The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes people who have made a lasting commitment to the local and global Jewish community over their lifetime.
As the recipient of the 2024 award, Jack Halpern was recognized during the Federation’s 118th Annual Meeting for his nearly 40 years of dedication to the organization and his leadership roles and initiatives in the community.
“There is no shortage of good causes to support in our community,” Jack said.
25 years ago, Jack and his sister, Carolyn, created the Halpern Oppenheimer Family Foundation as a vehicle to support various charities each year. The Foundation also enables the family’s next generation to be involved in decisions about charitable giving.
Jack credits his parents for instilling in him the satisfaction of helping other people: “Our family business was successful, but they got more pleasure from giving money away than from spending it on themselves.”
During his acceptance speech, Jack spoke about the challenges facing the Jewish community and how the collective strength of fulfilling tzedakah (the Jewish term for philanthropy) underpins Jewish resilience.
“Each one of us should envision the Jewish legacy that we want to leave behind,” he said. “We should then help make that vision a reality. We owe this obligation to those who preceded us, and it’s our responsibility to those who follow.”
Jack has served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Epstein School and of The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, as co-chair of the Board of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, and on the boards of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and numerous other non-profit organizations. Jack received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Westminster Schools in 2019 and has been named one of Atlanta’s most influential leaders by Atlanta Magazine for the past four years.