Harold Gelfand was born in Bronx, New York, on October 23, 1942. His education started with attending Hebrew day school, in the Bronx, and then moved to Los Angeles. His education was continued in an orthodox yeshiva which was an influential part of his life and stayed with him always, though he transferred to public school when he was fourteen. Soon after that, he met Janice. When Harold graduated from UCLA, he and Janice married and moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he worked on his Ph.D. in Psychology. Janice finished her BA, also in Psychology. Daughter Cheryl was born there. Next stop was Ames, Iowa, where Harold taught for four years. Daughter Elaine was born there. Then the family moved to Allegany, New York, where Harold taught for 35 years at St. Bonaventure University. This is where he became involved in synagogue life. They joined the Olean synagogue and he taught, ran the Religious school, and was President. When the girls were out on their own, Harold and Janice decided to make the commute to Amherst and joined Shaarei Tzedek, where Harold continued his synagogue activity. He helped choose a Rabbi, was President, Religious chair, chaired the High Holy Days committee, was active in running services, and was on the committee to design the new building. He served as Gabbai and read Haftorah, and on holidays was on the bimah and out in the congregation making sure that things ran smoothly. Harold was also in charge of the Torahs. A huge job as the number the synagogue owned ranged from 33 to 18, as they acquired more with mergers, and the number decreased as he arranged sales, gifts, rentals, and donations. In addition, he arranged for a sofer to come periodically to check that they were kosher, and fix them if necessary. Harold used the knowledge from Yeshiva days to share his love of Judaism with the synagogue. Harold was a very dedicated husband and wonderful father. He always treated the Temple as part of his family.