As a small child, I was taught at Brickner’s Temple, now Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, that it was my responsibility as a Jew to help my fellow Jew, my fellow man, and to make this world a better world.

While attending Cleveland Heights High School I remember going door to door with Albert Ratner, collecting funds for the Jewish Welfare Fund Appeal.  Then as an elementary school teacher, I continued to solicit for the Jewish Welfare Fund.

My husband, Max R. Friedman, and I participated on the very first Federation Mission to Israel in 1959 with our close friends, Shirley & Maurice Saltzman and Shirley & Howard Metzenbaum, led by Ruth and Sidney Vincent (z”l.)We all felt that Israel was like no other country, dedicated to protect and help those in need.  That mission led to all thirteen participating couples becoming actively involved with Federation.  My husband also had close relatives who survived the holocaust. They made a lasting impression on us sharing accounts of loss and survival. Their personal stories, combined with our experience on the mission, led my husband Max to become the consummate campaigner and ultimately one of the most effective community leaders of his generation.

I believe that for our size, our people – the Jewish people – are today the most alive and creative people in the world. We continue to be there for Israel and for one another, and that explains both our survival and why we all must support our community now and into the future.