Fran Drescher receives the 2021 ELEM LiveSaver Award

About the LifeSaver Award

“One Person’s Candle is Light for Many”

The LifeSaver Award, founded in 2014, is a humanitarian award given yearly by the American Friends of ELEM to recognize an exceptional individual or a group of individuals who exemplify dedication and commitment to alleviating suffering and inhumane treatment of youth, social inequality and intolerance.

Our recipients come from all fields and their activism is done by a variety of methods, including advocacy, education and awareness activities focusing on creating an open dialogue. They shine as a positive voice in the world, a ray of hope (so named our yearly gala) and their work in the U.S., Israel and globally, helps in the preservation of human life.

Previous Recipients

2023 Co-Recipient

Gal Gadot

Gal Gadot is one of Hollywood’s most engaging and sought-after talents. She debuted as Diana/Wonder Woman in the blockbuster “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” In 2017, she starred again in the role in the first-ever “Wonder Woman” feature.

Gal executive produced and hosted “Impact,” a National Geographic mini-series that follows the powerful stories of six women who are making an extraordinary impact on their communities around the world. Additionally, Gadot has numerous projects in development under her production company, Pilot Wave, alongside her partner Jaron Varsano.

2023 Co-Recipients

Dan & Sarah Sapadin

Daniel Sapadin is a Partner, Managing Director, and Chief Operating Officer of Owl Creek Asset Management, L.P. Owl Creek is an event-driven value investment company in Manhattan, where Dan has worked since its inception in 2001. He graduated from the University of Vermont and received a master’s degree from Baruch College. Dan served on the ELEM board for 7 years and has been actively involved with ELEM New York since 2003. Danny and his wife Sara live on the Upper West Side in NYC and are proud parents of Ezra, Saul, Gabriel, and Talia.

Rabbi Sara Sapadin currently serves as an Associate Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, where her work primarily focuses on conversion, adult engagement, and interfaith initiatives. Sara was ordained as a rabbi from Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion in 2007 and began her career at Temple Beth El of Great Neck, followed by Temple Israel of the City of New York. An avid writer, Sara has been published on sites such as Kveller, Motherly, and ReformJudaism.org. She is also a proud contributor to The Sacred Calling: Four Decades of Women in the Rabbinate. Sara graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a Bachelor’s in Literature. She and her husband, Danny are the proud parents of Ezra, Saul, Gabriel, and Talia.

2021 Recipient

Fran Drescher

Fran received two Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations for her work on CBS’s hit series, The Nanny, which she both created and executive produced. Fran is a 20-year cancer survivor and founder of the Cancer Schmancer Movement; dedicated to educating, motivating, and activating patients. Her book, Cancer Schmancer, is a New York Times Best Seller. The Israeli Knesset also honored Fran for being the first female, Jewish actress since Molly Goldberg in 1948 to play an openly Jewish character in a starring role on primetime TV in her role on The Nanny. She is a vetted and appointed Public Diplomacy Envoy for Health Issues with the U.S. State Department.
2020 Recipient

Rachel Bloom

Rachel Bloom is best known as the star of CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, which she co-created and executive produced alongside Aline Brosh McKenna. Rachel won a Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice and TCA Award, and the Emmy Award for her work on the show. Her notable TV guest star credits include THE SIMPSONS, BOJACK HORSEMAN, and RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE. Rachel’s first book, I Want To Be Where The Normal People Are, was published by Grand Central Publishing on November 17, 2020.
2019 Co-Recipient

Orin Wolf

Award-winning producer of the Broadway musical The Band’s Visit and the president of NETworks Presentations. Orin Wolf’s Broadway producing credits include the revival of Fiddler On the Roof (Tony nominated), Beautiful – the Carole King Musical (Tony nominated), Orphans, (Tony nominated), once (Tony winner), that championship season and a view from the bridge (Tony nominated). Orin was the co-founder of OBB/Off Broadway Booking, an agency that pioneered a national touring market for off-broadway shows. He is a proud recipient of the first T-fellowship for creative producing at Columbia University which was founded by Hal Prince.
2019 Co-Recipient

David Yazbeck

A varied career as a recording artist, TV and film writer, music producer, and pianist has led Yazbek to become one of Broadway’s preeminent composer/lyricists. His fiveshows: The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, The Band’s Visit and Tootsie have all been nominated for Best ScoreTony Awards. Also, Yazbek has scored the final season of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, composed music for Larry David’s Broadway play Fish In the Dark and written songs and music for dozens of other plays and shows.
2019 Co-Recipient

Itamar Moses

An award-winning writer based in New York, Moses is the author of six full-length plays and three musicals, including The Band’s Visit, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Awards for his work include Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle and Obie awards in New York, as well as awards from the Portland, San Diego, Dallas, and Bay Area Theatre Critics Circles.
2017 Recipient

Curtis Sliwa

Founder of the Guardian Angels, a USA wide nonprofit organization that patrols streets and the public transportation system, accompany women home and keeping the streets safe (similar to the Israeli Mishmar Ezrachi.)