Donor Stories: Anna Klein

Why did you make a legacy gift to Judea Reform Congregation?

I have made a Legacy gift to Judea Reform Congregation for two reasons: first, my good friend Judith Ruderman approached me with the idea and made a convincing argument to me – that giving to the Jewish community is the best way we can teach our children real moral values. It is easy to leave them our earthly possessions; it is much more morally challenging to teach them righteousness.  Second, by suggesting a Legacy gift Judith, touched me at my inner core. I was born in Poland, a remnant Jew; in my mind the Jewish world was doomed, destined to oblivion. The few Jews who survived the Holocaust, and then decided to stay in Poland after the war, slowly faded as Jews.  In my Polish-Jewish mind, the Jewish world was destined to disappear, sooner or later. I discovered that in the United States not only was the Jewish world not vanishing, but the opposite was true. Jews were thriving, creating vibrant and diverse communities, in which I found my niche – the Reform Jewish movement.   I consider myself a miraculous link between two Jewish worlds: the one of my ancestors brutally reduced to ashes, and the one in which I was given the opportunity to live a full Jewish life. As such, I would do anything to ensure the continuity of Jewish survival and that is why I am making a Legacy gift to my beloved Judea Reform Family.