It is a shame the Jewish Museum’s new exhibit on Jewish women’s salons won’t be featuring the museum’s own “Gala Salon,” which took place Wednesday night at the Waldorf-Astoria.

More than 400 guests attended the celebration of female leadership at the museum, including artist Mark Podwal, art collectors Robert and Ann Freedman (who just donated a Frank Stella print to the museum), and writer Paul Rudnick, who paid homage to Queen Esther and his Aunt Lil in his retelling of the story of Purim.

As the Jewish Museum begins its second century, women shape its future, notably the museum’s director, Joan Rosenbaum, and its chairwoman, Leni May. Three trustees received special recognition at the event, as well as silver Kiddish cups designed by Ludwig Wolpert: author and educator Fanya Gottesman Heller, a Holocaust survivor; teacher Barbara Horowitz, who leads the board’s exhibition committee, and author Francine Klagsbrun. Each of the three trustees has served more than 10 years. The Mayer Sulzberger Award (this year, a silver honey dish) went to the museum’s immediate past chairwoman, Susan Lytle Lipton, a former investment banker and lawyer who joined the board in 1986.

Another trustee, Phyllis Mack, led the committee overseeing the event, composed of 43 women (and no men). Members included Melva Bucksbaum, Arlene Doft, Patricia Falkenberg, Nancy Offit, and Lynn Tobias.

Their efforts proved enriching. According to Ann Scher, the museum’s director of communications, the event raised $1.1 million. Ms. Scher also noted that “the museum’s finances are separate” from those of its parent institution, the Jewish Theological Seminary, which has recently announced that it has borrowed an amount less than $40 million to cover operating expenses.

The men at the event knew their duty: to take their partners for a spin on the dance floor with music by the Hank Lane Orchestra. One male nearly stole the show: Ms. Heller’s great-grandson, 5-month-old Simcha Stein, who wore a tuxedo by Camilo.

Those who missed this salon have until July 10 to see the museum’s exhibit on the subject, “The Power of Conversation: Jewish Women and Their Salons.” Women profiled include Gertrude Stein, Henriette Herz, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Ada Leverson, and Florine Stettheimer.

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Upon arriving at the 92nd Street Y’s Global Citizenship Dinner, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer admitted to the event’s honoree, speech and language pathologist Patricia Cayne, that he had a lisp as a child.

But he was a smooth talker during the keynote later in the evening.

“I hope you all don’t grow up to be like my mother – a liberal,” Mr. Fleischer joked. Yet his own mother had her influence: “I think it’s important to have the heart of a liberal and the mind of a Republican,” Mr. Fleischer said.

As for his parents’ reaction to his party affiliation: “They thought that if their son was going to rebel, it was better to become Republican than a drug dealer – but not by much.”

He went on to joke about living in Texas as a Jew. “When I moved to Texas and introduced myself as ‘Ari,’ people asked if that was ‘R.E.’ – like ‘J.R.’… President Bush called me ‘Ari Bob.'”

As for life in the White House: Mr. Fleischer has just published a memoir about his time there, “Taking Heat” (Simon & Schuster).

Seen: the 92nd Street Y’s chairman, Matthew Bronfman, greeting the chairman and chief executive of Bear Stearns, James Cayne (the husband of the honoree), and Mr. Bronfman’s new bride, Stacey Kaye, chatting with Tami Mack and the executive director of the 92nd Street Y, Sol Adler.