Dear Shaare Family,
Some of you may have seen the following on my Facebook page, but I think it is worth sharing for those who didn’t as well:
I didn't know Donny Morris z"l, but I can assert that, based on the remarkable eulogies delivered about him, the apple doesn't fall far from a beautiful tree.
As a child, whenever my grandparents would come visit for Pesach, we always looked forward to special guests coming from down the street to visit- Mrs. Marion and Rabbi David L. Silver z"l, the legendary Rabbi and Rebbetzin of Harrisburg, PA for over 50 years. Rabbi Silver was my grandfather Rabbi Dr. Isaiah Rackovsky z"l's best friend. I loved to listen to the stories they told about Rabbi Silver's father Rav Eliezer Silver, and about the old days of the American Rabbinate. Rabbi Silver came to visit his family in Rochester, the Morrises.
Growing up in Rochester, the Morris family were pillars of the community, people completely dedicated to their shul, their community and their amazing family. I am in between Aryeh Morris- Donny’s father- and his uncle Rabbi Shalom Morris in age and proud to call them both good friends; Shalom and I were roommates in YU and then in Riverdale, and Assistant Rabbis at the same time in different shuls on the Upper West Side (he is now Rabbi of the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London). Their older brother, Rabbi Yechiel Morris of the Young Israel of Southfield, MI, is several years older than me and someone I looked up to then as I do now- in part, his example was a reason I learned at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh. At KBY, I had the great privilege of learning under their uncle, Rav Ahron Silver shlit"a, who remains a formative influence on my life. About a year and a half ago, I ran into Aryeh and Shalom in Yerushalaim together with Donny, who I hadn't seen since he was a baby, and who was in Israel checking out yeshivot.
34,000 people watched the funeral for Donny Morris z"l on Sunday; several thousand more participated in person, including a number of Dallasites learning in Israel for the year or who have made aliyah. Donny was all of our son. It is easier to feel a tragedy like this when there is a personal connection, however tenuous it may be- or to personalize it when there is none. When that connection goes back three generations, as it does for me, it is all the more difficult to bear. As I said last Shabbat in shul, Donny was the best of us. He was kind and considerate of others, especially those he didn’t know, and consciously worked on his character to continue to be a better person. He was a spiritual striver, trying to better himself and grow closer to Hashem at every possible opportunity. He was a diligent student of Torah, whose schedule accounted for every minute of the day. He was not just the kind of son any parent would be proud to raise, but the kind of young man every community must do whatever it can to produce.
May he intercede on our behalf on high, as his soul continues to ascend to the spheres of holiness for which it desperately yearned.
Hakarat HaTov Corner
Shaare Tefilla is blessed to have minyanim daily that serves travelers from all over the world (which means that when we don't get a minyan, we let down travelers from all over the world...). This week, a gentleman named Ephraim Seif, who has visited our community several times, found himself without his Tefillin, and borrowed our spare pair. Seeing that they could use some attention, he took them back to Rabbi Akiva Oppen, a Sofer in the Five Towns where he lives, and donated the checking and repair of the Tefillin to the shul as a gesture of gratitude for having them available when he needed them!
Rabbi’s Recommendations- Yom Yerushalaim
- A must read- Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm’s address to college youth
on the occasion of the first Yom Yerushalaim in 1968. - This is my class from last year about Jerusalem’s iconic Hurvah Shul, which played a critical role in the settlement of the Old City and, in its rebuilding, is a sign of the continued blossoming of Jewish life in it. My great-grandparents got married in its courtyard!
- The members of the group Dveykus- Abie Rottenberg, Yussi Sonnenblick and Dr. Elli Kranzler- sing their famous composition “Veliyerushalaim,” a setting of the 14th blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky
