East Meadow boy keeps his promise

It was his night. 

Max Hechtman was reminded of that throughout the special evening at the East Meadow Public Library on Oct. 6. 

The last time Max was in the spotlight was on April 10, at his bar mitzvah at Temple B’Nai Torah in Wantagh. 

His father, Alan, died a month later, losing his battle with leukemia. 

But Max, 13, forged on. He was not going to back down from a promise he had made. In January, he pledged to library Director Carol Probeyahn that he would compile a collection of 50 children’s books and DVDs that focus on the theme of character education. Probeyahn provided him with a list. 

Max, an eighth-grader at Woodland Middle School, wrote letters to several publishers and movie production companies, seeking contributions to his collection. He bought the rest with money he received at his bar mitzvah. 

And he came through. “The response was incredible, and, as a result, I’m pleased to say I will be donating all 50 titles to the library for this collection that will be named in honor of my bar mitzvah,” he said. 

To honor his efforts, Legislator Norma Gonsalves presented Max with an official county citation on Oct. 6. That evening, Max presented his donation to the library’s Board of Trustees. 

The highlight of his presentation was an emotional video montage he produced about a 12-year-old victim of the Holocaust. The boy, who was also named Max, had qualities that the amateur filmmaker related to, and Max used him to reinforce the character education theme. 

“I’m very seldom speechless, and I think there are people in this room who will attest to that,” a teary-eyed Gonsalves told Max during the ceremony. “Max, you have certainly made me speechless.” 

     Max has made several videos, and hopes to be successful in the film industry someday. He has already been asked to manage the videos for Woodland’s sports teams. 

“I think that your whole presentation was truly amazing,” Gonsalves said. “I think you are going to be a great filmmaker.”