Member Testimonials

Member Testimonials

Diane Boettcher

At many times I have felt like Temple Shir Tikvah was my third child. Similar to how I watched Margaret and Dave develop, I was excited as the temple grew from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, from the original 33 families to over 380. This represents more than a tenfold increase in membership without ever losing the close-knit spirit and sense of community that we founders nurtured from the very beginning.

Shir Tikvah has been our spiritual home for these 36 years. Whether Jewish or not, this has been the place for our friendships, leadership opportunities, adult learning, b’nei mitzvah for our children and for me as an adult, book groups, women’s groups, and social engagements of all types. I've served as president and on innumerable committees, and have gotten back more than I ever contributed.

With our adult daughter and adult son now established in their own lives, it makes sense to leave a part of our legacy to Shir Tikvah to ensure its continued presence. A number of years ago we made plans through our will for a legacy gift.  The amount we leave to the temple depends on our assets, which will change as we age and the circumstances around us change.

With this legacy gift, we feel we are contributing both to the survival of our temple and the continued growth of the Jewish people.  Shir Tikvah’s commitment to openness, inclusion, and community is one that we feel is a model to emulate.

We encourage others in our temple community to join us in this legacy initiative and plan their gifts now.

Jill Bohlin

When I think of Judaism I do not think of it as many might in a strictly traditional way—as only a part of my life which takes place in a building for services and prayer on holidays and Friday nights. I think of Judaism as the mainstay of my entire value system which guides me each day. And when I think about how I want to live my life and how I want this world to be, I think of Temple Shir Tikvah and its commitment to helping each of us to make ourselves and our world a better, safer, and more loving place for everyone.

I believe it is up to each of us, it is our responsibility to ensure our Temple's perpetuity for ourselves, our children and their children's future. And that is why I so strongly believe in our current legacy campaign. The future viability of Temple Shir Tikvah is in our hands today.

Stu Koman

Temple Shir Tikvah is a force for good–for our members, for the community, and for the world as a whole. Does it deserve to survive? If I needed any additional convincing, the events of the past couple of years provide more than enough reasons.

When I was younger, I regarded “institutions” like Temples as inanimate objects that have always been there and always will. But this Temple is alive. We are resilient, but also small and fragile. To sustain its impact, we need the long-term stability that comes from legacy gifts. And it's up to us who appreciate the uniqueness of Temple Shir Tikvah to create the endowment–if we don't do it, who will?

Return to Legacy Giving page