One of Judaism’s core teachings centers on the passing of knowledge and values to the next generation. In celebration of Father’s Day, Arizona Jewish Life spoke to three fathers who have instilled the importance of being Jewish communal leaders to their sons.
Murray & Adam Goodman
Murray Goodman is as close to a Phoenix native as you’re likely to meet in a city full of transplants. Goodman has lived here since the age of 14 when his family relocated to the Sun Belt from Philadelphia. As a teen, “my whole life centered on the Jewish Community Center,” Murray recalls. That association has continued throughout Murray’s adult life. In his mid-30s, Murray became president of the JCC, a volunteer position. He continued serving as the center’s president and as chair of various committees for the next 15 years. Murray was active in the JCC’s campaign to raise $26 million to build a new facility, which opened in 2003 and serves approximately 100,000 Jews in the Phoenix area.
Through Murray’s example, his son, Adam, has also assumed a leadership role with the JCC, serving three two-year terms on the JCC’s board from 2003-09. “Like my father – probably because of my father – I also grew up at the JCC,” Adam explains. Beginning in 2009 with the national economic downturn, both the Jewish Federation and the JCC in Phoenix began to struggle financially. “I was asked to be part of a committee to help merge the two and figure out what the new organization would look like,” says Adam. “After a year of very interesting meetings, we created the Jewish Community Association.” The JCA operates the JCC and continues the federation’s role as the fundraiser for Jewish institutions in the Phoenix area. Adam now sits on the JCA board.
As Adam sees it, the new institution “gets more minds on the same mission: community building.” By combining the JCC and federation, fundraising and programming redundancies have been eliminated, and the JCA operates more efficiently than its predecessors. “All things flow from our mission statement: ‘To strengthen and sustain a vibrant, inclusive community that enriches lives through Jewish values, innovation and stewardship,’ ” says Adam. “Innovation is important; we’re not thinking about things the same old way. We’re being very creative and clever about what we can do in our own community, and we’re also being responsible for the resources we have.”
Both Murray and Adam engage with the wider Jewish community through the JCC, now the JCA. “Once you start spending time there, you realize it’s not just a recreational facility,” says Murray. “There’s a reason it’s called a community center; it’s an apt description.” For Adam, being involved in growing the Jewish community was inevitable. “My dad is a role model and leads the way by example; anybody would aspire to live the life dedicated to community that he has.” Murray is pleased that the Jewish culture and values he treasures have become equally important to his children. “I think my kids always got a sense that we felt we had an obligation to sustain the values and culture of Judaism.” But he also appreciates the innovations Adam and his generation are implementing at the JCA. “I admire that Adam and his generation are becoming change agents,” he says.
The Goodmans’ generational commitment to Jewish leadership continues with Adam’s own son. “He very clearly and proudly identifies as a Jew, not so much religiously or even culturally, but it’s an important part of his identity,” says Adam. “As he matures and develops and understands it deeper, I hope and expect he’ll accept responsibility for becoming a leader in the community as well.”
Ted & Bryan Kort
Like the Goodmans, Ted Kort began his Jewish leadership as a member of the JCC board. Today he is the Arizona regional director of the Jewish National Fund, a position he has held since 1998. Ted also served on the board of the Jewish Federation in Phoenix, before it merged with the JCC to become the JCA.
Unlike the JCA, which directs its energies locally, the JNF’s mission focuses on fundraising for environmental and infrastructure projects that benefit people in Israel. “We develop cities to draw people to the Negev,” Ted explains. “Our current project is a medical center in the Arava. There are 3,000 people in these small surrounding communities, and their only medical help is a 40-year-old clinic. We’re building a state-of-the-art, 3,200-square-foot medical center that will treat serious illnesses and injuries.”
Eight years ago Ted’s son Bryan was asked to be on the grant committee of the Jewish Community Foundation. After that modest beginning, Bryan took a seat on the JCF board and today chairs the board. “JCF’s main role is to give money to existing organizations,” he explains. “We also help people set up trusts and endowment funds through JCF, to fund the causes they care about. Our grants serve organizations both in Arizona and Israel.”
Ted grew up in Phoenix; his family belonged to Beth El, where he became a bar mitzvah. “My parents weren’t that involved in Jewish community,” he remembers. “My primary connection to Judaism is Israel. I remember going to shul to celebrate when Israel became a state in 1948. Once I went to Israel, it became central to my life, and it’s still the strongest Jewish connection I have.”
Bryan’s communal involvement is a family legacy of volunteerism and philanthropy that extends from his parents to his maternal grandfather. “My parents have always been examples of giving and helping others. Both my father and my mother volunteered all through my childhood. Now I see myself following in their footsteps as a Jewish volunteer. It goes back to my grandfather, mom’s father, who was very active at the JCC. He definitely taught me the importance of being involved in communal life.” For Bryan, that involvement stems from one basic tenet: doing the right thing by helping others. “It’s all about community. It’s not about myself or even JCF as an organization; it’s about the future of our community.”
These community values are Bryan’s legacy to his own children. “I want them to have a foundation and source of Jewish identity and knowledge to understand why we do this work.” As they move through Jewish communal life, people often ask Ted if he’s related to Bryan, and vice versa. “I have a sense of pride when that happens, because they always have positive things to say about my dad,” says Bryan. Ted agrees. “People will say, ‘I know your son,’ and there’s always something good that follows. It’s so rewarding for both of us to have a family that’s involved. It’s one of the best things that has happened to us.”
Lee & Gary Weiss
Lee and Gary Weiss have crossed paths with both the Korts and the Goodmans in their Jewish leadership circles. “There’s a lot of overlap,” says Gary, who served as a board member of the Phoenix JCC from 1999-2012, including board chair in 2006-07. He also worked with Adam Goodman on the committee that created the JCA. Gary is also actively involved with JACS, Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent and Significant Others. “It’s like a combination of Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon,” Gary explains. “We provide support for families coping with addictions of all kinds.”
Gary’s father, Lee, has served on the boards of the Jewish Federation, JCF and Congregation Kol Ami, where he was president for two years. Most recently he has become a board member of the Jewish Genetic Diseases Center. Lee’s father provided a strong example of Jewish communal values. “As a young man, my father always instilled in us the importance of giving back. Not all families were as fortunate as we were to live the lifestyle that he and my mom provided for us. He tried to teach us – my sister and brother and I – that it’s a Jewish person’s responsibility to see to it that those in the Jewish community are provided for if they can’t provide for themselves.”
When Lee moved his family to Phoenix from the suburbs of Chicago 33 years ago, it didn’t take long for him to become swept up in the vibrant Jewish community. Lee remembers, “When we first moved here, one of the men in the community asked me to lunch and, not knowing much about my background, asked if I’d be open to giving to the federation. I said, ‘Not only am I open to it, I’ve always done it where I came from, and I want to continue it here.’ ” The lessons Gary absorbed from his parents and grandparents became the foundation of his involvement. “My father and grandfather and father-in-law used to say that it’s your responsibility as a Jew in the community to support those in need. A rabbi once said to me, ‘If you can’t afford $180 a year, you can come to my house for Shabbat dinner every Friday for a year, and that should save you $180, and that will be your start.’ I always liked that example. I want to be part of something that’s bigger than myself. I want to be passionate about something that is not self-centered, but that still gives me a lot of personal self-fulfillment.”
Because both Lee and Gary worked as financial advisors (Lee is now retired), the philanthropic aspects of Jewish involvement were a natural first step for both. But today Lee says he’s learned from his son that “there’s a lot more to giving than just the financial end. Gary spends much of his time on all these boards. I’ve also given of my time, but it seems like he took that example and magnified into a much larger extent than I ever did. We couldn’t be more proud of what he’s done and continues to do in the community.” Gary is passing on his family’s legacy to his own five children. His oldest son, Jonah, is currently working with his temple youth group, Temple Chai Temple Youth, as well as the North American Federation of Temple Youth. “Jonah also received an award from the JCF for team leadership,” Gary brags proudly. “It’s for kids who’ve been good examples in their community of service in 2012. My wife and I try to instill a sense of tikkun olam in all our kids, but I think Jonah has really taken our example.”
