This week we lost one of the true “g’dolei ha’dor,” great men of our generation in our community, Bill Kaplen. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to get to know Bill late in his life. He was a very wise as well as a very generous man. I learned much from my conversations with him. Despite my sadness it was an honor to be able to officiate at his funeral service this past Wednesday in the sanctuary at Temple Sinai, the renovation of which he helped fund, and which was dedicated by the Kaplen family.
My heart goes out to Bill’s wife, Maggie, who, together with Bill, changed the face of the Jewish and wider community of our area. She is a great lady in her own right and I am grateful to have her as a friend and active member of our congregation. My condolences as well to Bill’s sons, Larry and Lex, to Larry’s wife, Veronica, and son, Ben; to Bill’s step-sons, Peter and James; their wives, Koy and Kenia; and James’ children, Nicolas and Isabelle.
There is a wonderful tribute to Bill Kaplen in today’s issue of the Jewish Standard.
Below please find an excerpt from my eulogy delivered at this past Wednesday’s funeral.
May you have a peaceful and happy summer solstice and a Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Jordan Millstein
…Rabbi [Reuven] Kimmelman…mentioned in his note a key tenet of Bill’s own philosophy of life, “Save your money and give it away.” This goes to one of Bill’s greatest loves, one which he fully embraced and became the focus of the last 15 years of his life. The Kaplen Foundation was founded back in 1969, but it was only after Bill sold his business in 1999 that he became fully engaged in the business of giving. As the President of the Kaplen Foundation he worked at it all the time, continuing to go into the office regularly until last year.
And it was in this work, I think, that Bill really found his calling. From his spiritual home here at Temple Sinai, to the Jewish Home at Rockleigh, to all his work with and generosity to the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, to the Jewish Home Assisted Living/Kaplen Family Senior Residence – the building of which he personally supervised – Bill Kaplen and his family changed the face of the Jewish community of our area. (And he had an impact on the Jewish community nationally as well through his strong support for the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee.) Bill cared deeply about the perpetuation of Judaism and the Jewish People.
In fact, he cared about all people and their well-being. The Kaplen Foundation has done a lot of work in the healthcare field, especially in our own community where supporting and expanding the work of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center was so important to him.
To be clear, Bill and his family did not do this alone. There were a number of other families, many of whom are represented here today - many who are Bill and Maggie’s personal friends - who were extremely generous and made a huge difference in our community as well. But, I don’t think I am going too far when I ask, “Without Bill’s leadership would all of this work have gotten done? Would our community be as vital as it is today?” You see, it’s not just that the Kaplen Foundation gave major gifts. It’s that Bill got on the phone and said to others, “join me!” And if you were ever on the other end of that phone call you know how hard it is to say “no” to Bill Kaplen. Bill put himself and his relationships on the line for this community and for that we owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.
And he really did love it. As Bill himself put it a few years ago as the Kaplen JCC began its renovation campaign, “Nothing I have done in my long life has brought me the kind of happiness that giving away my money has…[It is] a physical sensation — joy. Pure, sweet, unmistakable joy that something can’t exist without you. If you have the resources to give but don’t, no matter how young you are, you are denying yourself something wonderful.”
“At these moments,” he added, “when you see what you’ve been able to accomplish and you understand its full effect on the people it was intended to affect, you’re not really engaging in philanthropy anymore. You realize that you haven’t really given anything away. You’ve multiplied what you had a hundred times over and kept it for yourself.”
There is a wonderful tribute to Bill Kaplen in today’s issue of the Jewish Standard.
Below please find an excerpt from my eulogy delivered at this past Wednesday’s funeral.
May you have a peaceful and happy summer solstice and a Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Jordan Millstein
Excerpt from Eulogy for Bill Kaplen
And it was in this work, I think, that Bill really found his calling. From his spiritual home here at Temple Sinai, to the Jewish Home at Rockleigh, to all his work with and generosity to the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, to the Jewish Home Assisted Living/Kaplen Family Senior Residence – the building of which he personally supervised – Bill Kaplen and his family changed the face of the Jewish community of our area. (And he had an impact on the Jewish community nationally as well through his strong support for the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee.) Bill cared deeply about the perpetuation of Judaism and the Jewish People.
In fact, he cared about all people and their well-being. The Kaplen Foundation has done a lot of work in the healthcare field, especially in our own community where supporting and expanding the work of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center was so important to him.
To be clear, Bill and his family did not do this alone. There were a number of other families, many of whom are represented here today - many who are Bill and Maggie’s personal friends - who were extremely generous and made a huge difference in our community as well. But, I don’t think I am going too far when I ask, “Without Bill’s leadership would all of this work have gotten done? Would our community be as vital as it is today?” You see, it’s not just that the Kaplen Foundation gave major gifts. It’s that Bill got on the phone and said to others, “join me!” And if you were ever on the other end of that phone call you know how hard it is to say “no” to Bill Kaplen. Bill put himself and his relationships on the line for this community and for that we owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.
And he really did love it. As Bill himself put it a few years ago as the Kaplen JCC began its renovation campaign, “Nothing I have done in my long life has brought me the kind of happiness that giving away my money has…[It is] a physical sensation — joy. Pure, sweet, unmistakable joy that something can’t exist without you. If you have the resources to give but don’t, no matter how young you are, you are denying yourself something wonderful.”
“At these moments,” he added, “when you see what you’ve been able to accomplish and you understand its full effect on the people it was intended to affect, you’re not really engaging in philanthropy anymore. You realize that you haven’t really given anything away. You’ve multiplied what you had a hundred times over and kept it for yourself.”
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