San Diego (special) -- Like many a sentimental family get-together, the American Jewish Committee's tribute to Lynn Schenk on Sunday, April 2, was a time for laughter and tears.

Schenk, chief of staff to California Gov. Gray Davis and a former Democratic congresswoman who represented the San Diego area, was presented the Judge Learned Hand Award for commitment to the rights of individuals and the importance of democratic values in an orderly society.

A bipartisan crowd of more than 400 persons attended the dinner that netted the local chapter of the American Jewish Committee approximately $150,000 for a wide variety of activities that focus on such issues as maintaining separation between church and state, and building closer relations between Jews and other religious and ethnic groups.

Attorney Michael Thorsnes, one of the dinner's co-chairs, noted that some of the people who had wanted to be at the dinner could not be present -- the cue for the showing of a surprise video featuring Gov. Davis. It began with him looking into the camera and saying straight-faced, "It is an honor for me to accept the American Jewish Committee's Judge Learned Hand Award." 

An off-camera voice then said the award was not for him, but for Schenk. "Who?" the governor dead-panned. The unidentified aide said the award was for Schenk, the chief of staff. Davis replied that he thought he was chief of staff. No, replied the aide, that was back when Jerry Brown was governor of California.

The crowd laughed heartily through the performance, prompting Schenk later to joke that perhaps one of her greatest accomplishments had been to fire the 'charisma advisor' for the normally bland Davis -- Vice President Al Gore.

Another presenter, AJC chapter president Paul Meyer, sprung a poignant surprise on Schenk. Not long before his death last month, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Schwartz discussed Schenk's upcoming honor with his wife, Gertrude, and told her that he would like to give to Schenk the portrait of Judge Hand which had been displayed prominently in Schwartz's chambers.

The thought of Judge Schwartz -- for whom San Diego's main federal courthouse is named -- speaking, as it were, from the grave moved many to near tears, including Schenk. But as she and Meyer struggled to take the wrapping off the present, which Mrs. Schwartz herself had wrapped, Schenk lightened the mood, quipping "I think First National Bank will want to hire Gertrude for its next installation of a vault."

In other accolades for Schenk:

Qualcomm chairman Irwin Jacobs and his wife, Joan, co-chairs of the event, read a letter from Vice President Gore thanking Schenk for her "commitment and tireless effort over the years on behalf of the people of San Diego, State of California and our great nation."

Bruce Ramer, a Los Angeles attorney who is national AJC president, said the Hand Award "pays tribute to those who bring to public life a profound respect for the law and an abiding and deep commitment to the community and the spirit of tolerance and understanding. That's Lynn."

Meyer, the chapter president, said: "An election won or an appointment accepted is not the end of the journey for Lynn; it is the beginning."

Laurie Black, head of the Downtown Partnership and former chief of staff in Schenk's old congressional office, emceed the event. She quoted Hand himself as saying, "I wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, upon courts. These are false hopes, believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women."

Black added: "Lynn Schenk has a tremendous heart...I don't know a person who is more loyal to friends and family than my friend Lynn Schenk."

The emcee also recalled that Schenk was among three women attorneys who in 1971 challenged the legality of a "Men Only Until 3 p.m." rule at the Grant Grill, located in the same hotel where the dinner was held. As a plaque in the hotel now relates the incident, Schenk, Judith McConnell and Elaine Alexander "returned to challenge the legality of the restaurant's 'Men Only' lunch policy, carrying files of case law and ready to cite authorities. Lunch was ultimately served and history was made." (McConnell went on to become a Superior Court judge, and Alexander became a deputy attorney general.)

Rabbi Wayne Dosick of the Elijah Minyan, who formerly was spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Am to which Schenk belongs, said of her during an invocation: "She hears the voice of Your ancient prophets and she inspires us to acts of decency and dignity, lives of doing what is right and what is good. For we have learned from her, where there is pain she works to bring healing, where there is anguish she works to bring comfort, where there is despair she works to bring hope..."

Not surprisingly, by the time Schenk came to the podium she said "I can't imagine that anyone last week winning an Academy Award could feel more emotion than I am feeling right now at this moment.

Schenk said the award, which she dedicated to her late father Sidney Schenk -- who died earlier this year -- had tremendous meaning to her both because of its sponsorship by the American Jewish Committee and because it is named for Judge Hand.

She described Hand, who served on the U.S. Appeals Court for the Second Circuit from 1924 to 1951, as "one of this nation's most extraordinary jurists (who) in his his day was known as the 'tenth justice of the United States Supreme Court.' Judge Hand also was known for his love and use of the English language. He used his mastery of the spoken and written word as his weapon to fiercely protect the basic rights upon which this nation was founded, the right of the individual to be free from government intrusion, the right to practice one's beliefs and the right to dissent."

She said her father, a Hungarian-born survivor of the Shoah, "brought to life his spirit of liberty in ways not as widely known but to me equally powerful." Though the Holocaust had scarred her father's body, memories and sleep, he never allowed it "to shatter his faith or to diminish his love for his family or for his country."

"My father taught me by the example of how he lived his life to love this nation," Schenk continued. "One of my most vivid personal childhood memories was standing alongside my father when he raised his hand to become a citizen of this country. From that day to the day he died, he never missed an election and he never heard of a Democrat he didn't like, although he did have a very secret fondness for Nelson Rockefeller (for whom Lynn Schenk had worked as a White House fellow when Rockefeller was vice president.) 

"My father only traveled back to Europe once and when he came back to Los Angeles, he got off the plane, got down on his knees and kissed the ground. He knew by his life experiences the meaning of Judge Hand's words. Because of him I feel--and I know my brother (local attorney) Fred (Schenk) feels -- that we are imbued with a special responsibility to live a life of meaning and purpose and to do our part to foster the spirit of liberty."

Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Am, before delivering the benediction, presented Schenk with a plaque inspired by the biblical injunction: "Justice, Justice, Shalt Thou Pursue."