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MontefioreLIFE PP255003/01744Shana | VOLUME 26 | NO.2 | September Tova2011 | www.montefiorehome.com.au Hal Goldstein AM OBE with Resident and Life Governor Vera Clarke Montefiore farewells a pillar of the community The Montefiore Home pays special tribute The sudden death of Betty when Hal was 8 years old had to an inspirational leader without whose a profound effect on him, something that was apparent drive and commitment we could not have throughout his life when he talked about his sister.” attained the position of leadership in aged Gary Ulman described Hal’s life, from his school days care that we occupy today. at Bondi Public School to Paddington Tech and Sydney Technical College where he studied at night for a Opening his eulogy for Hal Goldstein AM OBE, his Diploma of Engineering. son-in-law Gary Ulman said; “As much as this is about mourning the loss of Hal, it is also a celebration of the At age 16, Hal joined his brother Col and father Joe life of a truly remarkable man and the impact he has at J Goldstein & Company, a commercial food made on our lives and those in the wider community. equipment manufacturing business founded by Joe in 1911. He started at the bottom and worked his way “Knowing Hal for as long as I have, almost 40 years up, helping to build the company now known as now, it is hard to know where to begin to describe and Goldstein Eswood, as well as participating in other reflect on a life full of achievement. business ventures. “Hal was born in 1928. He was a child of the depression Hal worked in the business for 67 years, right up to era from the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. His father was his hospitalisation. The Goldstein Group remains a born in England, of Russian stock, while his mother family business and Hal was particularly proud of the was Australian born. Older brother Col, by 6 years fact that he had worked with and mentored his and big sister Betty, by 5 years made up the Goldstein grandson Brett for 10 years. siblings, the children of Joe and Leah Goldstein. …continued overleaf SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE JEWISH HOME Inside: Your Fete Raffle Books Support the Home and win great prizes! A MEMBER OF THE JCA FAMILY OF COMMUNAL ORGANISATIONS President ’s message Montefiore farewells a pillar of the community A tribute from continued Montefiore President David Freeman AM Hal contributed his business skills and acumen on a As Montefiore enters a New Year broad scale, beyond the Jewish community, including as a strong and vibrant organisation the Colombo Plan, trade delegations and training for serving the needs of the aged in our Indian technicians as part of the Milk Marketing community, we recognise and honour Scheme. He was awarded the OBE in 1977 in Hal Goldstein’s extraordinary recognition of his work. contribution. He served as our President for 25 years and his name and legacy will live on in the spirit of Hal and Nancye met when they were 14 ½, courted Montefiore, the Home he helped create for our elderly for eight years and married in 1951, a wonderful Jewish citizens and in his altruism and unswerving union that spanned 60 years and produced two dedication to the community. daughters and five grandchildren. The importance of family and his feelings for them can best be summed In his eulogy Hal’s son-in-law commented on how Hal up in Hal’s own words: regarded Montefiore as his second home and how much he loved spending Shabbat with the Residents, the Rabbi, “The greatest moments in my life were my marriage and with the close friends who shared Shabbat mornings to Nancye, the birth of my two daughters which with him. According to Gary Ulman, attending Shabbat made life meaningful and a great feeling of being service each Saturday morning was for Hal as much wanted and needed. When I reflect on our extended about satisfying his spiritual needs as it was to check on family, I derive great pleasure from the fact that I his beloved Home and its Residents. have five very talented grandchildren who have a very strong bond with my wife and me, and they are As Hal said: very comfortable in our presence”. “My progression with charitable work has been a great source of satisfaction particularly being part of the A lifetime commitment to the management for 25 years of the finest aged care facility Jewish community in Australia, influencing the building of accommodation Hal’s involvement in the Jewish Communal Appeal and that was of a standard that I would be comfortable with the Sir Moses Montefiore Jewish Home is well known. for my parents, and creating a financial base that will Inspired by a strong religious affiliation and the example guarantee its viability. set by his father and grandfather, Hal became involved On behalf of the Montefiore Board, Management, Staff and in Jewish affairs and aged care. Hal was one of the Residents – past, present and future – I thank and honour JCA co-founders and devoted 44 years of his life to this Hal Goldstein. He has indeed been an example to all. cause, including many years as Appeal Chairman and President, building up the organisation which has now become such a vital part of our community. He founded and headed the JCA Charitable Trust which provided the income for the organisations which make up the Jewish community and headed the organisation for 20 of its formative years. Hal’s communal work went beyond the Home and the JCA. He was a strong supporter of many other charities including the UIA and the Jewish Day schools, to name a few. In 1997 he received an AM Gary Inberg, David Freeman, Hal Goldstein and for services to the Jewish Community. Prof. Henry Brodaty. Hal never set out for nor sought recognition for his work. Indeed it was secondary to him. Hal described it this way: saying goes, and in Hal’s it was certainly the case with “My greatest moments have been the pleasure my Nancye. He and Nancye were the love of each other’s family derives from the recognition I received for lives and she was always there to support him. this work. My hope is to have the respect and love Hal approached his hospitalisation with enormous of my family and that I continue to get pleasure courage, still planning his return to work. Throughout from my work, charitable endeavours and, most his life Hal was deeply Jewish and illness never, ever, importantly, my love of family.” prevented him from embracing his religion. In his Hal was the patriarch of the family or, to use that old typically humble way this is how Hal summed up cliché, ‘the glue that binds’. The family celebrated his feelings; Shabbat together regularly, debating all sorts of issues. “I am very satisfied in living a very simple, Behind every great man is a great woman, so the square family life” 2 MONTEFIORE LIFE SEPTEMBER 2011 From the Rabbi A Rosh Hashanah message During the High Holiday masquerade most effectively and hide himself behind a months Elul and Tishrei smoke screen is assured of success. we read during our Judaism refutes such ideologies and conceives the services Psalm 27, a world as a home – everyone’s home, G-d’s home and beautiful and moving man’s abode. In one’s own home, one member does prayer to G-d. The not aim to destroy the other but rather, to be helpful devotional fervour of and cooperate. In one’s home it is quite unnecessary this psalm calls us to to wear a mask – one can act naturally and be one’s penitence during the true self. This has always been the ideal of Judaism as Solemn Season. projected by our prophets and teachers. And this is the meaning of King David’s prayer “that I In a prayerful mood, King David exclaims “One thing may dwell in the house of the L-rd all the days of my have I asked of the L-rd, that I will seek for, that I may life.” We pray that this world may in truth become a dwell in the house of the L-rd all the days of my life.” house of the L-rd, not a battlefield nor a stage. A place David, whose soul was attuned to the highest plane of where cooperation, friendliness and helpfulness abide. living, no doubt, meant what he said – his desire to dwell In many parts of the world man delights in being an in the house of the L-rd was genuine. But are we really actor and employing every means of conspiracy in order serious when we pronounce this wish? Who would like to get ahead. Yet the Jew is cautioned and urged to to spend all his time in the Synagogue exclusively? proclaim the desire to dwell in the house of the L-rd – His Apparently this prayer has a deeper implication. We universe blessed with peace, security and tranquillity. are all part of the vast span of space called universe Possibly this is what we really are asking when we or world. But what really is this world? What part declare “that I may dwell in the house of the L-rd all does man play in this world? The German philosopher the days of my life…” – the ability to see the Nietsche compared the world to a battlefield. Life is a tabernacle of peace as a means of transforming this continuous struggle, a battle in which the stronger world from a battlefield to a house of the L-rd.