SARINA ROFFÉ
GOOGLE SAYS THAT LEGACY IS SYNONYMOUS WITH HERITAGE, SOMETHING PASSED ON FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT, SUCH AS ONE’S FAITH, ETHICS AND CORE VALUES. LEGACY MAY BE MONETARY, OR IT MAY COME FROM YOUR CHARACTER, REPUTATION AND SETTING AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS. IT HAS A LASTING INFLUENCE AND MEANING THAT WILL OUTLAST US.
Jack Albert Kassin, son of Albert Kassin A”H and grandson of Hakham Jacob Kassin A”H, is carrying on the family legacy, as are his children. His father and grandfather gave their time and commitment to the community, and he and his children are continuing this tradition. In July, the Sephardic Study Center (SSC) Community Legacy Award was presented to Jack A. Kassin, on the heels of opening DSN Beach Club, for his lifetime of volunteer work in the community.
“It is so fitting that my dad is being honored by an organization that cultivates and distributes rabbis throughout the world because he is really a champion of the rabbinate. He believes they are an important leadership structure for our community. His whole life he was involved with the rabbinical council of our community,” said his son Isaac.
“What better organization to honor my dad than this one?” asked his son Albert.
“To just think there will be many more rabbis throughout the world is really befitting because this is what my dad is all about,” said Sally Franco, his daughter.
Upon receiving the award, Jack Kassin, in his own humble way, said, “I share this award with all of you. We are a legacy nation, a legacy people and a legacy religion. The first legacy was set down 5,000 years ago by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Our religion has been preserved for 5,000 years through all the ages.”
Master of Ceremonies Harry Adjmi told Jack, “This mission of helping others will never be complete. That’s what we do. There is so much more we can do and so many people we can help. We will never retire, until HE decides. And I am so proud to be attached to you and be your friend.
“The DSN Beach Club compares to nothing we have ever had before. I think it could be one of the greatest game changers ever. Six hundred to nine hundred singles show up every single week. The events don’t stop. You and your family put yourselves behind it and now you have this to show for it.”
In honoring his father, Jack’s son Albert said, “My father personifies legacy at its core. He carries the name of our Big Gido, Chief Rabbi Hakham Yaakov Kassin A”H, and embodies the great traits that he had as well as those of my grandfather, Albert J. Kassin A”H. Beyond carrying the great qualities of these men, he added his own style and impacted the community, passing on his values to his children and grandchildren.”
Jack A. is the legacy link between his ancestors and his descendants. Albert noted all the links in the legacy chain.Hakham Yaakov Kassin A”H, who came from a long line of rabbis, was filled with love and warmth and was great in his holiness. He protected and cared for all his children and people in the community for six decades.
The next link is Albert J. Kassin A”H, who put family first, worked hard to build his business based on honesty and ethics, and gave tzedaka in private because of his pious nature. Jack A. attributes all he has to his parents, Gladys and Albert, as they loved their children unconditionally and taught them by example.
Jack built his company to support his family and give to charity. He often interrupted important meetings to take calls from his children, because they were the most important part of his life. Jack focused his life on community service, yet never compromised his values and often turned down opportunities to protect Shabbat and holidays. In private, a community member said he called for Jack’s guidance when a community member couldn’t pay his yeshivah tuition balance and the student couldn’t get her diploma to go to college. The next day the balance was paid anonymously, and the student received her diploma.
“All his children feel they are number one in his life and we all feel a strong connection to our legacy,” said Albert. “He inspires us and leads by example.”
“Big Gido and my Gido stood as role models to my father and now my father stands as a role model to me and my siblings and our children,” said Sally. “When I think about my dad’s journey and all the community work that he does, I can’t help but think about my mom.”
“A person’s greatest achievements don’t happen alone. It happens when you have a life partner and that truly is what my mom is for my father. Their mutual respect for each other is the bedrock, an unbelievable foundation for our family,” said Isaac Kassin.
The family matriarch, Joyce Kassin spends all her energy and efforts to make sure the family is well, thriving and united. Full of humility, her connection to emunah is deep. She also carries on the legacy of her father, Saul Ashkenazi A”H, a leader and visionary who developed Deal community, and her mother, Sally Ashkenazi, whose wisdom permeated the home and family.
Jack Mann introduced Rabbi Sam Kassin, Dean of the Sephardic Study Center (SSC), as a man who makes things happen. A descendant of the same line of rabbis as Hakham Yaakov. Rabbi Sam Kassin presented Jack with the Community Legacy Award.
Rabbi Kassin said “I am a person who is a doer. It’s very rare that I can say I am humbled. You humble me,” he told Jack Albert. “That your children love you the way they do and that they see your greatness is amazing. The things you have accomplished, the things you have done, and the stature you hold, I find humbling. I want to be one of your students so I can go further.”
He continued, “I always thought the greatness of our community was through our unity. Everyone is united, in synagogues, on the beach and in business. But when I met you, I found out that the greatest thing we have, even greater than unity, is that we worry. What do we worry about? Our people, our families, our growth and the future of our community. We have dozens of institutions that worry about everything. We had a generation that taught us how to worry about Am Israel and also to be part of the future.
“Jack you are the embodiment of legacy and caring. You care — Lawrence Ave Shul, DSN, the Gladys Kassin Mikveh, you led the charge with the Takana and there is so much more we don’t even know about. The future of our community — the legacy that you and your family have had for four generations is inspiring to all of us.
“The SSC has trained and sent out over 200 rabbis. I want to give our rabbis the idea of how important it is to care about the people they serve. I am grateful for you and your family. The SSC is presenting you with this Community Legacy Award for the generations your family has cared about the community and will continue to carry from generation to generation.”
Jack is committed to the rabbis of the community and has a good deal of respect for them. It is fitting that he is being honored by the SSC, an organization that trains and sends rabbis all over the world and helps Sephardic communities grow.
