The Talmud tells the story of an old man who is planting a carob tree, which takes 70 years to bear fruit. He's asked, "Do you expect to eat the fruit of your labors?" The old man replies, "I did not find this world desolate when I entered it. My father planted for me before I was born. So do I plant for those who come after me."

We are very pleased to announce the establishment of the Temple Emanu-El Endowment Fund. The endowment will provide the Temple financial security and the ability to plan and operate beyond year-to-year membership commitments and contributions for generations to come.

The purpose of the endowment is to secure the future of the Temple in perpetuity, while enriching programs for the benefit of members. Most temples of our size have the insurance of an endowment to help them take a long-term approach to planning, preserve programming in leaner years and fund unplanned expenses.

The Endowment Fund is held and managed by the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of San Francisco (JCEF) for the benefit of Temple Emanu-El. Interest earned is added to the principal. Investments are managed by the JCEF's Investment Committee, which currently manages a $500 million endowment fund of its own in addition to over $2 billion in funds for foundations, Jewish agencies, and synagogues.

The JCEF has expertise in investing and managing agency and synagogue endowments as well as in handling endowment gifts of all types. The JCEF is partnering with Temple Emanu-El to educate members, facilitate gifts, and to invest and make distributions from the Temple Emanu-El Endowment fund for the synagogue's benefit. Once the Endowment Fund principal reaches $500,000, Temple Emanu-El will receive disbursements for its needs, as determined by Temple EmanuEl leadership in agreement with the JCEF.

The Torah Writing Project is our Temple's initiative for raising endowment funds now. Details on the exciting Torah Writing Project can be found by clicking here. Writing our own Torah and creating an Endowment both embody the concept of L'dor V'dor – from Generation to Generation. As contributions to the Torah Writing Project exceed expenses, all monies will go to the Endowment Fund. Pledge to the Torah project by clicking here.

But of course our campaign for gifts to the endowment will extend beyond our 150th Anniversary. Numerous assets are accepted, including cash, securities, real estate, IRAs and other retirement plan assets, Israel bonds, insurance policies, bequests, and charitable gift annuities, which provide fixed income back to you. The JCEF has gift planning experts who can assist you confidentially in determining how your overall estate and financial planning can include Temple Emanu-El.

Temple Emanu-El has served our families and the Silicon Valley Jewish community for 150 years. Now we have an obligation and an opportunity to extend that vision for generations to come -- L'dor V'dor.

We invite you to become part of the Temple Emanu-El Endowment. We will be mailing out more detailed information and making it available on the website in the near future. We will also have meetings this spring at which we can answer your questions. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact Ruth Krandel or Jim Heerwagen or an Endowment Committee member.

Your generosity, which will inspire others, honors those who have come before and is truly a gift for the future.

If not now, then when? If not us, then who?

The Endowment Committee