Seeing Through to Eternity | Don Ghermezian

When I was building American Dream, everybody knows that we built a big, big water park. And we put the water park next to the theme park. And when we were constructing the water park, the idea was that I wanted this huge glass atrium, that goes up almost 50 feet by probably 70 feet across, and that glass wall was so that people going to the theme park would actually turn to the left and look and see the water park and be lured to come into the water park, because it's an incredible, incredible water park. And so when I was designing the glass, by my architects, I said, I want to have a glass wall that doesn't have any structure, any steel structure in between it. The glass needs to be completely transparent, and the structure holding the glass needs to be made out of glass. I was standing at the entrance to the water park about a week before we opened the mall, and my brother was with me and he turned to me and he says, Hey, Don. Do you know, look at this glass. I'm, like: Yeah, we spent a lot of money for the glass, a lot of money extra, over and above a normal glass wall. He says: Yeah, but did you ever think to yourself how many Jewish families are going to come to American Dream, how many kids are going to come running to this wall, look inside this water park, through this glass, and see things that they shouldn't see? And I stood there for a minute and I looked at my brother and I said, I can't believe that I missed that, but I'm so happy that you're telling me now. And so right then and there, I called my design team. I brought everybody there. I say: Hey, everybody. See this glass looking into the water park, yeah? I’m, like: Cover it. And they looked at me like... I had fallen off the tomato truck. Like... Don, do you know how much money you spent extra for this glass? Yeah, several millions of dollars, I understand that. I want to cover the glass so people can't see inside the water park. And I just remember them looking around. It just defies all logic. And like I've said before, It doesn't matter whether it defies logic to me or to you or anybody here. It only matters if it defies logic to Hashem. And we need Hashem’s help in this center more than anything, and we want to do as much as we can to make the center a Kiddush Hashem, and a place where families can come and enjoy it. So we covered the glass in front of the water park, and then we also covered the glass on all three levels by the ice rink, because I spent a lot of money punching holes in the walls so that you could see the water park from each level of the ice rink. And so now, when you guys stand there at the ice rink or you stand at the entrance to the water park, you'll see a green film that goes up that glass, you should know it's not there for decorative purposes. It's there for only one purpose. Only this purpose. We used to sell kosher food inside the water park, and immediately after I realized the mistake of selling kosher food in the water park, I removed the kosher food from the water park. Because if I sell kosher food in the water park, that tells people that the Ghermezian family believes that it's okay for somebody to be in this water park. And that's absolutely not something that I believe in, it's not something the Ghermezian family believes in, and it's something which is why we do so many functions, separate functions, men, ladies, during Chol HaMo’ed, during whenever, but done in the way Hashem would want us to do it.