RESOLUTION CONGRATULATING LEE AND ROBERT W. MATANKY
WHEREAS, Lee and Robert W. Matanky are being honored with the Distinguished Leadership Award by Hebrew Theological College (HTC) at its 96th Anniversary Dinner on November 27, 2018; and
WHEREAS, the Chicago City Council has been informed of this momentous event by Alderman Debra L. Silverstein; and
WHEREAS, Robert W. Matanky has served in leadership positions to support HTC, the Jewish community of Chicago, and the State of Israel for over 45 years, and for the past 33 years, Lee Matanky has supported him in those endeavors. He leveraged his many decades of Jewish communal service, professional knowledge, and personal network to enable major projects and strengthen HTC; and Lee is a lifetime member of Yeshiva Women, and also served on the Yeshiva Parents Association; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Matanky was first elected as a Director of HTC in 1985, and with the merger of HTC into the Touro College system, he has served on the HTC Board of Governors since 2015. He serves as the HTC delegate on the JUF Legacies and Endowments Committee, and has served as the HTC delegate on the JUF Government Affairs Committee since 1987; and
WHEREAS, Robert W. Matanky is a past president ofthe Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago. As a past Chairman of The Hillels of Illinois, he served on the International Board of Directors of Hillel, and as a co-chairman to build the Levine Hillel House at UIC. He is a Past President of The Decalogue Society of Lawyers, a former Editor-in-Chief of The Decalogue Journal, and current President of The Decalogue Foundation. Mr. Matanky is a Founder and Past President of Chicago Eruv, Inc., and has designed, built and consulted on more than 20 metropolitan Eruvin in the United States. He serves and has served as a Board member, officer, or committee member of more than a dozen other boards and organizations including: Jewish National Fund, State of Israel Bonds, the Jewish Community Council of West Rogers Park, and Arie Crown Hebrew Day School; and
WHEREAS, Lee Matanky, a leading early childhood educator, is a graduate of Yeshiva University's Stern College for Women. She earned her master's degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College in New York and certification in Jewish Early Childhood Education from New York's Board of Jewish Education. Currently in her 18th year of teaching at Hillel Torah, Lee also developed and taught courses in early childhood education for HTC's Blitstein Institute. Previously, she developed Judaic curriculum for JCC Chicago, and served as director of early childhood services at the Bernard Horwich JCC. , Mrs. Matanky has also served for many years as the PTA Treasurer at Arie Crown Hebrew Day School; and
WHEREAS, Lee and Robert W. Matanky are the proud parents of Ruthie (married to Tuli Skaist, Los Angeles, but currently working for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Istanbul), Gene (married to Arielle Cizma, Jerusalem), Katie (married to Joseph Schwartz, Jerusalem), Ariella (Tel Aviv), Jack (Jerusalem), and Zoe (Chicago). They are particularly proud of their Jerusalem-born grandchildren, Shai Cizma Matanky and Miki Schwartz; now, therefore,