Two years ago on Rosh Hashanah I told you that I was preaching my last Rosh Hashanah sermon at the Park Avenue Synagogue, that I would be retiring at the end of that year. Well here I am back again and I do not mind telling you it feels good. I am delighted to stand here again and to be able to look out at this wonderful congregation and to see so many good friends and to have the opportunity of wishing each one of you and your loved ones a year of health and happiness. I am appreciative of the kind invitation of Rabbi Lincoln and of the officers of our congregation. Continue reading ‘Rosh Hashanah Sermon 5749-1988′
D’var Torah at a Memorial for Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich - Meir Lakein
Published April 14, 2008 Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich , eulogies 0 Commentsנפל עטרת ראשינו
The crown of our head has fallen.
I never had the zechus to know either of Nommi’s parents, so I know them through her. Through the stories that Nommi has been kind enough to share with me, yes, but that’s only part of it. I also know them through the way that Nommi carries on their work, the way that she models who they are. Talking to Nommi after her mother was niftar, I said that the more I learn about her parents, the more I understand where she came from.
Continue reading ‘D’var Torah at a Memorial for Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich - Meir Lakein’
From the Writings of Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich: My Brother, Harold U. Ribalow
Published April 10, 2008 Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich , writings 0 CommentsMy Brother, Harold U. Ribalow (from the Jewish Spectator, 1983)
“My brother Uri died twice. The first time on the night of May 9, 1977, in the operating room at New York University hospital. After many hours of open heart surgery, his heart failed. It was only after two more operations and the desperate efforts of an unusual medical team that he survived. Everybody who was at all involved said it was a miracle that he did. From that day til the day he closed his eyes forever, on October 22nd, 1982, I always felt that his life was a gift, and each time I heard his voice over the phone, it seemed to me it came from another world, a world he had already partially entered.”
From the Writings of Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich: Love After Death
Published April 10, 2008 Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich , writings 0 CommentsLove After Death (from the Jewish Spectator, 1980)
“After my mother’s death last spring, I realized that many well-meaning people offer the wrong consolations. My mother died ‘at a good old age,’ it is true, but this did not lessen my sorrow.”
The email below was written by Reena Ribalow, a poet and writer who lives in Jerusalem. She is the niece of Martha Hadassah and cousin to Leah, Shira, and Nommi.
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Dear Meirs, Levins and Belcourts,
It’s been hard to even gather my thoughts to write to you. Martha’s going seemed to take a part of me, as well; also, it deepened and reawakened the loss of my father. The two were so intertwined by love, history, respect: their bond was largely unspoken, but so palpable it had a life of its own. It was something with which I grew up, showing how deep and unwavering love can be. One of my more consoling thoughts was– now my father has company. They are together again, as they were in their small Bronx bedroom (where he told her a monster would eat her toes if they were uncovered, and she could never sleep with uncovered toes for the rest of her life). Continue reading ‘email thoughts’
Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich - paid obituaries
Published April 9, 2008 Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich , obituaries 0 CommentsFrom the Writings of Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich: The Jewish Woman: Liberated or Enslaved
Published April 4, 2008 Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich , writings 1 CommentClick below to download “The Jewish Woman: Liberated or Enslaved” by Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich, a speech written and delivered in 1972.
Hesped (Alexander Nadich Levin)
Published April 1, 2008 Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich , eulogies 1 CommentMy brothers, my cousins and I are the luckiest group of grandchildren in the world, and I am so grateful today to be able to share a few words about our grandmother - our Savta. There are so many memories, experiences and stories to share, each reinforcing that we were all so blessed with the most wonderful grandmother. She showed each of us so much love and affection, and was wise and graceful in every way that she participated in our lives. Continue reading ‘Hesped (Alexander Nadich Levin)’
Hesped (Leah Nadich Meir)
Published March 30, 2008 Martha Hadassah Ribalow Nadich , eulogies 0 CommentsThis is altogether too soon to be here once again in mourning. After our Aba and Saba left our lives seven months ago, Ema (Savta) truly lost her anchor in life. She simply had never been able to imagine living without him.
But today we need to tell you about our Ema and Savta as she had been: a woman of regal bearing and sharp intellect, a woman of independent mind and spirit. She served as a leader in the Jewish community in a lifelong partnership with Judah, the love of her life. She was raised by parents who dedicated their lives to the renewal of the Hebrew language; her father and brother were both gifted literary critics and essayists. Her family was the “yichus” into which my father married. Continue reading ‘Hesped (Leah Nadich Meir)’
As I sifted through my treasure trove of memories, looking for stories that might capture my mother’s unique essence, I kept running into the same problem. The anecdotes are frequently not about her alone, but about her in combination with my father. It’s the same dilemma one runs into in looking through family albums in search of the perfect picture of a loved one, but finds that he or she is never captured on film solo. The image is of someone who is most radiant and alive in relation to others. But seldom is the spotlight shone on that person alone.
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