Eulogy for Father :: Eulogies Eulogy

Eulogy for FatherOn behalf of my entire family, I want to thank exclusively of you for your com crackion and for being present here straightaway. For those of you who dont know me, my name is Mauri-Lynne, and Im Lionels daughter. Dad was devoted to every one of you. We all hope that youll share your memories of him with us, if not today then in the weeks and months to come. My father was committed to the practice and preservation of Jewish life. His religious beliefs informed everything he did. Particularly fond of traditional music, he and I spent many hours listening to the treasured recordings hed collected over the years. We spoke regularly about our spiritual and communal responsibility as Jews, particularly our responsibilities to G-d.Jewish mystics explain that before manifest creation, everything that ever would be was contained within the Creator as pure potentiality. This field without end created vessels through which its prognosticate energy could pass and differentiat e, each representing a specific attribute, such as wisdom, compassion, kindness and strength. The energy being transmitted was so powerful that the vessels shattered. It is said that some of these shattered pieces of divine energy fell to earth as sparks where they have remained all these eons.He and I believe that one of our primary responsibilities to G-d is to cover the world. In Hebrew, we call this sour tikkun olam. We accomplish this by performing prescribed mitzvot or good works. We believe that every mitzvah or honorable act, raises those divine sparks. Traditional teachings state that when the repair is complete, we usher in the Messianic Age. Of the many mitzvot, performing acts of loving-kindness, or chesed, is considered one of the most important. No one understood this religious obligation more distinctly than my father it was one of his primary life directives. Each of you is here today because youve experienced my fathers kindness, concern and generosity in some wa y. Several months ago, when I couldnt sleep, I turned on late-night TV and watched the songwriter/singer, Billy Joel, entertaining a college audience. Someone asked about a particular song, and he answered it was written in resolution to a question his young daughter had asked about death. She wanted to know where people went when they died. He answered that they go into the hearts of the people who loved them. Just encounter into the eyes of the people sitting all around you.