Temple Beth Emeth’s Board President Joe Pollak wrote for the Washtenaw Jewish News (April 2021) about why LIFE & LEGACY is such an important program to him. He has graciously agreed to share with us:
My grandparents’ synagogue lasted precisely one generation. In the 1950s, they moved to a newly constructed subdivision in Baltimore and started Woodmoor Hebrew Congregation with their neighbors. My grandfather was the president of the congregation and signed the deed to acquire the land for a new building. My grandmother was the volunteer bookkeeper for Sisterhood for many years, but there was no younger volunteer to succeed her. About fifty years after building their synagogue, my grandfather was asked (in his role as past president) to sign the deed to sell the building to provide some symbolism for the ceremony. Unfortunately, he died a few days before the sale was to be finalized, so someone else signed the paperwork. Their synagogue lasted precisely one generation.
It is a sad story, but it motivates me. I want the Ann Arbor Jewish community to be here for me and for my children. The generations who founded our Jewish community have given succeeding generations remarkable gifts — property, organizations, resources. I want to do the same, and that’s why my wife Robin and I have committed to remember Temple Beth Emeth and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor in our estate plan. We are among the younger families to pledge through Ann Arbor’s Life and Legacy program, but I know that it is the right time to plan for the future.