FREEHOLD – The Freehold Jewish Center will honor Arnie Silverman as its Man of the Year at its gala 105th anniversary on May 7.
The synagogue will honor Silverman for his many years of devotion, commitment and philanthropic contributions during an evening of dinner and dancing to the music of Epic Soul, according to a press release.
Silverman was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. Following three years as a teacher for the New York City Board of Education he entered the building business and began a successful real estate career.
His wife, Molly, was born in Germany. She and her family immigrated to the United States in 1949 and settled in Freehold. She is the only child of Holocaust survivors the late Morris Opatut and Hannah Opatut, who still resides in Freehold. Molly was educated in Freehold schools. She graduated from Douglass College and received her master’s in education from Rutgers University.
Arnie and Molly met at the Pines Hotel in the Catskills where they both had summer jobs while in college. They were married in 1969 and resided in Clark before moving to Freehold where they maintained membership with their family in the Freehold Jewish Center, according to the press release.
The Silvermans are the parents of two children, Debra and Joseph. Debra is married to Dr. Jonathan Rieber. They have two children. Joseph is married to Idit. They have two children. Both families live in New York.
The connection between the Silverman family and the synagogue remains strong after four generations. The Silverman family and Hannah Opatut have been proud to have celebrated weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs and the birth of grandchildren and great-grandchildren at the temple and look forward to celebrating many more “simchas” and happy occasions at their synagogue, according to the press release.
