A tzaddik is lost to us

By: Jim Myska

My everday life bears Levi's imprint. I think of him many times a day just by how I live my life, following various rulings and bits of advice he's given me. Losing him has been very hard and I have felt a little lost and dazed and very sad since I got the news that motzei shabbos.

Levi brought peace in difficult situations, brought balance and strength and perspective, and possibly helped to save my marriage. All with warmth and love. I remember one particularly potentially sticky family situation that he helped to resolve, and how he told me (paraphrashing) "Saying no is easy. Any rabbi can say no. A good rabbi will try and find a way to say yes." And this allowed me to avoid a possible family rupture and keep peace.

To say Levi did good in the world is like saying the sun brings a little light and warmth - a gross understatement. A gaping hole was torn in the fabric of Creation when we lost Levi. A tzaddik whom we needed very much is gone.

I can think of only one thing that can heal this hole in the world - us. I think Levi would like it very much if each of us transformed ourselves in some way, became better people, increased good in the world in response to this. So this is my memorial to Levi - to have complete trust in Hashem that, painful as this is, this fits in with His plans perfectly; and to take my pain, my grief, and my regrets and use them to propel myself into being a better person - to learning more, to treating people better, to doing good in the world. I will try to be the person Levi would want me to be.

And one more thing - I pray for Miriam, his children, his mother, and the rest of his family, that Hashem bring them a measure of healing and peace.