It is an irony of tragic coincidence that the period of mourning ushered in by the death of Morris Behrman is contemporaneous with the season of national Jewish mourning which began seven days ago and culminates the day after tomorrow in the Tisha B’Av fast, commemorating the destruction of both Temples. The deep sense of anguish of the individual mourners is enhanced and aggravated by the common grief of all Jews. For in a way, just as the national tragedy is felt by all our individual coreligionists, so is the affliction of one individual human being or mourner shared by all people endowed with sensitive spirits and sympathetic souls. The sound of the soul departing from the body, relates an ancient Jewish aphorism, is heard from one end of the world to the other. And indeed Jeremiah, in the very first verses of that monumental national dirge, the Book of Lamentations, exclaims: איכה ישבה בדד העיר רבתי עם היתה כאלמנה — “How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people; how is she become as a widow.” This prophetic comparison of the tragedies of national destruction and widowhood is no mere poetic metaphor or simile; it rises from the deep knowledge of a soul tormented and in anguish. For national exile and personal misfortune, while differing in degree, are the same in kind. The grievous point of similarity between the calamity of Jerusalem and the woe of the widow lies in that one word “בדד” — solitary. The great...metropolis of Jerusalem remains alone, a ghost city, bereft of its proud sons ant gay daughters. The widow and the orphan feel desolate, robbed of a parent or mate by the bitter irony of Fate. How oppressive the solitude, how terrible the loneliness.But this feeling of Badad, of solitude, is not restricted to the Prophet or the mourner• Loneliness is a stark reality which people, all people, fear all their lives• Is not the fear of Death essentially the fear of eternal loneliness? Is it not a fear that the cruel rhthym of Time will obliterate …

Friends: Tishah Be’av has come too early for the Schwarzschild family – too early in terms of days, and much too early in terms of years. Jewish tradition teaches that man is in many ways symbolized by the Temple, and the Temple by man – for both of them are the abode of God Almighty, and there is therefore an equivalence between them. The Temple possesses a Menorah (a candelabrum), and man must possess enlightenment and wisdom. The Temple possesses a mizbeiach (an altar), and man, if he be truly human, must possess the capacity for self-sacrifice and sacrificial love and loyalty. The Temple possesses the Sefer Torah (the Scroll of Law), and man must be committed to Almighty God and the tradition of his forebearers. The Temple has the kodesh ha-kadashim (the Holy of Holies), the inner sanctum, and man must have depth, an inner life, a heart, a reservoir of goodness and charitableness.And now, but several days before all Israel commemorates the Churban Ha'bayit, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, we here not only the family, but all of us who loved and admired this man, we at this time, experi- ence Churban. The passing of Dr. Ludwig Schwarzschild is no less a grievous trauma for those who were intimate with him, for those who acknowledged the kind of person he was, than the destruction of the Temple was a tragedy for all the House of Israel, not forgotten and continuously observed by our people for some 2000 years.Jeremiah, when he witnessed the destruction of the first Temple, com- posed The Book of Lamentations which we shall read on Tishah Be’av, and which begins with the word Ekhan, "how has it come to pass?" Mrs. Schwarzschild, Marty, Laura: I would like you to know on behalf of all of us who are here, and the many others who couldn’t come in time to this sad farewell, that we Joinyou in this Ekhah. We Join you fully in it. We grieve at this great loss thathas struck your family. This nan was a glorious Temple of wisdom, of culture, of commitment, of…

My pleasure in addressing you at this occasion is enhanced by my personal friendship for "Rabbi Joe" Ehrenkranz. We first met when I a High School freshman... Was a different world then: Hardware = hammers and wrenches; Software = not in dictionary; To Be Gay = to be happy; Grass = something you mowed; Coke = something you drank; Pot = something you cooked in; Reagan = an actor, not a President; North = a direction, not a lieutenant colonel — although in both instances magnetic...During all these historical, societal, cultural changes, he has remained essentially the same in his personality, character, and values.Permit me a few remarks on the crisis of our people in our times. In two days — Shiva Asar be'Tammuz, initiating "Three Weeks" of mourning, culminating in Tisha be'Av — destruction of two Temples, First in 568 BCE; Second Commonwealth came to end in 70 CE. (importance of Temples in national Jewish life). Since 1948, our era often referred to as ThirdCommonwealth.Why the Destructions? Rabbis of Talmud (Yoma 49a) probed beyond obvious military, political, and economic factors and located basic problem in realm of morality. In each case, moral fiber of people was weakened beyond repair, but each had a different moral cause that precipitated the churban. First Temple — avodah zarah, idolatry. Second — sin'at chinam... And they proved to be historically correct and morally insightful and relevant. But — also scary! Reason? — because my analysis of events and intuition into our current predicament leads me to frightening thought that we are today guilty of both: I am gripped by the fear, danger, and scandal that we may be responsible for both idoaltry and baeless haterd!Fist is avodah zarah, the paganisn of modernism. We have assimilated not only into the common ignorance of Jewish sources, texts, and faith; we haver also worshipped at the shrines of contemporary idolatry. Consider them well. For instance, what Frances Bacon called "the idols of the market place…

For me – Tisha B'Av has come early this year. The untimely passing of Morris (Mosheh) Green is nothing less than a churban – a cataclysm of enormous proportions. I am bereft of my dearest friend. I can imagine how dreadful is the blow to his wife and children. I adored his family – his wife, his four children, his mother, his siblings. We grew up together, built families together, worked for the community together. I first met him 41 years ago when he and Aaron were saying Kaddish for their father, Joseph Green, who was a distinguished member of The Jewish Center. Now, his children are saying Kaddish for him – at The Jewish Center.Moshe was brilliant, passionate, and funny—his whole body shook when he laughed, as if all of him was enjoying the fun. He loved his family, reveled in his creativity in business, and was ebullient in his works of charity.He was a remarkably diverse person, and in everything he did—and he did so much!—he was always enthusiastic. He invariably manifested a youthful exuberance and that gave him a singular charm.Our sidra of this coming Shabbat tells of the rebellion against Moses and Aaron by Korach and his coterie of malcontents. To indicate the divine confirmation of Aaron in his priestly office, Moses told the princes of all the tribes, including Aaron, to place their staffs—symbols of their high office-in the Tabernacle. They did this, and the next morning all were found unchanged except for the staff of Aaron, High Priest and head of the tribe of Levi. The staff had blossomed and, in the words of the Torah, ויוצא פרח ויצץ ציץ ויגמל שקדים, it brought forth blossoms, it sprouted buds, and it grew almonds. The commentary of the Tosafot points out that the text implies that all of this was simultaneous, that whereas normally there are blossoms which then fall off to be replaced by buds, which in turn fall off and are replaced by the mature fruit, all of these miraculously occurred all at once.Moshe Green was a personification of that capa…