Today marks six months since my mother Maria passed away (If you want to know something about this remarkable woman, you can read the eulogy I gave for her by clicking here). Six months that I have been a mourner. I am over half way through the 11 months of making an extra effort...
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My late stepfather, M. Leonard Holder, died of cancer caused by exposure to radiation at the H-Bomb test at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954. He died over a decade ago, more than 40 years after that fateful day. He died of a type of cancer known to be associated with exposure to high...
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One of my teachers, Rabbi Alan Lew, passed away in January. As I was re-reading his awesome book about the transformative power of the High Holidays, "This Is Real And You Are Completely Unprepared" I was reminded of how much I miss him, and how much the world has lost with his passing. I don't...
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I was saddened today to learn of the passing of Rabbi Mickey Rosen. Rabbi Rosen was the founder of Yakar, an institution that was one of the influences that helped me fall in love with living in Jerusalem. When I first arrived in Jerusalem in the summer of 2000, Yakar was THE in place...
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In memory of “Doc” Ron Rosen by Rabbi Barry Leff 7 Tammuz 5769 / July 11, 2008 Jerusalem Psalm 116 tells us “yakar b’einei Hashem hamavta l’chasidav,” “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his pious ones.” I admit to be very troubled by this Psalm. Why should the loss...
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A Short Story of a Long Life is the title of my late friend Emerich Salzberger Stoessl’s z"l autobiography. Emerich was a truly remarkable person. Born in Austria, He learned to fly in Prague and he studied aeronautical engineering in Italy at a very young age. When WWII broke out, he joined the RAF...
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