Planned Giving Stories

Our Story

Meryl and I joined Bnai Keshet in Montclair, NJ, 24 years ago, after we moved from New York to the “burbs.” We moved into our new home, and shortly thereafter we began searching for a synagogue to join that would embrace the values of Judaism that we believed were most important to us as a young couple and to our future as a family. Many weekends were spent attending services at a variety of shuls in our neighborhood and the surrounding communities. Although we enjoyed meeting new people and speaking to many of the Rabbis, we came away with a sense that we were not being lifted spiritually.

Several months into our search, we went to services at a Reconstructionist synagogue in town, which was then being held in a non-descript office building, where they had a female rabbi (Joy Leavitt). The moment we walked in we felt a special connection. We loved the service, we met some warm and embracing congregants, and we had a great conversation with the Rabbi. We read Rabbi Kaplan’s book a few weeks later to find what Reconstructionist Judaism was all about, went back to services a few more times, and then decided to join. We are proud to say it was a great choice.

Bnai Keshet has been our home away from home for so many years. Through the many travails of moving from building to building and from church to church, before raising enough money to buy a building for our school and then building a new synagogue, Bnai Keshet has been an important cornerstone in our lives. We’ve met incredible people who have became our lifelong friends; our children received a good education through the school system, and we have been a part of a temple whose members retain the same Tikkun Olam values that we embrace as a family.

This past August, Meryl and I decided that our wills were due to be updated. While we went through the usual checklist of who our executors and trustees should be, we decided we also wanted to add Bnai Keshet as a beneficiary. Since Bnai Keshet has meant so much to us over the last 24 years, it just seemed natural that we should give something back to support the many programs that we have enjoyed in the past and look forward to enjoying in the future. Our hope is that we, along with other families at Bnai Keshet, give back enough through our wills, trusts, estate planning, etc… so that our future remains bright and that other families can reap the benefits of long range planned giving.

Shalom,
Meryl and Neil Hillsberg

Please explore the links to the JRF website to find out about the benefits of using various financial and estate planning tools that can benefit both you and Bnai Keshet.