What Tad Taube has done to support and enrich Jewish life in the Bay Area is well known. From Jewish community centers to Jewish studies departments to Jewish museums, Tad has transformed Jewish opportunities while challenging us all to do more. Tad never accepts the status quo as just good enough. He always wants more.
But however many achievements Tad has accomplished in the Bay Area, he has achieved infinitely more in Poland, the land where he was born and where I have the privilege of helping to rebuild Jewish life.
Let me share with you what Tad has done in Poland, a country that once had the world’s largest Jewish community and was the center of global Jewish culture; and a country, when occupied by Germany, was the site of the worst genocide in our history.
Poland is a country from where many of us descend, and it is also a country about which too many of us have given up hope for a Jewish future.
In 1989, communism fell in Poland. Since that time, thousands of Poles have discovered their true Jewish roots. These Jews were lost to the Jewish people. Their Jewish connection was hidden by their parents and unknown to the Jewish world.
Today we know that there are thousands of newly discovered Jews in Poland who are anxious to learn and experience Jewish tradition and culture, who so much want be part of the Jewish people.
Working in Poland since 1990, I have met many of those who are now uncovering their Jewish roots. I have listened to their stories of discovery, of the surprise and even shock, of their sense of loneliness and not knowing where they belong. What Tad has done is to share of himself with these people. To let these “new Jews” know that they belong to the Jewish people.
Tad, who was born in Poland but grew up in the United States, could have easily forgotten the land of his birth and left behind those Jews who remained. But Tad, president of the Koret Foundation and founder and chairman of Taube Philanthropies, chose to return to Poland and to empower these people Jewishly.
Just when these people were feeling unsure of where they belong, if they ever could really be Jews, if they could ever truly be accepted by the Jewish world, Tad came and said “Yes! We are one. You and I are part of the same Jewish people.”
Tad came back to Poland almost a decade ago. He met with Jewish leaders of the reemerging Jewish community and asked us how he could help.
He listened (also an unusual trait for a Jewish visitor) and wanted to hear of our needs and our dreams. And he responded. He gave of himself and of his soul. He is remarkably generous, and his philanthropic vision has inspired others to give. Most importantly, he empowered us to be Jews in a diversity of ways that we found meaningful to ourselves.
Tad turns 80 on April 1. As the Book of Psalms tells us: “By the reason of strength, a person reaches 80 years.”
To Tad Taube, I wish to say: God has blessed you with 80 years of strength, which you have used to give strength to others. May your example continue to inspire others, as God will bless you with more strength until 120 years (and then, we can negotiate for more!).
Rabbi Michael Schudrich is the chief rabbi of Poland. He has lived in Warsaw since 1990.