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[Dr. Alan Kadish] It's not so much about what I want Touro University students to see in me. It's what we want them to become. And a fundamental principle of what Touro stands for is that we're in this world for something beyond ourselves.

We have a mission of service, it's service to humanity. And we hope it's a guiding principle that our students take home for the rest of their lives.

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[Rabbi Doniel Lander] My father knew Dr. Kadish from his youth, and he recognized Dr.

Kadish's unusual brilliance. But more importantly, my father discerned Dr. Kadish's outstanding

personal qualities; humility, respect for others, and a deep commitment to Jewish observance.

[Nadja Graff] Who can be a better role model than a president, physician, scholar like Dr. Kadish?

[Laura Fleischmann] I think my definition of a great leader is somebody who really is a person of integrity. They don't lose sight of their star, and I think that Alan is one of those people.

[Rabbi Moshe Krupka] It takes a brilliant individual to be able to recognize the qualities and the positive nature of all people, of all campuses. It takes an inspired leader to be able to be loyal to

the mission and goals, to the founding principles of our institution, and to be open and welcoming and create an environment where everybody feels at home. That's what Dr. Kadish does for us.

[Dr. David Katz] Just because a particular style exists, that does not mean that Dr.

Kadish is going to follow that style.

If he thinks there's a better way to do it and a different approach, he will follow that approach. He's a true innovator in that respect.

[Dr. Patricia Salkin] I can think of nobody better to honor than President Kadish because, under his leadership, Touro has grown exponentially from when he came into the college to the University status and everything in between.

[Kadish] The first thing I learned from Dr. Lander was never give up. If you believe something is right and a venture is going to be successful, don't listen to people who tell you you can't do it. That was probably one of the more important things that I learned from him.

[Connie Kadish] He's passionate about making the world a better place. He gets the big

picture, he really does. This opportunity with Touro is not just a group of people. It's generations of people, giving people educations, giving people opportunity. This has been an incredible journey.

[Tova Kadish] Touro represents this opportunity for my dad to be able to make greater impact.

[Naomi Kadish] I think Touro means to my dad the ability to prepare a younger generation for the world that is changing and the world that's to come and ensuring that people are set up for success.

[Kadish] There's a need in the United States for more health care providers who are particularly better trained clinically. One of my great dreams was that Touro would become the leading

educator of health care professionals in the United States.

I think while it takes a time for reputation to catch up, I think we have. We're going to have 4,000 medical students at Touro once our current programs are fully built out. That's an astounding number. That's more than pretty much any University in the United States.

[Dr. Nadja Graff] Dr. Kadish has made the institution a much more mature institution. And we move forward with the dreams, but those dreams always have the data behind them to move that forward.

[Salkin] I can't think of anybody else who could have helped navigate Touro University, the entire system, through this pandemic.

[Krupka] We didn't miss one session in any section within Touro University. It was due to the

foresight of Dr. Alan Kadish, who saw this coming.

[Zvi Ryzman] By honoring Dr. Kadish, we are honoring a person who is a pioneer of a Jewish education in this current century.

[Lander] When Touro's history will be written and the volume that will be distributed at the 100th anniversary of Touro, Dr. Kadish's leadership will be noted for the

seamless transition, from the founding charismatic president to his own stewardship; a leadership that continued to strengthen the legacy that Dr. Lander had established.

[Kadish] I'd like to leave this institution with a legacy that it's a great institution that's grown in quality and quantity. I'd like to pass on that mission of making the world a better place by educating students to be the right kind of leaders for the future.

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[Rabbi Doniel Lander] Touro was conceived by my father, of blessed memory, to promote the Jewish heritage in accordance with Torah ideals and observance. The study of the sacred texts, the lifeblood of the Jewish people, is at the core of our institutional soul. This is the foundation of Touro. And it is on this basis that we move forward in our dual mission to strengthen Jewish continuity and to serve humanity.

[Lander alum Josh Fox] Lander College for Men allowed me to become the physician that I wanted to become. It allowed me to raise the family that I wanted to raise. And it allowed me to learn the Torah that I wanted to learn.

[Dr. Alan Kadish] What Dr. Lander set out to do was to create a university where Jewish students would be educated in a first-rate education and be comfortable in their environment and grow into future leaders of the Jewish community.

[Lander alum Nechama Silverstein] It's possible to fulfill your dreams, marry someone that's learning Torah, and to be a mother, and to move to Israel, and at the same time, have an extremely fulfilling academic professional career.

[Lander alum Moshe Orenstein] Although I wanted to make Torah a top priority in my life, I wanted to make a difference in the lives of people, as well.

[Lander Alum Jeremy Bekritsky] Lander College for Men gave me the ability to be an ambassador to the secular world about what it means to be an observant Jew. That you can be a very Torah-observing Jew while also having a serious career.

[Rabbi Moshe Krupka] Touro is a multifaceted institution. We were founded in the Jewish tradition. That's in our DNA. It's in the bedrock of our institution. We welcome all people to come and be part of our university, to be educated, to be empowered, to better their lives, the lives of their families, and the lives of their communities.

[Touro alum Myra Cocolicchio Diaz] Something that Touro instills in you from the day that you walk in, that community and service is at the heart of everything that we do.

[Dr. Alan Kadish] We have to look out for ourselves. We have to better ourselves. We have to better ourselves, intellectually. We have to better ourselves, personally. But on the other

hand, we can never forget that we're part of the human race and that we have a responsibility to each other.

What we try to teach our students at Touro is how to balance those two responsibilities. How to make sure that each student has personal and professional success while also understanding that they have a responsibility to the larger society.

[Dr. Nadja Graff] It's our doctors. It's our PAs. It's our nurses. It's our lawyers. It's our social workers. It's our educators, our teachers, who we infuse with the values of serving others, of making a difference in the lives of others.

[Myra] The district that we're located here in New York City is one of the poorest congressional districts in the United States. You really see the inequities.

I wanted to give back to my neighborhood and to give back to the people who grew up the way that I did.

[Touro alum Supreeya Swarup] Touro's mission definitely sparked the desire that I had, to begin with, to take care of these underserved populations. This is why I became a doctor.

[Dr. Edward Halperin] The important values are the dignity of the individual, the agency of an individual, the responsibility of an individual to the community and to others.

[Touro alum Kevin Wong] Their mission was in line with what I wanted to do. They wanted to help the community and really teach the ideals of medicine.

[Krupka] Look where we have come to. The programs, touching every aspect of human existence, all with an underpinning rooted in the Judaic tradition of scholarship, of ethics, of morality, of service to humanity.

[Touro alum Shatima Howard] To see students who would come in and be nonverbal, and then by the time they're leaving, they're having one to two-word phrases and utterances, is amazing to me. I kind of felt like, wow, we're giving them a voice. To have a parent say, hey, he said, Mom, for the first time. Or, hey, he asked me for candy or chips. That made me feel like I was

going to be doing something to make a difference.

[Kadish] I think where Touro has gotten in 50 years is absolutely amazing. Dr. Lander started the

school with 35 students. Today we have 19,000 students. We're in 10 different cities. And I think we perform an extraordinarily valuable service, both to the Jewish community and to the educational community at large in the United States.

[Krupka] How many people have the ability to say they're building something great, something lasting, something that will be there to serve humanity well beyond this very moment? That's what we're celebrating.

[Dr. Stanley Boylan] The spirit that permeates throughout the system is a willingness to

accept challenges and to build. And to look at how we can pursue excellence, how we can pursue research, how we can change society while remaining true to the values that we started with.

[Zvi Ryzman] It's the vision for tomorrow. Dr. Lander has taught us not to look at today. That today is just today but without the future, there is no today.

[Kadish] Looking forward to the next 50 years. What do our students need? What does society need? What does our community need? How can we better serve the community? How can we do that through education, through research, and inventing new knowledge. Through perpetuating the Jewish tradition? How can we do all of that better in the next 50 years?

[Dr. Patricia Salkin] Part of the story of Touro University is anything is possible.

[Kadish] We don't rest on our laurels. We've accomplished a great deal. We're proud of it. But we think that for the future, we can be even better. And we will be.

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[Robert Goldschmidt] My experience been rewarding and enriching. Rewarding because I've

been able to reach out and to help students chart their future.

My role has been to assist them in charting it in the right direction and wisely.

[Touro alum Simcha Felder] I was never a good student. And you can speak to my elementary and high school principals, and they will attest to the fact. And maybe even less than that. They may say I was not a student at all.

[Touro alum Ruchie Freier] Back when I graduated in the early '80s, there were no college opportunities for girls from the ultra-orthodox Hasidic group. And when Touro opened up its doors, a whole new world of opportunity opened up for us.

But I was still worried. I really wasn't sure if it's the right place for me. Will I be successful? Should I even bother going down this road?

[Felder] After I finished high school, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself. And somebody suggested that I should come speak to Dean Goldschmidt.

[Freier] When I decided to go to college, it was my little secret that I wanted to be a lawyer. But I did share it with Dean Goldschmidt. And he never made it appear that I couldn't do it. It was a given that I was going to go and apply to law school, be able to remain true to my values as a Hasidic woman but still succeed in the outside world.

[Felder] He said, I'm committing to you that if you decide that you want to come to Touro, I am going to take care of you. Those are the words that he used.

[Dr. Alan Kadish] Dean Goldschmidt has been a pillar of the school almost since its inception. Therefore, it is so fitting to be honoring him on our 50th anniversary because Touro University would not be what it is today without Dean Goldschmidt's expertise, dedication, and experience.

[Rabbi Doniel Lander]

My father saw in him a kindred spirit, someone who was selfless in terms of his personal

goals, but rather was focused on using his abundant talent to help the Jewish community.

And my father, when he wanted to establish a branch of Touro in Flatbush that would

educate young men and women from the Brooklyn community, his first choice was

Dean Bob Goldschmidt. And the rest, as they say, is history.

[Rabbi Moshe Krupka] There are those that carry Touro in the depths of their soul, in their neshama. And that's Robert Goldschmidt.

This is his second home. He helped build this place, from the bricks to the academics to

the accreditation, to the concern and nurturing of students.

[Goldschmidt] Dr. Lander saw a need especially to serve the Brooklyn Jewish community, which is Orthodox, very strongly Orthodox, in its practices and values. He saw a need in this community to afford them the opportunity to pursue higher education, to earn a degree that would open doors to professional advancement which was not available. And I worked with him on this particular project from the very start.

[Freier] Without having Dean Goldschmidt there when the foundation was laid for me, I wouldn't have been able to succeed. He laid the path for me, and I was able to blaze a

trail for myself.

[Shrage Goldschmidt] For my father and for the entire family, this honor is a very gratifying thing.

I think the legacy that my father continues to build to this day is one of intellectual curiosity, growth, subservience to Torah values, and service to others. And I think that's what education, when bottled properly, is all about.

[Felder] He saved me. He saved me.

[Goldschmidt] My connection to students is the most important element in the work that I do at Touro. I'm working at the dawn of their career. The future is ahead of them.

[Sen. Jacky Rosen] Shelley's decades long career, she's served Nevada with her

knowledge, with her compassion, with her heart, and in pursuit of justice. And she's put Touro's

University mission--well, she's put it into practice. Her work to find common sense solutions for the issues impacting Nevadans, her work to lead with compassion and care, it exemplifies her

dedication, her commitment to improving our community and improving Nevada.

[Shelley Berkley] Touro University, the entire system, is one of the most incredible organizations that I've ever been attached to. Touro University is the very essence of excellence in education and commitment to principle. And what we do, each and every day on the two campuses that I represent, is nothing short of a miracle.

We are educating the next generation of health care providers and educators, not only for the

state of Nevada, not only for the state of California, but for the entire United States of America. What a heady thing to do.

[Dr. Alan Kadish] Shelley Berkley is an amazing woman, a proud Jew, a great

politician, a great educator, and a great human being. She's someone who has enormously helped Touro's western division in its mission to educate and to grow, and someone would be very proud to have our students emulate. And that's why we're honoring Shelley Berkley.

There's no one like Shelley, and we're thrilled to have her as part of the Touro family.

[Shelley Berkley] Family is very important, faith is important, and a commitment to excellence in anything that I do. I don't take on anything that I can't do and do well.

[Rabbi Moshe Krupka] Shelley Berkley had a storied history of public service. She was incredibly dedicated to serving the underserved. She was a staunch spokesperson for the state of Israel, for ideals and causes that spoke to her as an individual and was reflected in all of her actions. These values just align perfectly with the mission and goals of Touro University.

[Shelley Berkley] I'm the granddaughter of immigrants to this country that couldn't speak English. And it was important for me to give something back to this country not only for taking my family in so we could survive, but giving us an opportunity to thrive. And so public service was my way of thanking the United States for giving me a life.

[Sam Berkley] What attracted my mother to Touro would be her dedication to community, to really put all of her energy, passion in creating a better medical community for the state

that she grew up in, that all of her children grew up in.

[Shelley Berkley] We have a tremendous doctor shortage. That's why a medical school was created here at Touro. Same thing with our physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistance program. If we're not the only program of its kind in the entire state of Nevada, we're one of a very few.

[Max Berkley] I think my mom's legacy is that she has touched so many different people, so many different areas.

[Kadish] She's initiated new programs that have aligned with Touro's values, in particular in Nevada. She set up a system to provide health care to very poor, uninsured patients through a mobile van. She set up ways to use simulation to teach not just physicians and our students, but members of the community about how to respond to disasters.

[Dr. Patricia Salkin] Shelley Berkley is really an important part of the story of the growth of Touro University.

[Sam Berkley] I think what my mother brought to Touro was a tremendous sense of awareness in Nevada. We had this incredible school here, and putting a figure like my mother there made sure that every single person in Nevada knew it was here and was proud to have it.

[Shelley Berkley] The future of Touro is anything. Anything is possible.

How proud I am to be a part of this amazing endeavor.

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