It’s very simple: not to be lazy, and to work.

I survived 18 camps over five years. There are not a lot of us. When I die, that’s it. There was a big hospital, not far from where I used to live in Poland. This hospital was 90%, maybe 95% Jewish. So I passed by and I saw a big truck, backed up to the entrance of the hospital, and soldiers getting out. I was curious: what is a military truck going to do in a hospital? The soldiers went into every room in this hospital, wherever a child had just been born. The soldiers took every child, opened the windows, took them by their little legs, knocked them against the windows and threw them onto the ground. I stood there, I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t cry. My tears were frozen. But I will take it to the grave, this picture.

Certain things you see, certain things you try to forget. Life has to go on. But If something happens to me today, it doesn’t matter. Is business bad, or good? It doesn’t matter. No guarantee. I try to say, Next case. Right? Next case.

There was a picture, The Pianist. Many people, once the picture began, they walked out. Many people were sitting there crying. So when it was finished, people asked me, “Max, what do you think? Did it bother you?” I said, No. You know why? This whole film—and of all the films until now, and the plays and the books, this was the finest—brilliant, wonderful, the director, everything—I said, this film is not even the black in the nail of my finger of what I went through for five years. But I’m still here.

Rabbi and Mrs. Pressman came with Nathan Shapell and me to a dedication at Tel Aviv University. And afterwards, Margie said, "Max, you're coming with us to Sheba.” And what I saw, people coming through every day, I don’t know how many people, cancer, everything, from all over the world. So. We help. Anything that has to do with Israel, with helping people. That was my dream, in the camps, for many years, for many nights. If I will survive, I will do everything that’s humanly possible to bring back the Jewish heritage that was lost, to bring back the children that I had seen, the way they had been slaughtered. And the Newborn Screening...it’s the children, 150,000 children. For help. For survival.

I get up in the morning, God gave me a gift and I’m alive. So it would be “gift.” A big gift.

Involvement in the community. When you look at Israel, you see that to volunteer is something that everybody accepts as a value. To give three of the best years of your life to the Army, to serve your country. And not just to volunteer in the Army, but in other ways as well. I was a counselor in a Youth Group, and my school actually required you to volunteer for four hours a week. I went to an old folks home and helped out. For Israelis, to volunteer is a main value. On the other hand, Jews in the United States are very involved in community. The synagogue, the Federation, philanthropy. I think an American Jewish value is to be involved, to fix the world.

I was introduced to Friends of Sheba by Ben Boston. I look at people like Max and Anna, and Beverly Cohen, and Margie Pressman, and so many others who are truly the leaders of this community. I said, Who’s going to continue this legacy? These people have done so much for Israel, so much for the hospital. The average age of the Board is, maybe, 70-something. I don’t see any people my age, so obviously I felt that I should do something. At the same time, I was looking at my personal life and it was difficult to convince myself. But I had a very interesting conversation with Ben, and he said, “You must decide, you must take it upon yourself and just come and do it.” Margie finally convinced me—it’s very hard to say No to Margie.

For me, it’s like going back home. My soul is still in Israel. But it’s also more of a responsibility, taking people who have never seen the hospital, and people who haven’t seen Israel in the last ten or fifteen years. To be with these people, to share their stories. For them, it was also coming home. They’re Jews. They need to visit Israel. Also, people need to learn that philanthropy is not just writing a check, but rather seeing the place, visiting, encouraging the doctors, seeing the patients and being more active in helping. Sheba is unique—being able to take national projects like the Newborn Screening. The expertise, the research. It’s the people who make the difference. And visiting there, really seeing the interactions between the doctors and the patients—sometimes you just need one picture, as Max expressed. It sticks to your memory. The Mission was an amazing success.

When my girlfriend told me that she wanted to become a rabbi. She did, and I still married her.

It’s a balance; it’s definitely a question of prioritizing your time and schedule. One thing that I do is, every time I go to a Board meeting or a charity event, I try to bring home a booklet with some pictures. The next morning, when we sit to breakfast, I tell the kids, Abba didn’t go to party last night, or disco. This is the charity event I went to and look at the pictures. Look, these are the doctors, these are the kids, these are the people who were honored, these people helped kids in Israel, these people contributed money. We always have some pictures of the patients. My son is seven years old, he can visualize these kids. And when he goes to Israel he really sees these people, and can connect the dots. It’s my responsibility not just to go to a charity and stop there, but also to bring it home and educate my kids.

At our Kick-Off Dinner for the Newborn Screening Campaign, Max told the story about the babies being thrown from the hospital. Obviously, I was very emotional. And my wife was there, and she was very, very emotional. I looked at my wife and she had tears in her eyes. I was very happy with two kids, we had a lot of difficulties having these two kids, but as we drove back home my wife told me, Let’s have another one...Max and Anna are the only ones who know that.