LIVE ON | LIFE & LEGACY® at Buffalo

Gary & Marjorie Abelson

Over the years our lives have changed drastically. Even when we struggled at the beginning of our marriage, we felt it our obligation to help in any way we were able. We volunteered in various organizations. Over the years as our lives progressed, we also experienced heartache. We will always remember those we have lost. Some had lived full lives. Others were just finding their way. And some had but hours. To somehow keep their memory alive, we have decided to fund what we can for Jewish education when we’re gone.

Carol P. Amsterdam* & Dr. Daniel Amsterdam

My wife Carol and I came to Buffalo in 1981 from what we called the "other New York" so that I could accept a position at UB and the Erie County Medical Center. We knew little about its culture except its history as a steelmaking and automobile-manufacturing town, but we were told its vitality was its best kept secret. We experienced that vitality through our religious association at Temple Beth Zedek and from Buffalo Jewish Federation outreach activities. We would hope that our support allows those services and programs to endure and expand.

Linda Barat

As a returnee to Buffalo, it was important to find a vibrant Jewish Community to immerse myself in. I found it! I want that same experience for those who also return and come after me with my support for the future of Jewish Buffalo. I dedicate this value of L’dor V’dor to my maternal grandmother Mina C. Thorn, and my children Robert and Rachel.

James & Joanne Biltekoff

Our gift is earmarked for the Human Capital Fund. In our experience, the long-term success and excellence of an organization is driven by investment in its people. The Human Capital Fund provides resources for training, conferences, continuing education, and recruitment, facilitating professional development and retention of Federation professionals and volunteers.

Laurence and Linda Boxer

We decided to make a gift to Life and Legacy because we believe in L’Dor v’Dor, from generation to generation. It is our hope that others will do their part, large gifts and small gifts, so future generations will be part of the legacy of Temple Beth Tzedek’s rich history.

David Bunis

I was inspired to make my legacy commitment by the example set for me by my parents. Through my legacy commitment, I am endowing my Federation annual gift in perpetuity as well as supporting the needs of other Jewish agencies.

Jeff & Deborah Clark

Our family has deep ties to the Buffalo community and our Jewish faith. We are grateful to have the opportunity to carry on the incredible legacies handed down from our parents and grandparents, and find joy and fulfillment in making legacy commitments which will help ensure future generations will also inherit a strong, vibrant, Jewish Buffalo.

Jonathan & Judith Epstein

We are inspired by our family; our love for Judaism, Jewish traditions, and Jewish history; and our commitment to preserve the past while ensuring the future. Judaism and our Jewish identity have always been very special to both Judy and I – something to not only love but to enjoy to the fullest. That’s something that we want to pass on to our children. Family means everything to us, and our commitment to date reflects that on both ends.

Our vision is to ensure a strong, vibrant and engaged Jewish community in Buffalo, one that prioritizes its youth and especially its Jewish education to the highest degree, and that puts an emphasis on the quality and breadth of that education, so that every Jewish child in Western New York can receive it. At the same time, we must also guarantee that our past is preserved. We cannot learn from our mistakes and successes if we do not know where we came from or fail to appreciate those who came before us, so we must invest in supporting our cemeteries to protect our history.

Feuerstein Family Foundation

My vision & purpose for my legacy commitment is to make life better for less fortunate individuals & families, one person, one life at a time. Should the organizations I'm involved with continue to accomplish my vision then the entire Jewish community & greater WNY benefit the successes. I believe my inspiration came from my loving parents- Shirley & Irving Feuerstein & it is my intention to keep my Legacy going on for my children, Aaron & Jessica Feuerstein, and my daughter, Rachel Feuerstein Sage.

Robert & Eileen Fine

While we now spend the majority of our time in Florida, we feel a continuing obligation to the community where we earned our livings and want to continue to be charitable to that community. It is important to us to sustain the Jewish community, and particularly important because many of the children of our generation no longer live in Buffalo, New York. The needs of the Jewish community in Western New York will continue long term and, therefore, we feel it is important to help the Federation and the Foundation to have the means to meet those needs.

The Gareleck Family: Ellyn Stevenson, Betsy Feuerstein & Nancy Pickard

Our parents did not come from generational wealth. Although eventually successful by traditional measures, foremost to them was building a life based on social and family values. In that spirit, they supported causes that mattered to them with meaningful impact. It is that legacy we wish to honor and perpetuate.

Supporting the Jewish Community was important to our parents and they invested in various aspects of Jewish life at a level that was significant for them. Our parents both lived into their mid-nineties and spent several days a week exercising at the JCC. We know that many older members of the community do not have access to the JCC or they are being cared for by family members who are burdened with the stresses of caring for elderly parents. When we learned that the JCC was establishing a program directed at both of these issues, we knew that supporting this effort was the perfect way to honor and remember our parents in a way that would mean a lot to them.

Dr. Irwin Gelman

I learned my sense of tzedakah, of charity, from my late father, Cantor Charles Gelman, of blessed memory. Whenever and wherever someone needed help, whether as part of a formal charity or someone begging on the street, my father never missed an opportunity to give. Having survived the Holocaust, where he lost almost all his family and had to live in the forest under difficult conditions, I believe that he understood that his survival and ability to make a new life and a family in America was a blessing that needed to be spread to others.  I am committed to organizations that engage the Jewish community in Buffalo to increase their involvement in Jewish religious and social values.

Shira & Rob Goldberg

We are passionate about Jewish Buffalo and grateful for the many opportunities to be engaged while growing up here and when we returned as adults. We are inspired by the extraordinary leaders – professional and volunteer – who dedicate themselves each day to strengthen our community and make it one that is connected, caring and vibrant. Through our legacy commitments, we hope to ensure that this community we love continues to adapt and thrive well beyond our lifetimes.

Deborah Goldman & Grant Golden

We are inspired by the Jewish values of gratefulness and tikkum olam. We acknowledge with gratitude the blessings of our lives, and that we can contribute to repairing the world both in the present and for the future. In the present, our goal is to maximize local impact in support of: Women’s issues including reproduction and choice; Arts and Culture; Literacy; Reducing Income Inequality; and Judaism. For the future, our goal is to provide support in perpetuity for local Jewish efforts that reach out to young Jewish families so that they can easily engage in their Judaism, and support Jewish engagement in the creation of a more just and civil society. We are pleased to be able to join the generations that came before us to support our community.

Arnold N. Kahn

I have been involved with the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies for many years. I was Chair of the Scholarship Committee at the Foundation for well over 10 years. As a past President of the Foundation, I’m very familiar with the various initiatives the Foundation is committed to. The Scholarship Fund is especially meaningful to me for all the years I devoted time to it and witnessed how many young students needing financial assistance in their college expenses and how the Foundation was able to provide financial aid so they could continue their educational objectives. The appreciation our committee received over from so many students who responded to us after they completed their educational pursuits gave me the inspiration to provide a Scholarship Legacy Fund that would help keep this initiative viable for many years to come. Helping students achieve their career goals that would otherwise be unreachable is to me a very worthwhile endeavor.

Dr. Leonard & Judith Katz

The greatest inspiration in our lives have been our parents: committed loving people dedicated to our faith. Our shared vision is the perpetuation of our Jewish community.

Mark & Donna Klein

Our inspiration for our legacy commitment came from the participation of other Life & Legacy leaders. Because they took the first step it inspired us to move forward with our commitment.
Our vision for the Life & Legacy commitment is to see that in the future people in need are being helped physically, mentally and through guidance offered by JFS and other agency services.

Kenneth Rogers

I have been a committed leader in the Buffalo Jewish community my whole adult life. Through my work on several boards, and my professional consulting work across the not-for-profit spectrum, I have witnessed how much of a difference legacy commitments, and especially endowments, make in terms of the way an organization can pursue its mission. In some cases the legacy gift took the organization from survival mode to impact mode. In other cases the legacy gifts provided funding to expand services to more people and ensure that those unable to pay could still receive services. My inspiration is my love of my community and the true belief that our agencies are making a real difference, and should continue to do so.

My Life & Legacy gift is targeted at the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies, with the expressed hope of helping the Foundation build up its capabilities to fund programs in the Jewish and general community of WNY without tying their hands. Having that kind of flexibility will help the Foundation to support forward-thinking ideas and give our agencies support as new opportunities arise. I also want my children to know that our family has left its mark on the Buffalo Jewish community - a true legacy for them and future generations.

Pauline J. Rogers

We have witnessed many outstanding leaders who have made significant endowment gifts that are benefitting our Jewish institutions. We wish to stand alongside these individuals, knowing that in the long run we, too, will have made a significant difference for the community we love. Our Jewish institutions are crucial for the continuity of Jewish expression and engagement in Western New York. These two Jewish organizations [the Buffalo Jewish Federation and Temple Beth Zion] are cornerstones in the community and in our hearts, and Louis (z”l) and Pauline have been members/contributors for many years. This is an opportunity to help ensure that their legacy of support continues for the benefit of future generations, including our own family.

Irv Sellers

I have been a Buffalonian my entire life. Growing up Jewish especially in my childhood was both challenging yet exciting. Seeing what LIFE & LEGACY^®️ is doing within our community, I think, is truly exceptional. It is my belief that Buffalo’s future is bright for all of us in the Jewish community. Thank you, LIFE & LEGACY, for providing this opportunity, so we can provide for our families in the future. This truly is an exciting time for Western New York. I am immensely proud to be involved in this wonderful endeavor.

Beth & Rick Steinberg

Neither of us grew up in Buffalo, but after living here, working here, and raising our family here for over three decades, we are proud to say that Buffalo is our home. More precisely, Jewish Buffalo is our home. Our family has benefited greatly through the years from our affiliations and experiences at synagogues, the JCC, Camp Centerland, Camp Lakeland, Hebrew High, the BJE, and Kadimah. With all three of our now adult children making their homes here in Buffalo, nurturing the local Jewish community is one of our highest priorities. Our financial commitment will help to ensure that future generations of Jewish Buffalonians have access to, and can enjoy and participate in, a rich and abundant array of opportunities for worship, learning, enrichment, recreation, and performing mitzvot.

Lorne Steinhart

During my siblings' and my upbringing, our parents and grandparents emphasized the importance of tzedakah: Charity and justice; helping the less fortunate and giving back to the community that raised us. My planned giving commitment to Jewish Buffalo, through LIFE & LEGACY at Buffalo, is gratifying and meaningful. To me, it's important to contribute to the long-term viability of our Jewish institutions and vitality of the Buffalo Jewish and general communities.

Joseph Sterman

I was inspired to make a legacy commitment by Bruce Karpati’s legacy commitment for my brother, Avy Sterman. My hope is to leave something for my Temple to help in its time of need.

Shelly and Heidi Yellen

We believe in the mission of the Buffalo Jewish Federation and feel that our legacy commitment reinforces our position to our family and community.   Part of our vision is a solid endowment base to help fund the services and support the programs needed for the future of our Jewish Community.
Our inspiration is our parents and children and the desire to help provide for a strong, caring, and vibrant Jewish Buffalo for the future.

Anonymous

My inspiration to make a legacy commitment to Temple Beth Tzedek is about 40 years in the making. In that period of time I have been an active member of the Temple. I have realized that it is not enough to pay dues. It is the responsibility of all of the Temple community to make sure that the Temple is vibrant and financially able to continue operating long after our demise. The Temple has been a large part of my life and just as I want to leave a legacy to my children and grandchildren, the Temple is deserving of a bequest from me and all who can do so. My vision for my legacy to make sure that as long as there are Jews in Western New York, there will be a Temple Beth Tzedek. Temples are the cornerstone of a Jewish Community.