Dan was kind, gentle, witty, knowledgeable, and spoke of you (Brenda) and he retiring to Israel. He loved and cherished his family. G‑d's Gifts abounded in Daniel.
I cherish and Dan declined payment for a dreidel and pendant (both inscribed with "the Great Miracle happened here") that he brought me from Jerusalem. We discussed many things, his writings were inspired, and he spoke and wrote of Hillel's dictum, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me; and if I am for myself alone, what am I, and if not now, when."
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
From Shelly Stohl
Strength Behind a Smile
I promised that I would share my humble memories of Dr. Rubin. I apologize in advance to you and to him that, although I had one of the best English teachers in the business, my words are inadequate to encapsulate the full impression that he left with me:
*****
Dr. Rubin nearly always wore a smile across his face. A warm smile, at that. And his voice was lively - upbeat and full of promise. He had much to be happy for, most notably his beloved wife, his four wonderful children (yes, Moshe, even you, though I'm being a bit generous here), and the ever-growing clan of grandchildren.
But Dr. Rubin's wasn't a simple warm smile. It was a wry warm smile. There was something faintly intimidating about his persona. On my visits to the Rubin home, I welcomed Dr. Rubin's exuberance, but I was also always just a little bit scared. Dr. Rubin's smile seemed to stem from a satisfaction, a surety, a pride that comes with hard-won and hard-earned successes, that comes from knowing you've sacrificed in your life for the right things - from knowing that you've made the right choices. His smile betrayed a moral fortitude, as if to say: I've wrestled with some serious dilemmas, I've faced tall obstacles, and I didn't run, I didn't settle, I didn't compromise my values. His smile challenged you - it challenged me - to live up to that standard. It challenged you to live so that one day you could smile like him.
I'm privy, I'm sure, to but a small fraction of the life-altering choices and the trying struggles Dr. Rubin faced as a Jew, as a professional, as a father, and as a grandfather. He must have confronted those choices and those struggles with dignity and with principle - you could read it on his face. And he must have felt certain that he successfully passed on that fortitude to his family - it radiated from his smile.
I promised that I would share my humble memories of Dr. Rubin. I apologize in advance to you and to him that, although I had one of the best English teachers in the business, my words are inadequate to encapsulate the full impression that he left with me:
*****
Dr. Rubin nearly always wore a smile across his face. A warm smile, at that. And his voice was lively - upbeat and full of promise. He had much to be happy for, most notably his beloved wife, his four wonderful children (yes, Moshe, even you, though I'm being a bit generous here), and the ever-growing clan of grandchildren.
But Dr. Rubin's wasn't a simple warm smile. It was a wry warm smile. There was something faintly intimidating about his persona. On my visits to the Rubin home, I welcomed Dr. Rubin's exuberance, but I was also always just a little bit scared. Dr. Rubin's smile seemed to stem from a satisfaction, a surety, a pride that comes with hard-won and hard-earned successes, that comes from knowing you've sacrificed in your life for the right things - from knowing that you've made the right choices. His smile betrayed a moral fortitude, as if to say: I've wrestled with some serious dilemmas, I've faced tall obstacles, and I didn't run, I didn't settle, I didn't compromise my values. His smile challenged you - it challenged me - to live up to that standard. It challenged you to live so that one day you could smile like him.
I'm privy, I'm sure, to but a small fraction of the life-altering choices and the trying struggles Dr. Rubin faced as a Jew, as a professional, as a father, and as a grandfather. He must have confronted those choices and those struggles with dignity and with principle - you could read it on his face. And he must have felt certain that he successfully passed on that fortitude to his family - it radiated from his smile.
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