I shall never forget the first time I met Benjamin Gottesman. It was 33 years and one month ago. I was at the end of my freshman year at Yeshiva College, and had just been appointed a "Gottesman Scholar." At that occasion, I met Ben and the late Herman, and possibly a few other members of the family. Thereafter, for many years, I participated in or presided at the study of Mishnayot with the Gottesman family at the occasion of the yahrzeit of their father, the late Mendel Gottesman.My first impression of Ben Gottesman left me a bit overawed. He first struck me as a man who was rather forbidding: tall, erect, deep- set and penetrating eyes, and firm. Yet, as our relationship developed, I learned that his strength had a tender underside, his dignity was mellowed with charm, his distinguished mien was softened by a crinkly smile. He could be persistent, even stubborn, I learned — but never unreasonable. Above all, he was remarkably human.What most inspired me about him was the depth of his filial devo- tion. He revered his father in a way that is, unfortunately, not very common nowadays. He had a sense of family and family tradition that provided for him the context for his own moral and psychological life. Ben hallowed the name "Gottesman" in his many benefactions at Yeshiva University, in his support of the family's favorite kollel in Jerusalem, in the Sarah Gottesman Synagogue at the Hadassah Hos- pital on Mount Scopus, and in the various charities distributed through the Tree of Life Foundation founded by Mendel Gottesman.It is hard to believe that we are now saying farewell to Ben, the last of the four Gottesman brothers. Unlike some people who leave im- pressions that are somewhat dim and uncertain, he cut a clear figure. The contours of his personality were well-defined and well marked. And we shall therefore miss him all the more.Ben Gottesman reminded me of one Biblical personality above all others — that of Ezra. Ezra was the one who led the Jews back to the…