So many people who had
no connection to Judaism became connected in some way, thanks
to Nancy. So many people who thought Orthodox Judaism was meant
only for those parochial Jews of New York were suddenly confronted
with a delightful, pleasant, intelligent friend and fellow
biker who was “so normal,” and also a proud Orthodox
Jew! She was a person who loved her life but knew that she
controlled her passions—her passions did not control
her.
My father stood by his ideals
because they were truths. Not because people were watching.
Not because people were cheering
him on. He stood by them in Karobka, Russia, where he was the
sole Jew in the entire town. Applause was not his goal. Truth
was his goal. Nancy received no applause either. She could
so easily have succumbed. Who was looking? Who among her friends
cared? But that didn’t matter. Her Jewishness was important
to her. She cared about it because she knew it was truth, and
an integral part of who she was. Her goal was not to make others
pleased with her. Her goal was to live the life that she believed
in and to succeed. Her goal was not to make a Kiddush Hashem,
just as my father did not set out to make a Kiddush Hashem.
Yet a Kiddush Hashem is exactly what they both made, many times
over throughout their respective lives.
Please G-d, may 5762 be a year
of nechama, geulah and yeshua for our family and all of Am
Yisrael.