Both of us grew up with close attachments to Judaism and the importance of Jewish values and tradition, Hannah in a small village on Long Island and Elliott in Philadelphia. For both families, the synagogue was the focal point of their Jewish education and social connections. Hannah’s father was the founder of the Malverne Jewish Center and her parents inculcated in their children the concept of cultural philanthropy and helping to perpetuate the Jewish people. We have always been members of a synagogue, and since 1977, we have been members of Temple Adat Shalom, our spiritual, educational, and social home.

As parents and grandparents, we taught our children and grandchildren that philanthropy is an act of caring and cultivating, of developing and enhancing. We strive to be good role models for our family, and by becoming Legacy donors, we hope our children will in turn follow in our path and discover a new facet of their Jewish experience and identity. Through philanthropy, we wish for them to fulfill their philanthropic aspiration to make a difference.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah used to say, “If there is no sustenance, there is no Torah, but if there is not Torah, there can be no sustenance.”