thanked the guest of honor for “going the extra mile” and “going the distance.”

All of those words were especially appropriate, as a crowd gathered at the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston to honor Steve Davidowitz of Dallas.

They wanted Davidowitz, 63, to know how much they appreciate him, not only for his tireless efforts on behalf of the annual campaign of the Jewish Community Alliance of NEPA, but also for his idea more than a decade ago that Allied Services apply to become a Community Charity in the TCS New York City Marathon.

That recommendation has led to more than $4 million raised for Allied Services and its mission of helping people overcome physical disabilities.

For Davidowitz, the marathon idea was not an off-handed suggestion. Year after year he’s committed to run every step of the marathon himself, encouraging and mentoring less experienced runners who became involved through WNEP’s Ryan’s Run.

“He’s a doer,” State Sen. Lisa Baker said as she mingled with other guests.

“We need more people like Steve,” said Eric Lee, who worked with Davidowitz years ago on an inter-generational program called Gen2Gen.

“Steve is one of the best people in the world,” said Joe DiVizia, who also worked on the Gen2Gen program. “He’s very caring, very hard-working. He learned that from his parents (Esther and the late William Davidowitz of Kingston.)”

“We call givers like you n’divim,” Rabbi Eric Mollo said in his benediction, using a Hebrew word that denotes giving from the heart as he addressed Davidowitz from the podium.

After an invocation by Rabbi David Kaplan, the official speakers included Rabbi Larry Kaplan, always ready with a joke, who drew laughter with a reference to the menu —“I have not met one person who knows what tapas is” — followed by the Rev. Dr. Robert Zanicky from First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre, who said he’s happy to be known as “Rabbi Bob,” especially when he and Rabbi Kaplan occasionally exchange pulpits.

State Sen. Lisa Baker and State Rep. Aaron Kaufer delivered greetings from the state legislatures, Jewish Community Alliance CEO Gary Bernstein welcomed guests, and Jim Brogna, vice president of Allied Services, presented the tribute award to Davidowitz, who decided to share the spotlight with “people who don’t always get acknowledged.”

Explaining he’d quickly jotted down a few names and key words to remember what he wanted to say about them, Davidowitz recognized from the podium:

• Esther Davidowitz, his mother, a long-time community leader now in her late 80s. “For her to attend anything takes an extra level of courage, and she made the effort to have her hair done and to get a new outfit,” he said later, recapping the acknowledgments for a reporter.

• Dr. Elizabeth Slaughter, who served for many years with Esther Davidowitz on Wilkes University’s Board of Trustees. “I always had this awareness that she would come a distance, year after year, and just the drive alone from New Rochelle, you have to come down the Cross Bronx Expressway. That’s a brutal trip, if you ever get stuck.”

• Ella Gurevich, who is from Azerbaijan. “She’s not a native English speaker, but her linguistic skill is wonderful. She speaks English with hardly any accent, and it’s one thing if you’re a child when you learn a foreign language but it’s much harder when you’re an adult.”

• Eric Lee and Joe DiVizia, because of their work with Gen2Gen. “They did so much work and really promoted activities among the three generations of parents, grandparents and children.”

• Ben Davidowitz, Steve’s brother, who traveled from the Philippines. “He had other reasons to come to the States, but it was important to him to attend the gala and he came the furthest.”

• Ivan Davidowitz, another brother. “He and his wife got a home in Spruce Lake, out past Forest City, near the New York State border, and he’s been going out week after week to improve it. He does a lot manually, clearing rocks, building his own dock, putting up lights.”

• Erin Burns, an Allied Services employee who completed the 26.2 miles of the TCS New York City Marathon despite not feeling well and finished hours after most of the other runners. “When you come in at night, there’s no crowd cheering you on, and the water stations and whatnot, they went home,” Davidowitz said. “You have to rely on your own determination to finish.”

• Jim Brogna from Allied Services. “What he did was get Ryan Leckey involved (with the TCS New York City Marathon) and now we have WNEP’s Ryan’s Run. The thing has grown and raised more than $4 million.”

• Dr. Ryan Leckey, who earned a Ph.D. in strategic leadership and administrative studies from Marywood University. “With all his community service and all his early hours on TV, somehow in his life he found the time to earn a doctorate.”

• Roman Gurevich, Ella’s husband, who worked on the JCC’s annual campaign and “every year graciously solicited the members who were immigrants from Russia, from Ukraine, from Azerbaijan.”

• Thomas O’Day, a colleague who works with Davidowitz at Chancellor Financial Group. “He was my wing man,” Davidowitz said, explaining how when the 2020 TCS New York City Marathon was canceled because of COVID-19, runners were able to complete a virtual marathon on their own.

O’Day made it easier for Davidowitz to run solo, one day in October, by riding a bicycle behind him and carrying Gatorade so Davidowitz could rehydrate. The route started in Elmsford, N.Y., and traveled along the South County Trailway and Putnam Greenway, finally using the newly opened “High Bridge” pedestrian bridge that connects the Bronx to Manhattan, and finishing in Central Park.

In his prepared remarks, Steve Davidowitz mentioned other people, including his daughter, Kim, who is a teacher in Seoul, South Korea; his son, Dan, who is studying in Tel Aviv; and his brother Jeff, who has served the JCC as president and also as chair of the annual campaign.

It felt good to acknowlege all those other people, too, he said, honoring them in a less prepared way, “just to send my love to them.”