- Home
- About
- Datebook: Events Calendar
- Women's Philanthropy
- Subscribe to e-newsletter
- Young Adults
- Contribute
- Where Your Money Goes
- Professional Groups
- Community Resources
- Volunteer
- Local Jewish News
- Search
Jewish Community News
Living Legacy: January 2004
"It's an honor to give back in any way we can"
 |
| Len and Sylvia Metz |
By Shelley Leveson
One of Sylvia Metz's earliest memories is of a trip to the grocery store with her father. He proceeded to buy a quantity of food – more than five-year-old Sylvia had ever seen – and asked the grocer to send it to St. John's church, anonymously.
"He told me that this country had opened its doors to us and was made up of many different people. Some of these people were hungry, and their holiday was coming up, and it was our duty to help them," recalls Sylvia. "We were anything but well-to-do, and I had really wanted a doll, but my dad asked me if a doll was more important than someone having food."
It was a lesson in giving that affects her still today. "I feel we have a responsibility — to our community, our people, our heritage," says Sylvia.
Leonard Metz, Sylvia's husband, is equally generous with his time, efforts and resources. Neither feels burdened by this responsibility, however, but privileged. "We've been lucky," says Sylvia, "and it's an honor to give back in any way we can."
Both Sylvia and Len are past JCC presidents, have been active in the Federation of Greater San Jose, have served their synagogue, Congregation Beth David, in various capacities, and support numerous Jewish organizations, both locally and nationally. They have also established a Living Legacy endowment through the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley.
"A living legacy endowment shows the community that welcomed us that we care about the future of the community. Our responsibility doesn't end with us," says Sylvia.
Sylvia grew up in a Conservative/Traditional family in New York in which she says, "Jewish traditions always enveloped us." As a child, she loved going to synagogue with her father, when she was still able to sit downstairs with him. "When I got older, I went less. I didn't like being relegated to the upstairs."
Len was born and raised in Rhode Island to first-generation
immigrants where "everything was about family and Judaism."
His parents owned a kosher deli in which the whole family worked, even
young Len. Their store was never without a tzedakah box and neither was
their home.
In many ways, Len and Sylvia's backgrounds were similar — a strong
work ethic, involvement in their Jewish communities, an emphasis on tzedakah.
Len's family, however, never discussed WWII and never discussed the Holocaust,
even when he was old enough to understand. For Sylvia's family, the Holocaust
was an undeniable reality. When Sylvia was an infant, they left Poland
for America - among the few Jews who were able to escape. Her father had
eight brothers and sisters, none of whom survived. On her mother's side,
one aunt and one uncle lived.
After the war, her house became a railroad station for refugees from Europe. "I often gave up my bed," says Sylvia, "I didn't think of it as a big thing, it's just how it was."
The two met soon after moving to the San Jose area. Sylvia, who had been a teacher in New York, came to California for a summer and decided that she would stay for a year if she found a job. It was 1968 and she never went back. Len, who was an engineer at the time, had been transferred to Lockheed. Mrs. Gitten, wife of then-rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Gitten, played shadkhan – matchmaker – and the rest is history.
The Metzes have a son, Jason, and a daughter, Holly. Jason
recently married and will soon be moving to San Jose. Holly is back in
the Bay Area after several years in New York working on a joint Master's/PhD
program. "I'm ecstatic to have both children nearby," says Sylvia.
Sylvia and Len feel fortunate to have been part of the growth and development
of Silicon Valley's Jewish community over the past decades and share a
common vision for its future: "A cohesive, yet inclusive community
where all feel welcomed."
"When I was a little girl," says Sylvia, "you didn't choose to be involved in the community, you just were. It's different here. People can choose to have or not have a Jewish identity. They aren't surrounded by the culture, they have to actively seek it out. Fortunately, for us, we made the choice to become involved, and we're the ones who have benefited from it the most."
News
Features
JCN Issues
Information
The JCN is Hiring!