Did Golda say what we think she said?
Coping with brain death, halachically
Thoughts on the parsha: Korach
Rabbis, docs confer over women’s cancer
Famous quotes
Kosher Bookworm
Rabbis Billet and Freedman
‘Stakeholders’ talk
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THE JEWISH June 19, 2015 • 2 Tamuz 5775
STAR
KORACH • Candlelighting 8:10 pm • 516-622-7461
Vol 14, No. 24 • TheJewishStar.com
THE NEWSPAPER OF LONG ISLAND’S ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES
The Jewish Star / Jeffrey Bessen
Graduation, pre-K and up This is the season for stepping up. From high school to seminary or yeshiva, to a year in Israel or onto an American college campus; from lower school to middle school to high school; even rising from kindergarden or pre-school, Long Islanders are experiencing an annual educational rite-ofpassage. Pictured here are children from the Chabad of the Five Towns Gan Chamesh Early Childhood Center, who celebrated their graduation on Friday outside the Maple Avenue center in Cedarhurst.
The preschool’s six classes selected colorful ice sticks and wore shirts matching the colors of their classrooms — 5-year-olds in green; 3- to-4-year-olds in blue and yellow; 2- to 3-year-olds in purple and red, and 2-year-olds in orange. They marched in front of family and friends with the prayer books they were given to commemorate the parade’s theme of tefillos. Commencement exercises continue through June. Send your graduation photos to Schools@TheJewishStar.com. SKA’s Class of ’15 is pictured on page 22.
Loss. When it’s ďŹ nal, there may be nothing to say TEHILLA R. GOLDBERG VIEW FROM CENTRAL PARK
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Bathsheba, as well as his grief as a public leader at the subsequent tragedies of his sons Absalom and Amnon. And so many scenarios in the later prophets after the Jewish people were exiled. The Book of Ruth, as Naomi and Ruth’s characters grapple with their respective losses. The melancholic and visceral book of Lamentations. And countless Talmudic narratives that insightfully address the searing questions and mysterious rhythms of the human condition.
I
was steeped in the thoughts of the various commentaries on this subject when two tragedies of high proďŹ le Americans were highlighted in the news. One was in the private sector, the other, the public sector. Both clearly had a sense of calling and duty, of responsibility and kindness, of generosity and humility. The ďŹ rst was Beau Biden, may his memory be for a blessing. As the song goes, “only the good die young.â€? Because above all else that I have read of his stellar accomplishments,
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few weeks ago, I decided to research the Torah’s approach to coping with death, loss and bereavement. I spent time studying many different Biblical and Talmudic sources, narratives replete with the personiďŹ cation of the Angel of Death as well as the rabbis’ perspective on consolation. I reread many narratives that I studied previously, but this time through the prism of loss and mourning. Cain and Abel. And Eve, a bereaved mother’s response: the conception and birth of Seth. Abraham’s prayers on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah and the story of Lot. Sarah’s death at the news of the binding of Isaac. Abraham’s mourning for Sarah. Jacob’s sustained and inconsolable grief at the perceived death of his son Joseph. Aaron the high priest’s famous, ambiguous silence upon the tragic death of his sons Nadav and Avihu. The ordeal with the tribe of Benjamin in the Book of Judges. King David’s moving and poetic eulogy for the loss of King Saul and Jonathan, with whom he shared a complex relationship and loved dearly. King David’s unusual coping with the illness and then death of his baby son from
it seems that he truly was one of those very purely good people. As privileged as he was, he chose to serve in Iraq. He was in a position he did not need to be in, risking his life, yet he did. He rose above the fears and anxieties most people are riddled with about death. He rose above a sense of entitlement. From the beginning, Beau Biden led a life of adversity, losing his beloved mother and baby sister at a young age. Instead of believing that the deck was stacked against him, he led a life that crystallized the spirit of prevailing, of resilience. And David Goldberg. A pioneer and innovator in the ďŹ eld of technology, he was generous and thoughtful in consciously helping peers and colleagues get ahead. He didn’t see his success as a ticket to elitist behavior. Rather, he saw his brains and talent as a way of helping others succeed by the knowledge and guidance he shared, all this to continue making the world a better and more developed place. Death, it’s the great equalizer. The one certitude of this world that all members of the human race have in common. We are all ďŹ nite. Yet, it is the most avoided subject. Somehow there is this odd, irrational sense among us common people that successful people or leaders will dodge tragedies, will be immune, even though in the recesses of our hearts and souls we know how untrue this is. We have the feeling that people died before their time, leaving the most painful legacy of all, exposing those we always want to protect and spare of any pain the most: little children, parentless. This is one of those unnatural losses for which there are no words, for which we refer to Continued on page 15