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"I greatly respect Rabbi Weissberg for the time, when working against huge odds, he was very instrumental in moving Temple Beth-el from Touhy Avenue to the promised land in Northbrook. What would Temple Beth-el be like and look like if he hadn't had the foresight to move us at that time?..."

Norman Sussman

Until I delved into this wonderful project I had no idea of the tremendously positive effect that Rabbi Victor Weissberg had had on the life of my family and myself.

Rabbi and I are only about a year and a half apart in age. I've known him for forty-nine years, since I was 29 years old, so this cannot be a short memo.

One summer Friday night Florence and Marvin Burack introduced us to Beth-el. Arline had been to Temple services many times in her life. I had never been in a synagogue other than for my father's funeral. That Friday night the Oneg Shabbat was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Cutler. I offered to take Rabbi and Tamar in my Johnson & Johnson company car. There were some samples of flavored toothbrushes on the seat and I offered them to Rabbi and Tamar. Rabbi refused them saying he does not live off congregants. He was the first person ever to refuse a sample from one of the largest corporations in America. Later on I learned of his reason from history but what did I know about rabbis?

The next day we became members of Beth-el.

Experiences we shared:

Night walks on a frozen lake in Oconomowoc. Wild Simchat Torah nights at the temple. A huge dinner celebration for Tamar and Rabbi's 40th anniversary with Beth-el at a hotel ballroom in Rosemont. I had the pleasure of doing a roast of the good Rabbi and mentioning his time in Cook County jail. Rabbi allowed me to collect Weissberg family photos and adorned them with humorous captions on two or three display boards.

While acting as the MC at a crowded fun night on Touhy, with many strangers present, I introduced those responsible for putting the evening together. When I asked the Rabbi to stand up he had ducked out so I made an excuse and said he was still parking cars. A week or two later I asked the Rabbi about something and he said he'd get to it as soon as he was through parking cars. Rabbi has a quick spontaneous sense of humor that I really admire. He doesn't do too well on structured jokes.

Sadly we also shared the arranging of a funeral at Piser's on Broadway. A young talented temple friend of mine took his own life. While driving together to Piser's we discussed the tragedy and the possible reasons for it, as well as what was yet to come and really got to know each other.

One Friday night we had a service with two other rabbis joining on the bema. They had prearranged sharing the service. It went smoothly until someone got out of sequence necessitating a short mid-service conference, Rabbi Victor quickly turned to the congregation and said, "This is known as three rabbis -- no waiting."

The Friday of Purim week was a great event, year after year. Rabbi knew how to fill the house. I was flattered to be asked to share the bema with him, alternating telling jokes, taking turns telling short stories and anecdotes and keeping the congregation laughing.

Both Alyce and I were flattered when he said certainly he would join with Rabbi Michael Weinberg to perform our wedding at Temple Beth Israel. Even then Rabbi Weissberg referred to our hobby of collecting bad jokes together. The ceremony was beautiful. Well done!

After the Shabbos service on hot summer nights the Weissbergs and the Sussmans and maybe somebody else, would leave temple and head off to Lockwood Castle. The adults would sit in one booth and the five Sussman and Weissberg kids would sit in another. The kids usually ordered the biggest dish that could be shared by six or seven or eight . At going home time rabbi had a routine. He would go to the kids' booth and help them finish off the ice cream before leaving.

On a more serious note I greatly respect Rabbi Weissberg for the time, when working against huge odds, he was very instrumental in moving Temple Beth-el from Touhy Avenue to the promised land in Northbrook. What would Temple Beth-el be like and look like if he hadn't had the foresight to move us at that time?

And that brings me to wonder what would these 49 years of Sussman family life have been like if it had not been for the Buracks leading us to Victor Weissberg, who captured our interest and helped our lives in wonderful ways at Temple Beth-el. My two daughters, Sandy and Gail, both say TBE was a great influence on them, as well as on Arline and I. The temple also led me to make a wonderful change in my career path.

Thank you, Victor, for all the times you encouraged me, guided all of us, took part in our lives, and created and shared many happy occasions. We love you.