Fund-raising professionals go to great lengths to bring in the bucks. The legendary Naomi Levine, who helped bring in $2 billion for New York University during her tenure as vice president for external affairs, most certainly outdid them all on Thursday, when she allowed trustees and colleagues to roast her.

All subjects were fair game at the dinner in her honor: her neuroses, physical ailments, infuriating personality traits, and her sex life. The steely octogenarian took it all in stride, in part because she is beyond humiliation, in part because she had a strong hand in the program – even preparing “suggested” remarks for two of the speakers, Larry Silverstein and Edgar Bronfman – and in part because the event raised money for a cause near and dear to her: an endowment for the university’s Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, which she helped found, and of which she is chairwoman.

The endowment is crucial, Ms. Levine said, “so that when Edgar [Bronfman] and I aren’t here, the center’s work will continue.” The goal is to raise $10 million; so far, $4 million has been raised.

Ms. Levine spoke passionately about her strong feeling for Judaism and Jewish history, notwithstanding the fact that she doesn’t believe in God. A veteran of campus life (she lives on Washington Square), Ms. Levine said the university years are the ideal time for people to learn about and embrace their Jewish identity.

The president of the university, John Sexton, awarded her with the university’s Presidential Medal. In more of a toast than a roast, Mr. Sexton credited Ms. Levine’s fund raising for “making possible the transformation of the university.” And then he pinpointed what made Ms. Levine so effective: “Her greatest contribution came from her talent as a storyteller,” Mr. Sexton said. “She conceptualized the story of NYU, and it was an extraordinary story.”

Clearly, her relationships with New York University’s trustees were close and significant. In a video made for the occasion, Mr. Silverstein said, “It’s good that she was happily married, and I was happily married, otherwise there would have been something going on.”

***

At its sixth annual gala Sunday night at the Pierre, American Friends of Rabin Medical Center celebrated medical breakthroughs and the philanthropists who have helped fund them. The event, attended by 530 guests, raised $850,000, a third of the group’s annual fund-raising target. Larry King emceed the packed program of plaque presentations, speeches, and remarks by America’s ambassador to Israel, Dennis Ross.

In his opening, Mr. King joked about the cool temperature in the room. “We’re all penguins in here,” Mr. King said, pulling up the lapels of his tuxedo to warm his neck. Midway, he displayed a steaming cup of hot tea. By dessert, he was complaining it was too warm.

The event honored the chairman and chief executive of IVAX Corporation, Phillip Frost, and his wife, Patricia Frost, who is the chairwoman of the Smithsonian Institution National Advisory Board. Mr. Frost recently made one of the largest business deals in Israeli history by selling his company for $7.4 billion to Teva Pharmaceuticals.

One of Mr. King’s CNN colleagues, Paula Zahn, made a surprise appearance with her cello, playing “Take the A Train” with the Jazz Museum in Harlem All-Stars Band.

Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva is Israel’s largest hospital and a Level One Trauma Center.

***

If your birthday is in October, the New York thing to do is to have your birthday party on Halloween. Two of the city’s social darlings, David Lauren and Celerie Kemble, set the example Monday. Mr. Lauren and his girlfriend, Lauren Bush, celebrated his 34th birthday at his West Village home with guests such as Olivia Chantecaille, Lara Meiland, and Justin Rockefeller.

Meanwhile, the interior designer, Ms. Kemble, and her husband, the money manager. Boykin Curry, toasted her 32nd year by renting out Joe’s Pub for a private performance by the camp pop band Rene Risque and the Art Lovers. Costumes were “(very) optional.” Guests included Richard Meier, Vanessa Bismarck, Lela Rose, and Moby,who joined Mr. Risque for a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.”

In both cases, the birthday cake was a whole lotta cupcakes. Mr. Lauren’s were baked by the personal chef Lee Ann.

agordon@nysun.com