Remembering Mr. J

Since I will be away from blogging for two weeks in November, I decided to post this early since it pertains to a yahrzeit of someone who was very important to me.

The 20th of Cheshvan is the yahrzeit Mr. J. Although he was not a religious person, Mr. J was a wonderful man who taught me a lot of about Jewish history and culture when I was young and totally ignorant of these things. I am certain that whenever I do a mitzvah today, he shares in the merit.

Below is a paper that I wrote when I was in school back in the 1980's:

A PERSON I WILL NEVER FORGET

The person I will never forget is Mr. J., who lives across the street from my grandparent's house and is a good friend of ours. When I was little I used to call him Uncle Sid because I thought he was my uncle. Not until a few years ago did I learn he wasn't really my uncle but just a good friend of our family.

The reason I won't forget Mr. J is because he's always so friendly. Today he still shows me little magic tricks like he showed me when I was little. Mr. J. owns an antique store in Philadelphia. He never went to college but he knows more than most people I know. He knows a lot about subjects I'm interested in and we talk a lot about them. He has two sons and a daughter. Today his children are older and working at jobs. His two sons are doctors and his daughter is a lawyer. He loves to play golf. When you go upstairs in his house you feel like you are in a museum because of all the antiques. Some of his antiques are over two hundred years old.

I have liked Mr. J since I was little. I think it would be hard to forget somebody you really like.

Mr. J.
Zelig ben Shmuel z"l
(Picture taken at my parents wedding in 1969)

30 years later
(Picture taken at my wedding 20 days before he passed away in 1999)