Schreiner Institute, summer of 1953, BBYO District 7 Convention.......... that's where it all began to make sense for me that there was something very special about being Jewish. Standing around a campfire, everyone holding hands and singing traditional Jewish songs made quite an impression on a 15 year old boy. In all honesty, Sunday School and my Bar Mitzvah had never gotten me very excited about my Jewishness. Actually all they had represented to me were a lot of work and taking time that I would rather have spent doing something else.
But, now I was hooked. For the next few years, BBYO became the center of my life and started me on a path of Jewish community commitment which grew into general community involvement including industry, civic and charitable endeavors of all kinds. I should also add that BBYO was where Louise and I first met. It wasn't exactly love at first sight, but seven years or so later we had our first date and we have now been life partners for almost thirty five years.
Certainly, the first element of the importance of Judaism in my life is how it relates to my family. What a joy to feel the extra ingredient added to those special life cycle events by the Jewish tradition that is such a part of them......seeing our four kids Bar and Bat Mitzvahed; sharing in their Jewish wedding ceremonies; participating in the rituals wherein our six grandchildren not only took their Jewish names and carried on the spirit of those for whom they were named, but at the same time they also became part of the covenant we all share. These have all been tremendously emotional moments in our lives, double mitzvahs if you will....meaningful Jewish ceremonies and wonderful family events.
From a community standpoint, surely the most important effort Louise and I have taken part in as Jews has been our involvement in the Campus of the San Antonio Jewish Community. It was our children's vision and excitement which got us dedicated to the project. Quite frankly, early on we decided we'd been involved in enough fundraising efforts. However, because of our children's prodding, we came to realize the importance of this effort for our parents' generation, our own generation, that of our kids, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren yet to be.
What could we ever do in our lives of more lasting importance than helping to assure the building of a Jewish Campus serving young and old Jews, impacting five or six generations....what an incredible opportunity...how could we possibly sit it out?
Judaism has certainly shaped my involvement in non-Jewish community activities. First of all, many of the opportunities I have enjoyed, I believe came my way because I was Jewish. The non-Jewish community has enormous respect for both the caring as well as the organizational skills of those of us in the Jewish community.
As Jews, it is obligatory for us to care not only about Jews and Jewish causes but also to be concerned about the less fortunate in our community and to support the many important institutions that play a major role in shaping the fabric of San Antonio.
In December of 1994, when I left office as Chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, my outgoing speech was built around the words of the great Rabbi, Hillel, "If I am not for myself, who shall be for me? If I am only for myself, what am l? If not now, when?" Those immortal words really tell us all we need to know about our obligations as Jews.
Because of our experiences as Jews, we are uniquely able to understand the poor, the persecuted, and the discriminated against. A number of years ago, I was invited to participate in a forum on the East side of town at the Carver Cultural Center. This gathering was a result of a controversy which had been raging on the editorial pages of the newspaper as to whether the obligation to solve the difficult problems of illegitimacy and crime afflicting Black America was primarily the job of White America or Black America.
A good friend of mine, Doug Harlan, was in the center of the storm and wanted me to appear since basically agreed with his point of view that Black America had to attack these problems themselves and quit waiting for others to do it for them. There we were, Doug and I, the only white faces in an almost filled auditorium. The opposite point of view was represented, in a very emotional manner I might add, by a number of extremely prominent black community leaders and clergy. When I finally got my turn at the microphone, the crowd was already pretty worked up and in no frame of mind to listen to me.
I was able to turn the situation around into a more balanced dialogue when I told them I understood a lot about being hated by bigots and racists because I was Jewish, and they could all be sure every person who called them Nigger, called me Kike, either to my face or behind my back.
As a result of some challenges thrown at me by members of the audience that evening, we set up a worker recruiting and training program on the East side for our company which continues today. It has resulted in our hiring a significant number of black men who could not find jobs elsewhere. Not only were we able to provide some badly needed jobs for that part of town, but we, in turn, benefited from a new source of entry level employees.
I would suggest to you that we Jews in America today are among the most fortunate people of all time. We enjoy unparalleled educational achievement, well above average incomes, status and respect in our communities, and fabulous success in developing a strong constituency, both Jewish and non-Jewish, on behalf of the State of Israel. Jewish institutions from Synagogues, to Federations, to Community Centers, to Homes for the Aged are growing and thriving.
Jews have become such an accepted part of the American scene, it's no longer a battle to keep schools from scheduling major events or tests on the High Holy Days.
Certainly, problems exist: there are poor Jews, there are those who are victims of anti-Semitism but life for Jews in the United States, for the most part, is pretty good. In my opinion, an argument can be made that the current American Jewish Community is comprised of three basic generations of Jews, with some overlap, of course. First we have those who fought Anti-Semitism on the front lines. They battled, sometimes physically, for acceptance and assimilation. They blazed a path for those of us fortunate enough to follow. Their efforts are a key element in the successes we enjoy today.
Next we have those whose involvement and concern as Jews was driven by the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel. These are the Jews of the Six Day War for whom the survival of Israel is not just an historical fact, but a miracle; the creation of a nation born, as with normal childbirth, in blood, the blood of those victims of the Holocaust. Their emotional ties to Israel helped raise our consciousness as Jews and infused the entire United States' Jewish Community with new vigor and dedication.
The third generation is today's young adults. They are Jews for whom the Holocaust is ancient history and the State of Israel is an undisputed fact. They have little personal remembrance of how close that beleaguered nation came to annihilation in the 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 wars. These are fervent young Jews, immensely proud of their Judaism. They are turning in droves to Jewish Day Schools, filling the nursery schools of Jewish Community Centers, driving the growth of local Jewish institutions. Because they have found meaning, pride and richness in their lives from Judaism, they want their children to grow up with strong Jewish identities, to be comfortable with, and proud of, their Judaism.
It is largely because of this last generation of Jews that our Temple Beth El community could respond so affirmatively to the challenge their soul mate and mentor, Barry Block, laid out one year ago to build sukkahs....to make Sukkot a real part of our lives, a festive time to be shared with families, a joyous holiday to become a real part of our Jewish tradition.
What all three of these generations of Jews share is being the beneficiaries of centuries of Jewish scholars and religious leaders, and thousands upon thousands of our ancestors who refused to give up their faith despite almost unbelievable persecution. A rich and wonderful religion and culture has been bequeathed to us.
The challenge for us is to move forward with these gifts and continue to enrich Judaism with our own unique contributions. "Behold, a good Doctrine has been given us, do not forsake it."
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