Rabbi Leon Wind, born in Turka, Poland on March 1, 1914, was the son of the late Yehoshua and Chanah Wind. He emigrated in 1938 and was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1943. He served as Rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom in Manchester from 1945 to 1979. Rabbi Wind oversaw the growth of the Congregation and the construction of its present building in 1963. He set high standards in the synagogue's Religious School and, upon his retirement, the Congregation named it the Rabbi Leon Wind Religious School.

Rabbi Wind also served as a member of the Executive Council of the Rabbinical Assembly and as President of its Connecticut Valley Chapter, as well as several civic organizations including the Citizens Advisory Council of the Manchester Community College, the Board of Directors of the Civic Music Association of Manchester, the Board of Directors of the Greater Hartford Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Mental Health Clinic of Manchester. Having witnessed the effects of ethnic hatred that cost the lives of his immediate family during the Holocaust, Rabbi Wind built bridges to other religious communities and was president of the Manchester Ministerial Association, dean of the Manchester Clergy, and received the first Community Service Award for Spiritual Leadership in Manchester.