Now with our grandchildren, we are proud to be 5th generation members of Temple Emanu-El. It has always been an important part of my family’s Jewish life, which was only enhanced by my personal relationship with Rabbi Milton Grafman. Not only as one of his Bar Mitvah boys, but also as a young adult, and later as a husband and a father, Milton Grafman remained a mentor and an advisor. He was very dear to me.

Gail and I both feel the Temple is the center of Jewish life. As a young married couple, we agreed that if we were blessed with any sort of financial success, we wanted to make certain that the legacy of Milton Grafman and the viability of Temple Emanu-El remained strong — and that future generations would have the same Jewish opportunities as our family. We made our first gift years ago to help refurbish a Torah. That was an incredibly meaningful gift for us at that time. The rebuilding and expansion of our temple was our second opportunity. Now through our support of the Shofar Initiative, we may help in creating a stable environment for that which is our greatest legacy: the children of Temple Emanu-El. By making a major gift to the religious school, we hope to help keep our children involved and engaged… for our community, our faith and the future of our beloved Temple Emuanu-El.