Installation Speech as President of Valley Beth Shalom

Installation Speech as President of Valley Beth Shalom
By Scott Howard

September 8, 2016

1963, I was four years old. The Cubs had a lousy team. JFK was still our President. My memory is a little foggy going back that far, but as legend has it, that is when I entered Valley Beth Shalom for the first time into their Nursery School. I am told that there was this old abandoned rusty car that the nursery school kids played in. One of the kids that my mom told me I should become friends with was this pudgy little funny kid named Sidney. Sidney would not let me take the drivers seat in that abandoned car and I had to be the passenger. To this day, when we go somewhere together, Sidney does not let me drive. He always has to drive. Well, tonight, some 52 years later, I still did not drive here, my wife did. Maybe it is something about my driving. Sidney is also here tonight, but we call him Sid now, unless his wife is upset at him. Than he is still Sidney. Sid, thanks for joining me. It means a lot to have my friends, family and fellow community members joining us.

My words tonight are special to me. My other talks will not be of a personal nature, but tonight I am given the chance to do so. I’ve had three teachers over the years. People who I have had tremendous respect for and I have tried to emulate for their lives lived with meaning and purpose. Two have passed away in recent years, one is still with us. All three have been in the room that we just had our Shabbat services.

The first teacher was John Wooden, an educator and a philosopher. Coach Wooden was also the basketball coach at UCLA for a few years where he brought a little bit of success. John Wooden was a man before his time. John Wooden, in 1946 refused an invitation to the NAIB championship series because they would not allow his African American players to participate. The following year they did. When other college teams, were not integrated and did not allow African Americans to play with the white players until the 1960’s, John Wooden believed that we were all equal. In 2003, Coach Wooden spoke here as a fundraiser for the Day School. He recited poetry and gave his philosophy without any notes for over an hour. He was 94 at the time. Two of my favorite quotes from Coach Wooden were:

All of life is peaks and valleys. Don’t let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low.

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who will argue with you.

My second teacher was Rabbi Harold Schulweis. I was in awe of Rabbi Schulweis. After coming back to Valley Beth Shalom in 1973, I continued my Jewish education with confirmation. Rabbi Schulweis was one of the teachers. A group of 14 and 15 year olds would sit on the floor of his office and have meaningful discussions. He posed questions for us, and there was not necessary a right answer. Two of the questions I remember most, were:

Who is the better Jew. The one who never comes to prayer services but gives a tremendous amount of tzedakah. Or was it the one who comes every day to Shul and prays but does not give any tzedakah.

The second question was what do we want to do when we grow up.

Both questions, it took years for me to understand what he was driving at. While, we were all saying, we wanted to become doctors, attorneys, teachers, etc., he would keep asking why. I understand it now, as I have grown older. Rabbi Schulweis was not asking us what occupation we wanted to pursue. He was asking us what type of people do we want to become. Sort of like going to a funeral and the eulogies are not about what people did for a living, but what kind of life did they live. What did they do for others.

I believe the only topic I could actually discuss at Rabbi Schulweis’s level was boxing. He loved boxing and he knew all about the old boxers and all the boxing news. I often thought about wanting to take him to Las Vegas and see a fight with him in person. It was quite extraordinary, this man of tolerance and love, saw the beauty in boxing.

My third teacher is here tonight. My father, Leo Howard. . My Dad is turning 91 this month, and I am grateful for him. He has been my teacher, my mentor and my friend. I always try and improve on myself and I look to him as to the type of husband, father and friend that I strive to be. He taught me to always do my best and to always finish a job, don’t do it half way. From a young age, he taught me love of Israel and Zionism He taught me to be proud of being a Jew, and not to ever take our freedoms for granted. He has always worked hard and still works to this day, but he always had time for family and he always had time to volunteer. He was VP of Education of Maarev Temple, alav hashalom. He was a leader in Israel Bonds and AIPAC. My father always supported our family with a love of Jewish education and is blessed with 8 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren and two more on the way. He took us to Israel at young ages, and he and my mom went there dozens of times, including many times after being victims of a terrorist attack in Mechacne Yehuda in 1997.

The bedrock in my life was and is my mom, Alice Howard. She is still there with me everyday, and normally when I am driving to work, she is in the passenger seat, telling me to be careful. She is my angel. She was with me when I was ill, and took care of my Dad when he had his accident. My mom’s cemetary stone says she was a loving wife, mother, and Bubbe, but also how she loved and worked for the people and children of Israel. My Mom was special.

So, here I am, being installed as President of this incredible shul. A shul that has been blessed with not only one amazing teacher, but now a second, Rabbi Feinstein. It is a gift to be able to call him my Rabbi and my friend. It was not an accident that I got to this place. It was because of my teachers and because of my Mom. My job is to do the best work I can do for the shul and to make my teachers proud.

This is a position that I cannot do on my own. I am fortunate to have my own personal wise counsel, Marcie, who is able to calm me down when I need calming and to put me in the right direction when needed. I am fortunate to have former Presidents Nancy Sher Cohen and Norm Levine to assist me so often. And I am so fortunate to have a strong Executive Board that makes the position bearable and gives me confidence that they will assist in making the right decisions. The Board of Directors led by David Spiegel is an active body that will get us through the next few years of decision making as we embark on an exciting

building plan. The one common factor for the Board is the love of our Shul, and the connection that our experiences to Judaism within Shul life. We all serve because we believe in Valley Beth Shalom and we know what a special place it is. We will continue to strive to achieve the missions of our Shul, including learning, praying, social action and support of our fellow Jews in Israel and around the world. Thank you for joining me in assuming the Presidency. We may all don’t have the history that I may have from this place going back over 50 years, but we do all share the same goals and love for Valley Beth Shalom.