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May 25, 1998

Eulogy for Joshua Bender (1998)

Eulogies & Memorials
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Eulogy for Gabriel Levine (1996)

I am here to speak this eulogy not only because of the relationship with YU/RIETS, but as a friend of more than 20 years. GL was brilliant – in business and communal leadership. To the very end he was concerned for the community; he bought a parcel just days before his stroke. His high intelligence was not surprising – a brainy Litvak! But equally, he had a לב טוב – he loved the Jewish people and Torah. The Levites carried the Mishkan – oh, how many משכנות he carried... But he especially loved RIETS (and YU) – for two reasons: his older brother was a מוסמך, and he believed in RIETS, saw its products. GL was a family man – all the years I knew him, he was devoted to his wife, children, and grandchildren (Linda), and to his wife’s family. It is especially fortuitous and right that – Blanche. She and her illustrious family are YU through and through... But: a much larger family than he thought. כל המלמד בן חברו תורה כאילו ילדו. Haftarah (Isaiah 49): Zion says God has forsaken me, forgotten me... שאי סביב עיניך וראי – all RIETS graduates are his children and grandchildren – and all this day mourn – כולן נקבצו באו לך. For RIETS/YU – a terrible loss. He was special to us. Ten years ago, at the Centennial חג הסמיכה, his citation read: "Our tradition tells us that the voice of the archangel Gabriel can be heard around the world. Your voice can be heard often and proudly in keeping our heritage alive. You have been a guardian angel, watching over YU – for you know we guard our future by supporting the teaching of our young people." GL's צדקה was phenomenal – he always wanted to be a giver, not a taker. He was less interested in receiving honors than in contributing meaningfully to RIETS. When told we needed him to accept an honor – he reluctantly consented, but "only after I deliver." Therefore, we note with special sadness: he agreed with us to celebrate the academic year 1996–97 at Convocation as the first recipient of the רי״א ספקטור Medallion – the single most importan…
Eulogies & Memorials

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Eulogy for Jerome Schottenstein (1992)

One of the highlights of my tenure at Yeshiva University was the opportunity to meet and befriend Jerome Schottenstein. I cherished him and I adored him. I considered him a genuinely good man in the sense that the prophet Micah described such a person: "It has been told to you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: only to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with the Lord your God" (Micah 6:8). Jerry fulfilled this mandate and exemplified the "good man" in its fullest sense.To do justly. Justice is achieved not in splendid isolation, but in the fray of events, in the hurly-burly of the market place. It requires of one that he plunge into the maelstrom of life and yet retain a sense of fairness and justice and decency and honor. That is a truly moral accomplishment of the good man.Jerry was a great success in business. He was shrewd, he possessed insight and foresight. He had a rather deceptive demeanor: Soft in tone and deliberate in speech, one might have taken him for an unsophisticated naif. But that was the exact opposite of Jerry -- who had a quick intelligence, was able to size up a situation accurately and quickly, had a phenomenal memory, and was brilliant in judgment. And with all this, Jerry was above all a man of decency and rectitude and probity.To love Mercy. Jerry was kind and compassionate, and he expressed these sentiments in practice. He was a leader in the Jewish and general communities. In Columbus, he was a major contributor to the United Jewish Appeal and Federation and Israel Bonds, to the Columbus Jewish Center and to his synagogues. He was a donor and leader as well to theatre and opera and to medical research.His major achievements were in the area of Jewish education, because Jerry knew and understood well that without education Jews and Judaism have no future. Thus, he founded and was a leading light in the Torah Academy of Columbus, and in the New High School in Cleveland.For us at Yeshiva University he was an u…
Eulogies & Memorials

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Eulogy for Judd Feinerman (2007)

וַיְחִי יוֹסֵף וְכָל אֲחָיו וְכֹל הַדּוֹר הַהוּא so we read begnng next שבת. Last weeks: confront Jos & bros esp Jud... וייגש יהודה.... They = not only conflicts but also contrasts (in pers’y). J + J = archetypes.... JOS.: a charmer / slf-confidnt / winng ways / as close as possbl to perfctn – not perfct (no one is...) but close... וְיוֹסֵף אִישׁ מַצְלִיחַ. JUDH: checkrd career; string of shamefl failures: consorting w strange womn; Tamar.; sellg Jos slavry.. BUT ultmtly saves the day f Jac & fam... (So Maim: חסיד המעולה / הכובש את יצרו). Fr JAC’s blssngs—obv’sly loves JOS... BUT: Lp t JUDH JAC undsrstd man ovrcame failure / challlngs = more human. Tru LDR = 1 who stumbld / staggrd & got up; undrstnds hs ppi – שבע יפול צדיק וקם. Pure TYPES = rare. Most us == combntn... OUR JUDD = such combn – BUT mostly JUDH-namesake! His JUDH side: commnl Idtr: BT / YU; 14 yrs ChB / RlETS... Ik JUDI I, mistks / blundrs / wrcstl w slf bt Ik JUDI I מטרף בת עלית. Earnd respct of bros., fathr: עתה יודוך אחיך. His JOS side 11 rveald to friends... we loved him dearly – his warmth, charm, devotion to Yiddishkeit – he was ובע עתים לתורה and learned in all conditions. Above all – his family, who appreciated his qualities but who loved him unconditionally – he was their JOS; and gave him respect but especially love. "I never saw greater loyalty in any Jewish family..." Shepsie: 54 yrs... Children: Eliott (Carol); Sharon (Abe); Rodney (Razy); Ina (Shalom); sisters... grandchildren, great-grandchildren. Now that he’s gone, cherish your mother all the more. Gemara Ketubot – Rabbi: הזהרו בכבוד אמכם – and the Gemara: הלא זה מצוה מה״ת? Whatever the Talmud’s answer, here’s my interpretation: זהר < הזהרו – don’t just give her perfunctory love but glow – see the opportunity, the chance to keep links to your father via your mother. JUDD. Mishlei 24:16 – שבע יפול צדיק וקם... like the Biblical Judah, in the end he overcame early indiscretions... רקם... So you too rise to unexpected heights, you rise in the eyes…
Eulogies & Memorials