NEWS
Legacy Midtown Park dedicates Glazer Sanctuary
June 29, 2021
Rabbi Michael Cohen, The Legacy Senior Communities (LSC) director of Rabbinical Services and Pastoral Care, leads the Torah procession at the dedication of the Max and Nolan Glazer Family Sanctuary at The Legacy Midtown Park, May 22, 2021. Also in the procession are Jerry Rasansky, board chair of LSC, and, not pictured, Sharon Levin, board member of the LSC and The Legacy Midtown Park, and Frasier Marcus, chair-elect, LSC.
The Legacy Midtown Park dedicated the Max and Nolan Glazer Family Sanctuary on May 22, opening a new era for the organization and a new place to pray and gather.
Rabbi Michael Cohen, director or rabbinical services and pastoral care of The Legacy Senior Communities, led the celebratory Shabbat morning service. The Torah portion read at the dedication, Parashat Naso, contains the account of Moses consecrating the mishkan, or tabernacle, as well as the threefold Priestly Benediction.
The sanctuary, with seating for nearly 200, hosts twice-monthly Kabbalat Shabbat services at 4 p.m. on Fridays and monthly Shabbat morning services at 10:30 a.m. The other Shabbat services are held at The Legacy Willow Bend’s sanctuary and are led by volunteers from the community. All services are livestreamed on The Legacy’s channels 80 and 81 throughout the facilities. Transportation for the Shabbat morning services is planned for residents to whichever location is hosting.
In 1953, brothers Max and Nolan Glazer, both of blessed memory, were among the founders of Dallas Home for Jewish Aged on the Golden Acres campus. Nearly 60 years later, Nolan’s son Bennett, and his wife Marion and their family, are carrying on the Glazer family tradition of fingerprints on the community.
Five years ago, The Legacy Midtown Park Chair Carol Aaron approached Bennett Glazer carrying a photo of his father and uncle, with an opportunity to share his family’s legacy with the organization.
“The dedication was meaningful, and the sanctuary just beautiful. So many people, including my wife, a phenomenal soldier in the effort, have worked so hard,” said Glazer. Like his children Sam and Paige, he celebrated his bar mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El, where his family remains engaged.
“Growing up, our families belonged to congregations Shearith Israel, Tiferet Israel and Temple Emanu-El, supporting everyone,” said Bennett. “To have their names, and the heart of what was important to them, as part of The Legacy Midtown is a wonderful tribute. They taught us about tzedakah and giving to our community, and I know they’d have smiles on their faces and be proud.”
Joining Bennett and Marion in the family gift are Judy Glazer, Phyllis Glazer, Mike Glazer, Penny and Roy McClurg, Dr. Randall and Barbara Rosenblatt, Betty and Steve Silverman, Ann Glazer and Barkley Stuart, Glazer’s Inc. and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. Frances Glazer and R.L. Glazer, both of blessed memory, are also included.
Sam Glazer represented the family during the first service by opening and closing the ark and dressing the Torah.
“It’s amazing to be a part of something so important to my family,” said Sam. With Paige, he has joined as a third generation of the family business as well as connecting to community.
“We have a responsibility to carry on,” he said. “My grandfather passed when I was little, but he and my Grandma Fagel were instrumental in giving and caring about our community. This beautiful sanctuary provides a lasting impact beyond their time, and that of other family members, on this earth.”
For Aaron, who, along with her husband, Steve, grew up with the Glazers, the gift represents both community and family continuity. “We had deep childhood bonds as we watched our families build this community,” she said. “Every space we build, every opportunity to live their example, is something we just have to do and we do it with love.”
At the front of the sanctuary is the aron kodesh, the ark, donated by Irma and Irwin Grossman, he of blessed memory, and a sculpture of a menorah by George Tobolowsky. The ner tamid, the eternal light, created by The Legacy Willow Bend resident Ruth Litwin in memory of her husband Martin, was donated by Dr. Arthur G. and Janice Sweet Weinberg. Community pianos were donated by the Mark and Carol Kreditor Philanthropic Fund.
At the entrance of the sanctuary is the Gathering Space, gifted by A.J. and Suellen Rosmarin. Hanging in the hallway leading up to the doors of the sanctuary are the stained-glass windows, commissioned in 1952, of the (Fannie and Ike) Sablosky Synagogue on the Golden Acres campus. The Sabloskys, of blessed memory, were also among the founders of Golden Acres the Dallas Home for the Jewish Aged. Their foundation gifted The Legacy Midtown’s Rabbi’s Study.
On July 10, The Legacy Midtown Park will celebrate again as its three Torahs, donated by the Andres Family, Ann and Nate Levine and Julie and Mike Weinberg and family, will be welcomed with the Torahs’ sofer, scribe Rabbi Kevin Hale. The Torah breastplates were donated by Jack and Janet Baum, and the Torah reading table by Barbara and Sheldon Stein.
Residents Sheri Abernathy, Chaike Charles and Libby Friedman were delighted to visit the sanctuary as it opened last month, and all were excited as they spoke to Rabbi Michael Cohen, director of Rabbinical Services and Pastoral Care at The Legacy Senior Communities.
“In our day, the act of blessing is upon any one of us, not just upon a priestly class. Anyone can bless, first by opening our hearts and minds and then giving voice and affirming what we have witnessed,” said Cohen. “Nishmat kol chai, t’vareich et shimcha, Adonai Eloheinu — the soul breath of every living thing blesses your name, our God.”
