Celebrating life
Hey Alex,
I have been co-planning a memorial for Matthew Steinberg. A boy who you shared a bunk with at camp died tragically in a plane crash with his entire family just over a year ago.
You weren't close with him - neither loved nor hated him - not emotionally connected in any way. And I never even met this boy, although of course I've seen photos of him on the camp website.
We are getting the whole bunk of boys together, even those who no longer go to the camp. Some of the kids are like you Alex, seemingly unaffected, and some of the kids have suffered a great loss of friendship in losing Matthew. Regardless of strength of relationship, I want to make this memorial meaningful for you and your friends. Here are the two short speeches I have written and plan to deliver on Sunday.
Welcome speech:
Today is a day of celebration of Matthew's life. Not much we say or do today will be sad. However, all feelings and emotions that you have today are totally valid, from your feeling sad, upset, even crying, to inappropriate laughing that might occur. I want you all to look around. The boys you see here are your very first fraternity. You are a brotherhood. And you are here for each other in all times, good or bad.
It’s a Jewish tradition when someone dies to say, “May his or her memory be for blessing,” a translation of the Hebrew “zikhrono livrakha”. What this means is every time Matthew pops into your head and you have a memory of him that not only are you blessing his soul, but that blessing of him comes right back to bless you as well. It is why we keep the good memories alive. It's like Jewish good karma. So today we will talk about memories, but you might also have a memory a few years from now when you are away at college or even what feels like a lifetime away when you are raising kids of your own and that memory will come back as a blessing to you.
Mourners Kaddish introduction:
Remember earlier when I talked about you guys being a fraternity, a brotherhood? We're about to say Kaddish, the mourners' prayer and this is kind of the ultimate prayer for being a part of a community or brotherhood. Saying this prayer as a part of community is meant to change your thinking from sterile sadness and loneliness to the praise of life.
You guys are all doing a real mitzvah by saying this in honor of Matthew's life.
I have been co-planning a memorial for Matthew Steinberg. A boy who you shared a bunk with at camp died tragically in a plane crash with his entire family just over a year ago.
You weren't close with him - neither loved nor hated him - not emotionally connected in any way. And I never even met this boy, although of course I've seen photos of him on the camp website.
We are getting the whole bunk of boys together, even those who no longer go to the camp. Some of the kids are like you Alex, seemingly unaffected, and some of the kids have suffered a great loss of friendship in losing Matthew. Regardless of strength of relationship, I want to make this memorial meaningful for you and your friends. Here are the two short speeches I have written and plan to deliver on Sunday.
Welcome speech:
Today is a day of celebration of Matthew's life. Not much we say or do today will be sad. However, all feelings and emotions that you have today are totally valid, from your feeling sad, upset, even crying, to inappropriate laughing that might occur. I want you all to look around. The boys you see here are your very first fraternity. You are a brotherhood. And you are here for each other in all times, good or bad.
It’s a Jewish tradition when someone dies to say, “May his or her memory be for blessing,” a translation of the Hebrew “zikhrono livrakha”. What this means is every time Matthew pops into your head and you have a memory of him that not only are you blessing his soul, but that blessing of him comes right back to bless you as well. It is why we keep the good memories alive. It's like Jewish good karma. So today we will talk about memories, but you might also have a memory a few years from now when you are away at college or even what feels like a lifetime away when you are raising kids of your own and that memory will come back as a blessing to you.
Mourners Kaddish introduction:
Remember earlier when I talked about you guys being a fraternity, a brotherhood? We're about to say Kaddish, the mourners' prayer and this is kind of the ultimate prayer for being a part of a community or brotherhood. Saying this prayer as a part of community is meant to change your thinking from sterile sadness and loneliness to the praise of life.
You guys are all doing a real mitzvah by saying this in honor of Matthew's life.
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