We're Leaving a Legacy.... Won't You....

When should I start to think about leaving a legacy?
Jewish tradition teaches that one of our key duties is to make the world a better place for future generations. The time is always right to think about how you wish to be remembered.
How can my legacy reflect what is important to me?
Your legacy planning can be a meaningful, life-changing experience. Picture the community decades from now. Why have you made gifts of money and time to the Agency for Jewish Education? Through your legacy, you can ensure that the Agency thrives in perpetuity and the issues you are most concerned with continue to be addressed.

                                                            Contact the

Peter and Elaine Chortek: Dor L' Dor was said often in our homes as we were encouraged to become educated and grow to be "menchen". We find ourselves using the same mantra with our children and grandchildren as we encourage them by word and example to commit themselves to the Jewish community.

We have found that involvement and giving not only helps others, but strengthens and enriches our family. By endowing continuing philanthropy, we can provide for both the future Jewish communities and the next generations of our family. We are honored to fulfill our obligation of supporting the Jewish community through the mitzvah of "tzedakah".

David and Claire Ellman: Generations before us have passed on this tradition to us and by making this promise we hope to pass on the same legacy to our children. We are committed to ensuring the survival and growth of a vibrant, learned Jewish community in San Diego and through giving charity we can make a difference in achieving this goal.

Our children are our precious gifts. It is our responsibility to create and enhance every possible opportunity for them and their fellow Jews to live a rich life steeped in our Jewish heritage and teachings. With this knowledge they too can pass on to their children these attributes to ensure Jewish survival for the future. Thanks to the Jewish Community Foundation for giving us this opportunity.

Barry and Avra Kassar: We leave a bequest to the Agency for Jewish Education because of a sincere belief that Jewish education is critical to the future of San Diego’s Jewish community.

Following the example and values of our beloved parents and grandparents, of blessed memory, we have devoted much of our energy to our Jewish community wherever we have lived. Being involved has given us a true sense of fulfillment, and we have by example also instilled in our children the importance of Tzedakah that we are confident they will pass on to the next generation.We are leaving a legacy to the Agency for Jewish Education in the hope that it will enrich and strengthen this community’s commitment to Jewish education for years to come.

Seth Krossner: The tradition of Tikkun Olam, the repair of the world, is among Judaism’s greatest gifts to humanity. My life has been shaped by a culture dedicated to healing the sick, protecting the weak, and providing for the needy. But our tradition teaches us that the work of Tikkun Olam may never be finished. Certainly one life span, however long, is in the end not a very long time. We can hope, however, to leave the world a little bit better than we found it.

My work as a trauma surgeon has taught me that one is never too young to have a will. As I prepared mine, I thought carefully about providing for those I love. I also thought carefully about providing for the world they would inherit. Would that world provide the same resources and opportunities that I enjoyed? The institutions that had made my life more meaningful – the schools, synagogues, and charities – would they be there for my loved ones and for future generations? Would there even be future generations of Jews in a hundred, or five hundred, or a thousand years without secure Jewish institutions tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that?

I will not be there to ensure the strength of the synagogues, community centers, and agencies that will serve the Jewish world in five hundred years. What I can do, and will do through my planned gifts, is help to make sure that the Jews of the next generation will have the tools to create a vibrant Jewish life for their great-grandchildren, who will in turn become the great-grandchildren of that distant generation. We live as Jews today because our ancestors taught their children to see into the future and care about the world their great-grandchildren’s great-grandchildren would inherit. Since I have no children of my own, I see the gifts I have arranged in my will as my stake in our shared future. They will be my next generation.

Joe Oppenheimer: I was fortunate to have a wise father who brought my mother and me out of Nazi Germany to the U.S. in 1935. Hitler had already imposed regulations that doomed my father’s business, but we were healthy and alive, while some relatives were not as lucky.

In our early years in this country, I received "scholarships" and "special consideration" for summer camp. Later as my career prompted several moves to cities where I knew no one, my adjustment was greatly eased by my ability to and desire to affiliate with and participate in Jewish life.

I was able to contribute by serving on both synagogue and Jewish social welfare Boards in New York City and San Diego, and personally observe the vital role Jewish communal organizations play in maintaining and continuing Jewish existence.

Consequently, I feel it is not only an obligation but a privilege to be able to help others in the future.