I Have Lived a Charmed Life
Retirement Dinner - May 31, 2007

I am overwhelmed by all the beautiful sentiments expressed tonight. Since I don’t expect to be around to hear my eulogy, this is certainly the next best thing. I hope I am truly worthy of all the wonderful praise that has been directed toward me. I certainly have tried to do my best.

I want to thank all those who contributed to the Tribute Fund. Your generosity has made possible the establishment of programs, awards, scholarships and improvements to the synagogue’s infrastructure that I am extremely proud to have associated with my name.
While I want to thank each and every one of you here tonight, it is only proper that I acknowledge the leadership of our President Paul Smolevitz, who has put heart and soul into this event, as have its co-chairs, Bonnie Weinstock and Erika Witover. I also want to thank Debbie Daniels, Paul Chaskes, Victor Hatami, Bonnie Eisler, Ron Frank, Felice Linder, and Leslie Levy and the gala committee members who have played a major role in tonight’s celebration and all the other festivities connected with my retirement. Because of their efforts, my final year at the Woodbury Jewish Center has been genuinely memorable and my career in the rabbinate is concluding in a most wonderful way.

Everything I want to say to you about my years in the rabbinate, I stated in my sermon on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. That sermon is available on the Woodbury Jewish Center web site for those of you who wish a first or second look at my thoughts.

What I would like to say tonight was sparked by a comment my mother made to me one night last January. My mother who will turn 95, God willing, this Shabbat, expressed this sentiment: “I am grateful for everything. I have lived a charmed life.”

I want all of you to know that I, too, have lived a charmed life. I was blessed with parents who gave me unconditional love, and believe me, it had to be unconditional in view of my childhood antics. It was they who inspired and wholeheartedly supported my love of Judaism. My father who died seven years ago at age 93, was a president of his large synagogue and its chief gabbai for many decades. My mother was a former sisterhood president and a mentor and teacher of adult b’not mitzvah. Even now though in her middle 90's, she still attends the synagogue regularly on holiday and Shabbat mornings.

My brother Marshall and his wife Sandy took marvelous care of my father in his senior years and are giving the same doting and unselfish attention to my mother. They are also an exceptionally devoted aunt and uncle to my children and grandchildren. I personally feel blessed by Marshal and Sandy’s love and dedication to me.

Adrienne and I will celebrate our 40th anniversary this September. Our love for each other and our appreciation of one another have grown only stronger over the years. Adrienne is my best friend, my confidante and adviser. I cannot imagine life without her.
I have given more than one sermon warning parents against viewing their children’s main role to be automatic nachas machines. I have said more than once that children are to be given wings to follow their own dreams. And I truly believe that.

But, alas, I have been blessed with a charmed life as a parent. My children have pursued their own dreams, but in so doing, they have also fulfilled my fondest dreams for my children. Debbie, Aaron, and Jonathan are a source of great nachas, of pride, joy and love. They have wonderful marriages with bright, capable, caring and Jewishly committed spouses – David, Alisa and Debbie. They have warm Jewish homes, and they faithfully adhere to the Jewish way of life. Two of my children and their families live in Israel and are part of the great Zionist enterprise to build a Jewish homeland. My son and daughter-in-law who live in Potomac, Maryland, are actively involved in their synagogue. Their son will enter the local Jewish Day School next year after completing nursery school at their synagogue. What parent for whom Judaism is the very essence of his life could ask for more?

Tonight’s celebration has brought together all six of my grandchildren. Talya, Yossi, Jacob, Lily, Elye and Eitan are an endless source of joy. They are a gift and sometimes a challenge to my energy and strength. But they surely help keep me young! They are the sweet icing on the cake. They are an important reason I feel I am living a charmed life.
I am blessed, too, in my extended family. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Harry and Joanne, have flown in from San Diego to be here. Their middle son, my nephew Jon, came from Chicago. My Uncle Elliot and Aunt Paula are also here as are my cousins and congregants, Susan, Rob and Ian Miller and Susan’s parents, Milton and Gloria Rulnick.

Let me tell you one final reason I feel I am living a charmed life. It is because of you. Being a rabbi is not the easiest of professions. And yet I have found with you for the past fifteen years, even as I found with my previous two congregations, that congregants can be wonderful, they can be supportive, they can be motivated to pursue more intensive Jewish living and learning. Let me state, without an ounce of overstatement or intent to flatter, that I have found in this congregation the most intelligent, the most dedicated, the most engaging, the most caring individuals, I have ever known.

And when it comes to the professionals, who could ask for better? This week’s torah portion speaks about the Menorah that illumined the mishkan, the portable sanctuary used by the Israelites in the wilderness upon leaving Egypt. The torah tells us that the entire Menorah, the stem with its seven branches, was fashioned from one piece of solid gold. That image helps me portray the professionals who head and oversee the various branches of our synagogue organization. They are all part of the same piece, the same organization, the same mission, the same religious undertaking, that we call the Woodbury Jewish Center. And let me tell you that they are all solid gold.

Linda Altman, our synagogue administrator, possesses uncommon ability and dedication. The Woodbury Jewish Center could not function without her.

Silvia Padron prepares my pay check so I have to say good things about her. But I would anyway because she is a delightful person to have next door to my office. Sil’s humor and unflappable calm make the bookkeepers’ office a favorite hangout and refuge for all.

I am also grateful for Michael Barletta who not only oversees synagogue maintenance but keeps the parsonage in good repair.

My colleague, Gerry Meisel, is an extraordinary educational director. He has brought spirit, excitement and a standard of excellence that has transformed our religious school.

Vivian Grossman is an outstanding educator of our youngest children. She has created a synagogue nursery school that has no equal.

My foot begins to tap even before Cantor Aaron Cohen takes his place at the bimah in anticipation of his joyous rendition of our prayers. Aaron is a mensch whose music causes our souls to soar.

Speaking of professionals, Scott Morrell and his catering staff provide top notch service and food. They have been a pleasure to work with. Adrienne has said that she married me for better or worse but not for lunch. Morrell caterers has provided me with lunch for fifteen years, and Adrienne is deeply grateful to them for their attention to my appetite.
For the past two years, I have shared leadership of this congregation with Rabbi Raphael Adler. He has done a remarkable job of expanding our synagogue programs and especially our adult education. I wish him and Fran well in the years ahead.

So, mother, I too, have lived a charmed life. A life that leaves me fulfilled, grateful and happy. Pirke Avot asks who is rich? Mee asheer? It answers with these words, hasamayach b’helko, “He who rejoices in his portion.” I rejoice in all that God has granted me. I am in awe of my good fortune. I am the richest man alive.

I would like to conclude with one more heartfelt sentiment: at this moment I am both humbled and overjoyed by this wonderful turnout. As they say at the end of a flight, “you have many choices, thank you for choosing us.” I say to you, “thank you for choosing to be here tonight with me, Adrienne and our family. Above all, thank you for your support, your tribute and your love.