Thank you Keith. As you know, this award was not my idea - thanks to the Jewish Federaition for bestowing this honor on us.
I won't quote this exactly but I remember an old Hasidic tale that talks about Moshe who ran from house to house decrying what was happening and urging his friends to change their behaviour and speak out against the tyranny that was happening.- do something
And the town fathers said " Moshe, why are you doing that? . No one is listening. No one cares. No one will speak out. Why are you wasting your time?
ANd Moshe said, You're right. But the answer is if I don't do that, I will become like them.
Right now the world is a mess.
Our country is so polarized as it has never been before.
Hate is Hate. It doesn't matter who it's being directed towards. Once we sit back and say, "It's not us- we don't have to react - but the next group will be us and now it is us.
Yes, Anti Semitism has reared its ugly head at a level we have not seen for many years .Senseless Acts of violence are erupting -
.
And yet, there are people - good. people who react. - not enough-
Being married to a Holocaust survivor for 68 - yes 68 years, puts a different spin on the world. My children never heard my husband
speak but the first grandchild initiated a deluge of information. Our grandchildren and now our great grandchildren at a very tender age are learning the history of our people and family/
We watched the hostages being released and the world's somewhat inaccurate interepretation of history.
So we all have a job. to get involved - however you see fit.- It doesn;t make you popular but it helps you sleep better.
I can honestly say that all my years with Federation made life long friends - friends who cared about the world we are leaving our grandchildren.
The first time I was asked to chair something, I quickly looked around to see who they were talking to..
I must quote Charlotte Krupnick, a founding member of our Federation who nominated me for something so many years ago.
She said "I've learned that when you give it all you've got, in the process you grow and become "more". . We all have the portential
to mold and shape and make our lives and the world a better place.That's what the Jewish world is all about"
