Kol Nidre Appeal 2003 One Rosh Hashanah morning, the Rabbi ...

Yom Kippur Speech Oct.5, 2003
Rabbi Graber, Cantor Kepecs, Reverend Blitz, Rabbi Pappert, and Cantor Abromowitz
(where appropriate) and members of My Temple Hillel Family.
G’mar Chatimah Tova:
As we seek atonement for our sins to man and to G-d and as the book of life closes on
another year, we are presented with a very special gift. Gary Rosenblatt in his weekly
column in the Jewish Week said” I no longer see Yom Kippur as a burden but as an
opportunity” He further stated that as he turned to the heavens he came to understand
more and to appreciate the world and the people around him. That message was brought
home to me a little more than a week ago, Erev Rosh Hashanah, when the cycle almost
co-existed, when on the morning of Sept. 25 th my Aunt Lil Stecklow, known by some of
you in the synagogue as Diamond Lil passed away at almost the same hour that my
granddaughter Meirav Baracha was born into this world. The sanctity and beginnings of a
new life and the inevitability of death. Diamond Lil was a founder of this Temple and a
lady who gave much to this and other Jewish communities and was fortunate to live a
productive life for much of her more than 87 years.
I was an 11 year old kid from East New York Brooklyn when my aunt and uncle
dedicated the first corner stone you see when you walk into Temple hillel; the first Nir
Talmid, Eternal Light was dedicated to the memory of my maternal grandfather. I
thought Valley Stream with real grass and beautiful backyards and this new Temple and
community was the best thing that could happen to anyone. Little did I know or did my
family expect that more than 40 years later I would become President of this Temple.