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Humans of TE: One Story at a Time – #TEGivesThanks #ComeHometoTE
This November, Temple Emanuel gives THANKS to YOU, our community. Join us each day as we highlight a fascinating member of our community.
Jane E. Garshick
“I was brought up in Lawrence, MA an old mill town north of Boston known for its textile industry and the diversity of immigrants that left Italy, Ireland, and Russia in search of new opportunities and a better life for their families. My great-grandfather immigrated to Lawrence in 1897 from Izyaslav, Ukraine. He became quite a successful wholesale junk dealer, and also assumed a prominent role in the local Jewish community, founding the first Orthodox shul in the City.
Fast forward quite a few years, I graduated high school in 1970 and entered college. As a baby boomer, I was shaped by many of the social and cultural events of that time, particularly by the Feminist movement. My father passed away when I was in college and after seeing my mom, who married at 19 and never finished college, struggle both socially and financially, I was determined to gain the skills and education to be independent.
After graduation I moved to Boston. I began working at a consulting firm and started business school at Boston University part-time. One of my roommates at the time had a boyfriend who was in medical school and she persuaded me to accompany her to “Liver Rounds,” Tufts Medical School’s version of a happy hour for its students. I spotted someone with a microscope hanging off his back, gave him a ride home, and a little over a year later Eric and I were married, devoted to each other ever since.
Our life together has been defined by so many wonderful and fulfilling events, terrific kids, close and loving family, good friendships, hard-driving careers, (mine in banking and Eric in medicine) and lastly, travel, about which we are most passionate. I’m now retired but find myself working nearly as hard writing grants, pretty much as a volunteer, for a local interfaith social justice network. We are incredibly proud of our two sons who now have families of their own but unfortunately don’t live nearby.
Temple Emanuel holds a special place in our heart, our spiritual and religious home for over 30 years. No matter how many times I walk through the doors, precious memories of Purim carnivals, Bar Mitzvahs, baby namings, Shabbat Alive, Sisterhood Donor, concerts, lectures, high holiday services float through my mind. However, perhaps the memory I cherish most was the opportunity to participate in the March of the Living trip to Poland and Israel last year with a group from the Temple. Studying Daf Yomi with Rabbi Robinson at the Lublin Yeshiva and listening to Cantor Rosemberg chant El Male Rachamim at Birkenau rank among the most memorable experiences of my life, further strengthening and deepening my bond to the Temple Emanuel community.”