PRESENTATION BY
IRA A. LIPMAN
HONORING SAM BELZBERG, ALAN CASDEN,
AND RABBI MARVIN HIER
FOR THEIR EFFORTS ON BEHALF OF THE
BEIT HASHOAH MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE
BEVERLY HILTON HOTEL
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA
* * *
FEBRUARY 7, 1993

THANK YOU.
I HAVE THE GREAT PLEASURE TONIGHT TO HONOR MEN WHOSE UNSWERVING ZEAL AND UNSTINTING DEDICATION ARE AN INSPIRATION TO ALL WHO KNOW THEM.
IF NOT FOR SAM BELZBERG AND ALAN CASDEN, WE WOULD NOT BE HERE THIS EVENING, AND THERE WOULD BE NO BEIT HASHOAH MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE.
AS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, SAM HAS LAVISHED UNTOLD TIME AND RESOURCES IN MAKING THE DREAM OF BEIT HASHOAH A REALITY. ASSUMING THE TASK OF RAISING THE NECESSARY FUNDS AS A PERSONAL MISSION, HE LET NOTHING STAND IN HIS WAY. NEITHER TIME, NOR DISTANCE, NOR ANY OTHER DIFFICULTY WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO STOP SAM BELZBERG.
CHARACTERISTIC CREATIVITY AND BOLDNESS. HE WAS CONVINCED THAT THIS MUSEUM HAD TO BE BUILT. SO HE DID WHAT HAD TO BE DONE. HE CAJOLED, BEGGED, AND PERSUADED. HE TRADED THE COMFORTS OF FAMILY AND HOME FOR RED-EYE SPECIALS AND FAST FOOD. HE NEVER GAVE UP, NEVER GAVE IN, AND NEVER GAVE OUT.
OVER THE YEARS, HE HAS SACRIFICED MORE THAN WE WILL EVER KNOW-AND IN DOING SO, HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED MORE THAN WE CAN EVER REALIZE.
ALONG WITH RABBI HIER, SAM HELPED FOUND THE SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER SO THAT THE WORLD WOULD NOT FORGET. BUT THIS MUSEUM IS HIS GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT, PROVIDING TO FUTURE GENERATIONS, WHO WERE BORN LONG AFTER THE HORRORS OF HITLER, KRISTALLNACHT, AND THE HOLOCAUST, A POWERFUL WITNESS TO A LIVING HISTORY.
IN THIS MUSEUM SO STRONGLY THAT TO ENSURE ITS COMPLETION, HE SACRIFICED HIS OWN CONCERNS, WANTS, AND NEEDS FOR THE COMMON GOOD. AND HE DID IT NOT ONCE, AND NOT FOR A BRIEF MOMENT, BUT FOR YEARS. THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF HEROISM, A DAILY HEROISM THAT TOO OFTEN GOES UNNOTICED BECAUSE ITS VERY CONSTANCY MAKES IT SEEM NORMAL. BUT IT IS NOT NORMAL. IT IS EXTRAORDINARY, AND IT TAKES AN EXTRAORDINARY INDIVIDUAL TO LABOR SO LONG AND WITH SUCH DILIGENCE FOR NO PERSONAL GAIN.
SAM IS TRULY A MENSCH FOR ALL SEASONS. AND LIKE PRESIDENT CLINTON, HE TOO HAS HAD A LIFE-LONG PARTNER WITH HER OWN AGENDA. FRAN, WE THANK YOU TOO FOR ALL YOU’VE DONE TO MAKE THIS MUSEUM WHAT IT IS.
NO ONE-AND LEAST OF ALL, HIMSELF-IN MAKING SURE THAT THIS MAGNIFICENT CONCEPT BECAME A GRAND REALITY. HE SPENT HUNDREDS OF HOURS PORING OVER PLANS AND BLUEPRINTS, CONSULTING, QUESTIONING, PROBING, ALWAYS DEMANDING THE MAXIMUM EFFORT FROM ALL CONCERNED.
AND HE NEVER BEGRUDGED THE TIME INVESTED, THE ENERGY AND THE EFFORT TAKEN AWAY FROM HIS HOME AND BUSINESS. BECAUSE ONCE HE MADE THE COMMITMENT, HE NEVER LOOKED BACK. THE SUCCESS OF THE MUSEUM AND THE CENTER BECAME HIS FOCUS, AND HE CAN BE JUSTLY PROUD OF WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED.
THAT HIS WAS A LABOR OF LOVE IS EVIDENT. IT CAN BE SEEN IN THE CRAFTSMANSHIP AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL, AND IT CAN BE FELT IN THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THE EXPERIENCE THE MUSEUM CONVEYS. AND THAT IS HIS LASTING ACHIEVEMENT. FOR BEIT HASHOAH IS NOT LIKE ANY OTHER MUSEUM.
PEOPLE AND THEIR PERSPECTIVES, SO THEY ARE NOT THE SAME WHEN THEY LEAVE AS WHEN THEY ENTER-IS NOT THE RESULT OF A MINOR INVESTMENT OF TIME AND ENERGY. AS EMERSON SAID, NOTHING GREAT WAS EVER ACHIEVED WITHOUT ENTHUSIASM. BUT ALAN COMBINED THE MOTIVATING FORCE OF ENTHUSIASM WITH THE DEMANDING REALITIES OF DEDICATION AND SACRIFICE TO MAKE BEIT HASHOAH AS AUTHENTIC, AS MOVING, AND AS POWERFUL AS IT COULD POSSIBLY BE.
THE LOVE THAT ALAN HAS PUT INTO THIS MUSEUM WILL LIVE ON LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE. THAT IS HIS GIFT TO US AND HIS LEGACY TO THE FUTURE. WHAT HE HAS GIVEN OF HIMSELF, HIS TIME, HIS ENERGY, AND HIS RESOURCES TO THE COMMON GOOD WILL NEVER BE FULLY KNOWN. AND THAT TOO IS THE DEFINITION OF A HERO.
THE GOOD THEY’VE DONE, BUT ALSO FOR ALL THE GOOD THEIR WORK WILL DO DOWN THROUGH THE AGES. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO CANNOT SEE FOR THEMSELVES THE DEVASTATION OF SPIRIT THAT IS SO OVERWHELMING IN BERGEN-BELSEN, DACHAU, BABI YAR, THERESIENSTADT, AUSCHWITZ, AND BIRKENAU WILL BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE AND REACH A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY OF THE TIME.
THROUGH THE EFFORTS AND SACRIFICES MADE SO WILLINGLY BY SAM AND ALAN, WE HONOR ALL THOSE WHO PERISHED. AND WE REMEMBER, THAT THEY MAY LIVE IN OUR MEMORY. BEIT HASHOAH IS A LIVING TESTAMENT TO OUR BELIEF THAT EVIL-WHATEVER FORM IT TAKES AND WHOEVER ARE ITS VICTIMS WILL NOT VANQUISH GOOD, AND THAT BY PRESERVING THE PAST WE ENSURE THE FUTURE.
TREMENDOUS DEBT OF GRATITUDE. NOT ONLY HAVE THEY AND THEIR FAMILIES MADE THE HIGHEST FINANCIAL GIFTS TO MAKE BEIT HASHOAH POSSIBLE, BUT THEY HAVE ALSO-IN THEIR DEDICATION, DRIVE, AND ZEAL- EXEMPLIFIED THE TRIUMPH OF SPIRIT.
SAM AND ALAN, PLEASE ACCEPT THESE COMMEMORATIVE TRAYS, SIGNED BY THE TRUSTEES REPRESENTING ALL OF US THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, AS SYMBOLS OF OUR COLLECTIVE GRATITUDE AND INDIVIDUAL ESTEEM.
HE IS THE ONE WHO HAS BROUGHT US TOGETHER THIS EVENING-AWAY FROM OUR OWN PRIVATE CONCERNS AND INTERESTS WHO HAS LED US HERE BY HIS EXAMPLE AND HIS WORDS, HIS INTENSITY AND HIS INSIGHT, HIS PURITY OF PURPOSE AND HIS CLARITY OF VISION.
HE IS OUR TEACHER, WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT WE CANNOT ESCAPE THE PAST, BUT MUST EMBRACE IT FOR THE LESSONS IT CARRIES. BECAUSE THE PAST IMPINGES ON THE PRESENT-AND THE PRESENT HELPS DETERMINE THE FUTURE.
HE IS OUR LEADER, WHO SHOWS US HOW TO MAKE SURE THE WORLD NEVER FORGETS THE DEPTHS TO WHICH HUMANITY CAN SINK-NOR THE HEIGHTS TO WHICH IT CAN CLIMB. BECAUSE THE FUTURE IS NOT DETERMINED, AND OUR FATE IS IN OUR OWN HANDS.
RESPONSIBILITY IS NOT LIMITED TO FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND BUSINESS. BECAUSE ONLY BY ACTING TOGETHER CAN WE CREATE A BETTER WORLD FOR THE GENERATIONS THAT FOLLOW.
HE HAS MERITED THE RESPECT AND ATTENTION OF PRESIDENTS, PRIME MINISTERS, POPES, AND SECRETARIES GENERAL. HE HAS EARNED THE ADMIRATION OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD. AND HE HAS WON OUR LOVE.
IN THE TRUEST SENSE, THIS MUSEUM-LIKE THE CENTER-IS HIS CONCEPTION.
BUT THIS MAN DOES NOT DO THINGS BY HALVES. AND HE COULD NOT SETTLE FOR AN ORDINARY MUSEUM THAT SIMPLY PRESERVES THE PAST. HIS IDEA WAS SOMETHING UNIQUE: TO MAKE THE PAST LIVE AGAIN, THAT THOSE WHO DID NOT LIVE IT COULD NEVERTHELESS EXPERIENCE IT. FOR IT IS THROUGH THIS COMBINATION OF EMOTIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL APPREHENSION OF THE PAST THAT WE PROTECT OUR VISION OF THE FUTURE-NOT ONLY FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE, BUT FOR ALL HUMANITY.
JERRY, AVRA, MAYER, SUE, RICK, RHONDA AND OTHERS I’D LIKE TO NAME- AND FOR ALL PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WHO ADMIRE THIS GREAT HUMANITARIAN.
RABBI HIER, WE SALUTE YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE.
WE RESPECT YOU FOR WHAT YOU REPRESENT.
WE HONOR YOU FOR WHAT YOU ARE.
PLEASE ACCEPT THIS COMMEMORATIVE TRAY, SIGNED BY THE TRUSTEES, AS A SIGN OF ALL THE ADMIRATION, RESPECT, AND GRATITUDE THAT WORDS ALONE CANNOT CONVEY.