INTRODUCTION
OF RABBI PINCHAS STOLPER
AND REMARKS ON
RABBI RAFAEL G. GROSSMAN
BY IRA A. LIPMAN
CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT
GUARDSMARK, INC.
AT DINNER
HONORING RABBI GROSSMAN
BARON HIRSCH CONGREGATION
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
OCTOBER 17, 1993

BEFORE I INTRODUCE OUR NEXT SPEAKER, I HOPE YOU WILL PERMIT ME TO SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT OUR GUEST OF HONOR.
IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO THAT THIS MAN CAME TO US AS A STRANGER, BUT THE CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT LED HIM HERE GOES BACK A LONG WAY.
HE IS A MAN WHOSE FAMILY LIVED FOR FORTY GENERATIONS IN THE HOLY LAND UNTIL THEY WERE EXPELLED IN 1825…
A MAN WHOSE GRANDPARENTS FLED FROM POGROMS IN POLAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CENTURY…
A MAN WHO HIMSELF HAD TO FLEE HIS HOME IN NEW JERSEY IN ORDER TO COPE WITH THE ANGUISH OF LOSING HIS DAUGHTER.
GOD INDEED WORKS IN WAYS THAT ARE WONDROUS AND STRANGE, TO BRING THIS MAN TO MEMPHIS TO LEAD THE LARGEST ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATION IN NORTH AMERICA.
FOR WHAT DID THIS MAN BRING US?
HE BROUGHT US HIS WISDOM, HIS FAITH, AND HIS PASSION. THIS MAN WHO HAD THE TALENT TO BECOME ALMOST ANYTHING HE CHOSE-INCLUDING CHIEF RABBI OF NEW YORK’S WEALTHY AND POWERFUL FIFTH AVENUE CONGREGATION-CHOSE US.
HE BROUGHT US HIS LEADERSHIP, HIS STRENGTH, AND HIS DYNAMISM. HE BEGAN PROGRAMS FOR SINGLES, FOR ADULTS, FOR SENIORS, FOR YOUTH, FOR FAMILIES, FOR YOUNG FAMILIES, AND FOR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MEN AND WOMEN. HE LEAVES NO ONE OUT OF HIS CARE WHATEVER THEIR AGE OR SITUATION IN LIFE-BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT LIFE IS SACRED AND THAT EVERYONE MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE LIFE OF THE CONGREGATION.
ABOVE ALL, HE BROUGHT US HOPE-THE SENSE OF LIMITLESS POSSIBILITY THAT COMES FROM FAITH.
HAVE THE STRENGTH OF SOUL TO REJECT THE SIREN CALL OF BITTERNESS, SELF-INDULGENCE, AND DESPAIR TO CREATE HOPE FOR OTHERS OUT OF OUR OWN LOSS? HE DID. AND HE STILL DOES, SPECIALIZING IN GRIEF THERAPY, ACTING AS PRESIDENT OF THE CENTER FOR LIFE-A SUPPORT GROUP FOR GRIEVING PARENTS AND SIBLINGS-AND SERVING AS CHAIRMAN OF CHAT, INCORPORATED, AN ORGANIZATION FOR VICTIMS OF CATASTROPHIC ILLNESS.
WHEN HE WITNESSED THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS, HE SAW HOPE IN THE ARAB AND JEWISH CHILDREN GATHERED TOGETHER ON THE SOUTH LAWN OF THE WHITE HOUSE.
PRESERVATION OF YIDDISHKEIT AND ORTHODOX JUDAISM. FOR THIS MAN LOVES AND CARES ABOUT YOUTH WITH CONCERN AS GENUINE AS ANY WE WILL EVER SEE. WHILE SOME MAY NOTICE THE IMPERFECT DECORUM OF THE CHILDREN WHO SING AT THE END OF OUR SABBATH SERVICES, HE SEES THE FUTURE LEADERS OF THE CONGREGATION. FOR IT IS PART OF HIS GENIUS TO KNOW THAT TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON; THAT GAINING MATURITY IS NOT ONLY AN END, BUT ALSO A PROCESS; AND THAT PROPER BEHAVIOR FOLLOWS FROM SOLID MORALS.
WITH ALL THE REST OF HIS GIFTS, HE ALSO BROUGHT A BREATH OF LIFE, AND ENERGIZED US WITH HIS SPIRIT. THIS CONGREGATION WAS FOUNDED LONG BEFORE HE ARRIVED AND SUSTAINED BY MANY PEOPLE HERE TONIGHT, BUT WITHOUT HIS INSPIRATION IT COULD NOT HAVE THRIVED AS IT HAS. THIS COMMUNITY IS RAVED ABOUT IN ORTHODOX JEWISH CIRCLES, AND HIS IMPACT HERE HAS BECOME LEGENDARY.
MAN COMMITTED TO PRESERVING AND ENHANCING JEWISH LIFE EVERYWHERE…A MAN DEDICATED TO BRINGING PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING TO THE WORLD…A MAN RESPECTED BY PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS…HONORED BY THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND APPOINTED TO BOARDS BY STATE GOVERNORS…A SCHOLAR…AN AUTHOR…A RABBI.
AS LONG AS THERE ARE MEN AND WOMEN LIKE RABBI RAFAEL GROSSMAN, THERE IS HOPE FOR THE WORLD.
WE ALL HAVE STORIES OF HOW HE HAS TOUCHED OUR LIVES IN SOME WAY. I KNOW HE HAS TOUCHED MINE. HE SAW A WILLING SOUL WITH A HUNGER AND A THIRST FOR YIDDISHKEIT, AND HE RENEWED AND NOURISHED THOSE SEEDS THAT HAD BEEN SOWN SO MANY YEARS AGO.
WOULD BE LESS THAN WE ARE. THE GOOD YOU DO AND HAVE DONE WILL REACH DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS LIKE AN ETERNAL LEGACY, CHANGING HUMAN HISTORY IN WAYS THAT WE CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO GUESS. FOR BY TOUCHING ONE, YOU TOUCH MANY. BY TOUCHING MANY, YOU TOUCH THOUSANDS. AND BY TOUCHING THOUSANDS, YOU TOUCH MILLIONS.
GOD BLESS YOU, RAFAEL GROSSMAN, AS YOU HAVE BLESSED US-WITH YOUR WISDOM, YOUR PEACE, YOUR STRENGTH, YOUR HOPE, AND YOUR LOVE.
RABBI PINCHAS STOLPER IS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS OF AMERICA AND FOUNDER OF THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF SYNAGOGUE YOUTH, WHICH HAS BEEN THE PRIME MOVING FORCE IN THE RESURGENCE OF ORTHODOX JEWISH IDENTITY IN NORTH AMERICA OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES.
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED AS A PIONEER IN JEWISH YOUTH WORK, RABBI STOLPER NOT ONLY FOUNDED NCSY, BUT ALSO SPENT EIGHTEEN YEARS AS ITS NATIONAL DIRECTOR, BUILDING IT INTO ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST EFFECTIVE YOUTH MOVEMENTS IN THE WORLD TODAY.
EACH YEAR, NCSY CONDUCTS SIX HUNDRED MAJOR YOUTH EVENTS SERVING THIRTY THOUSAND YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AND ISRAEL WITH FRESH AND INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
VOLUMES ON JEWISH LIFE AND THOUGHT, EARNING HIM A BROAD FOLLOWING AS A MAJOR JEVVISH THINKER AND LEADER.
HE IS ALSO ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED JEWISH PROFESSIONALS IN THE WORLD. PERHAPS AN EQUAL MEASURE OF HIS WISDOM, INTELLIGENCE, AND GOOD TASTE IS THAT HE HAS BEEN A CLOSE FRIEND OF RABBI GROSSMAN FOR FORTY YEARS.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME RABBI PINCHAS STOLPER.