My mother, Jean Larisch Weingarten, immigrated to the United States from Brzesko, Poland with her family after a number of pogroms in her village. My father, William Weingarten, was born in Lemberg, Austria (Lwow, Poland) and escaped from Vienna in 1938 after Hitler’s arrival. My mother arrived in the United States in 1933 and my father in September 1939. My parents met in New York in 1941.

My father was forced to leave the University of Vienna medical school in 1938, when Hitler decreed that Jews could no longer attend. A year later, as a refugee with no prior knowledge of English, my father arrived in America and worked at menial jobs while learning English and studying to complete his medical training. Education was a top priority for him. Despite many hardships, my father earned his medical degree with a specialty in cardiology. As soon as he had passed his specialty Boards, he joined the United States Public Health Service, where he served as a medical officer from 1942 until opening his private practice in 1955.

This dedication to learning and determination to continue his education at all costs was my father’s legacy to me. Both of my parents had to flee persecution because they were Jews. This Jewish identity, along with the strong desire to preserve our culture and traditions, was another legacy.

L’dor v’dor, from generation to generation, it is vital that we transmit our traditional love of learning as well as our rich values and history to our children and to our children’s children. We must support our Jewish community in a tangible way. Through my legacy gifts to The Agency for Jewish Education and to Congregation Adat Yeshurun, I hope to play a small part in achieving that goal.