The Main Event
Featuring Keynote Speaker Dan Senor and Entertainment by Tararam
Honoring Stephen & Sandra Muss
with the Friend of Israel Humanitarian Award

Dan Senor is the co-author of the New York Times best-seller Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, which addresses how Israel — a country of 7.1 million people, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources — produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Additionally, he is a geopolitical expert, investor, and adjunct senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Senor has long been involved in policymaking, politics and business in the Middle East. He was one of the longest-serving civilian officials in Iraq, where he served in 2003 and 2004 as a Senior Adviser and the Chief Spokesperson for the U.S.-led Coalition. For his service, he was awarded the highest civilian honor by the Pentagon.

Senor also served as a Pentagon adviser to Central Command in Qatar and as a foreign policy and communications adviser in the U.S. Senate. He has studied in Israel, completed his MBA at Harvard Business School, and has traveled extensively throughout the Arab world. In his business career, he has invested in a number of Israeli and American start-ups, and today is with a New York-based global investment fund. Senor’s analytical pieces are frequently published by the Wall Street Journal; he has also written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Weekly Standard and TIME.

Stephen and Sandra Muss are among the most prominent philanthropists in Miami. They are pillars of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation/UJA Annual Campaign, demonstrating their profound concern for Israel and the well-being of our people.

A legendary builder and hotelier, Stephen pioneered a vision for the renaissance of Miami Beach as the owner of the Fontainebleau from 1978 until 2005. This year marks Stephen’s 60th year of giving at the highest level to all Federation Campaigns. He has been part of a select group of community leaders who transformed the Federation in the early 1970’s and his passionate involvement is still evident today.

Stephen’s extraordinary support of High School in Israel (HSI), which helps advance Jewish continuity through education, bears the name of his late father, Alexander Muss. HSI has forever changed the lives of tens of thousands of young Jewish adults who have participated in this enriching Israel experience. Serving as its Board Chair, he continues to be actively involved, growing the organization from one campus to the current plan of five across Israel. Stephen has also served as Board Chair of Temple Emanu-el, and was extremely instrumental in restoring this Miami Beach landmark. He has also served on the Board of the Miami Art Museum and on the Board of Governors of Haifa University.

Sandra, a daughter of Holocaust Survivors, and was Board Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach. She is currently a member of the Board of the Federation the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Sandra is a patron of the arts and is a trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami and the New World Symphony.

The Musses are also ardent supporters of the Jewish National Fund and Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach.

Guided by their deep sense of Jewish responsibility, Stephen and Sandra have made a lasting impact, touching the lives of countless individuals from Miami to Israel, from young students to elderly Holocaust Survivors.

Through captivating performances incorporating rhythm, drums, dance, lights, music and more, Tararam has made its way into the heart of Israeli culture and thrilled crowds around the globe by offering audiences an exciting and inspiring multi-sensory experience like no other in the world.

Tararam’s high-energy shows have placed them at the top of “must-see” lists around the world, and the group has performed at numerous events such as the annual Taglit – Birthright Israel Gala; the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece; the 2005 Maccabiah Games; and Israeli President Peres’ 80th Birthday event with Bill Clinton.

This energetic group exemplifies a young and fresh perspective on Israeli performance art. Tararam’s celebration of rhythm will awaken your natural impulse to tap your feet and clap your hands.