Home Home / Letter of Condolence to R. Goldfarb Upo…

Correspondence

Dec. 14, 1967

Letter of Condolence to R. Goldfarb Upon Passing of His Father (1967)

Death & Mourning
View The Text

This content is currently available in its original PDF format. As we expand the library, we plan to add a text version as well.

RELATED CONTENT

Correspondence

Letter of Condolences to J. Kletsky (1962)

Dear Jay: I do not know how to begin this letter. I just read of the terrible news in the Springfield Jewish News and called Lou Izenstein immediately. Mindy and I are still reeling from the impact of the shock. How contradictory and antithetical the very thought of death is to all Lillian was. Lively, vibrant, dynamic, blessed with a gracious vigor, hers was the kind of personality one quite naturally assumes is immortal. One never associates such people with anything but the tempo, rhythm, and excitement of life itself.Although we were not in contact with you since you left for Florida and we for New York, we thought of the two of you often. And whenever we did, the memory of Lil’s liveliness and loveliness suffused us with the warmth of old friendship reawakened, if only for a few precious moments. Tears, certainly, but words are a poor and utterly inadequate substitute for her presence. Yet I know that she would have, in her characteristic fashion, dismissed all excessive eulogizing and extravagant emotions as unnecessary and undesirable.You’ve lost a lot, Jay, but few people have drunk as deeply from the cup of happiness as have you and Lil. Legions of men would gladly trade in all of their future for but a slice of your past. G-d blessed you with a wonderful and no one can now deprive you of your precious and blessed memories. May they be, for you and your children, a source of everlasting strength and comfort.Sincerely,RABBI NORMAN LAMM
Death & Mourning

Correspondence

Letter to Nachum Twersky Upon the Passing of His Father (1969)

Dear Nachum: My wife and I, and Chaye, were shocked by the terrible news of the sudden passing away of your beloved father. I did not have the privilege of knowing him, but I had heard much about him, and from this indirect acquaintance I can appreciate how great and how grievous is your loss. I am sorry that I will not be able to see you personally during this week because you are out of town and my schedule simply does not allow me to leave for an extended period of time. Words, of course, are completely inadequate at a time of this sort. Silence, as the friends of Job so well understood, is the only appropriate response before we begin talking about what happened. Please, Nachum, accept for yourself and the rest of your family my few words and a great deal of silence as our expression of sympathy for all of you. Sincerely yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm
Death & Mourning

Correspondence

Letter of Condolence to R. Zev Upon His Father's Passing (1973)

Dear Yaakov: I was shocked and grieved to receive the news, which I just did from my sister, of the passing away of your beloved father ע"ה. While I met him once or twice, I did not have the privilege of knowing him well. I do know that I was always impressed by your loyalty and love as a son, and I appreciate how bereaved you and other members of the family must feel. There is little one can say from a distance, save that I join you in your sorrow and that Mindy and I offer you our most sincere and heartfelt condolences.To you and other members of the family, go our most profound wishes that המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושליםCordially,Rabbi Norman LammNL:cw
Death & Mourning