Due to the acceptance we felt from the Temple’s outreach efforts to interfaith couples, we joined not long after our marriage. It’s been our spiritual home ever since. In attending regularly as part of MaryAnne’s conversion process, we grew to love the liturgy and the sermons, and have experienced great personal growth from the examples of living fulfilling lives set for us by other Temple members.

We’ve grown to love Temple Emanu-El and value what it has given us so much that we now give back with our funds and with our time — having taught in the Religious School, served on the Board, and on its committees.

Support for the Rabbi Grafman Endowment Fund is a crucial part of our support for Temple Emanu-El. Mike grew up with deep roots in a congregation in Miami Beach, founded by his maternal grandparents and seven other families in the late 1950s. Due to a lack of foresight on the part of the clergy and leadership, that synagogue was unable to weather a short-term problem and no longer exists today. If that synagogue had an endowment fund to help it survive that brief period of difficulty, it would still exist today helping to raise another generation of Jewish children.

With our gift of an insurance policy to the Grafman Endowment Fund and making monthly donations for premium payments, we believe we’re helping ensure Temple Emanu-El’s existence for generations to come.