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DrMosheGreen z"l Moshe Green, of blessed memory By Haim Zohar, vice chairman on Torah MiTzion Back to Main Dr Green Page Eulogy by Hillel Novetsky (NY)
"... if a member of a group dies, the entire group should be concerned." [Laws of Mourning, Chapter 13, 12] It says in the Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbat 100a: "What is that likened to - to a pile of stones when one comes undone, they all do." The group of people assembled here tonight - family members, friends and acquaintances from various and different fields - all cherish his memory. The older ones among us knew him for over a generation, and the young people, whom it was especially important for him to advance - knew him for only a few years. We knew we had someone to count on. We knew that "a friend in need is a friend indeed." Friendship during hard times is true friendship - true friendship is one that keeps at all times. I was moved by the support he gave friends, by his sensitivity and by the help he offered those in distress. Moshe came from a special family, and then headed a special family. One that allowed for scholarship and business, individual as well as public needs, Americanism and Zionism. Moshe came from a home deeply rooted in America, which he loved, but to him it was as if he was merely staying in a fine and grand guest house. His heart was in the east. He lived in the world's two largest Jewish communities, New York and Jerusalem. Moshe visited Israel when he was twenty, a year before the establishment of the State, when visits of this kind were rare, and when he married Charlotte, they spent their honeymoon in Israel (1953). After the Six Day War, they came on Aliyah, made their home in Jerusalem and divided their time between Jerusalem and New York. When he left Israel, it was like "he goes out to trade" with the precise meaning of "to trade" - to make a profit, although he already has food to support himself" (Maimonides, Laws of Kings, Chapter 5, 9). He would jokingly say about himself: "One who makes bread come (out) of the land" (lehem mihuz la'arez). Moshe invested in Israel's economy. One of the fruits of that investment is the hotel where we are now. In its dedication in 1973, he set high standards for Shabbat and Kashrut observance, which at the time was not common practice in first-class hotels. Moshe knew that economic stability and growth are prerequisites for aliyah, absorption, security and peace. He was conservative in his economic worldview and strongly believed in a market economy, in the American style.Yet, his heart was open to the needs of the individual and the poor, and he discreetly and generously supported the needy. While it is true that: "the needy will never cease from the world" (Deuteronomy 15,11), it is also true that: "...you should divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the ...poor to your home" (Isaiah 58, 7). Market power, yes. But there is also man's responsibility to society. Social justice exists in an orderly society. The individual is not above the needs of society and community - the individual must work hard, learn, get an education and progress. Moshe was a loyal citizen to the country of his birth, but he also gauged matters according to "what is good for the Jews and Israel?" "The generous among the nations have gathered" (Psalms 47, 10). Rav Kook, of sainted blessed memory explained: "the generous ones are those who know not only how to help individuals or a single community, but those who have a loftier soul with which to think and help an entire people." Moshe was like that. Not overlooking the individual, the synagogue, the community, the organization, when considering a project to support, he would look for ones which had an effect on people as a whole -on the nation as such. Moshe and Charlotte were special in their philanthropy and ahead of their time. They believed in less general contribution to big bodies, to organizations, and more to unique programs, a method becoming increasingly widespread in Jewish philanthropy. He initiated projects, and although not a professional educator, they were surprising in their originality and quality. He researched and looked into things, and when he became excited, he contributed. For all his caution and professional and business acumen, there were times when his enthusiasm was exaggerated. Were there no enthusiasm, many of the good things in the world would not have been created. For the most part, he directed his contributions to educational, cultural and intellectual programs - emphasizing the population of young people and women, Israel-based projects, built on Torah and Science and centrist Orthodoxy. Buildings that would carry his name did not appeal to him. All his endeavors are named for his parents and his wife's parents, to honor them in life and to remember them in their death. From Moshe I learned to be sure to say "Torah and Science" versus "Torah and the Way of the World" (derech eretz). For Torah and Science better suited his philosophy, that, without negating the broader and more varied aspects of the concept of "Way of the World". This concept was defined by Rav Soloveitchik, zt"l, and his student Rav Norman Lamm, may he live a long life, who was Moshe's teacher and mentor, friend, neighbor and confidant for forty years. In a lecture "Why Maimonides School", given in 1968, thirty one years after Rav Soloveitchik established Maimonides School in Boston, the Rav said the following clearly and sharply, and I quote them verbatim, so as to set straight those trying to distort his approach:
Incidentally, the Hebrew edition of the book "Torah and Science", was, dedicated by Rabbi Lamm to: "My dear friend Mr. Moshe Green Man of charity and kindness And one of the true believers and supporters of the idea of Torah and Science". For his 70th birthday, Rabbi Lamm, President of Yeshiva University, wrote to him: "You have been my dearest friend for over 38 years. We have been through many situations together, and never has a harsh word, or even thought passed between us. After I left the Jewish Center and came to Yeshiva University just over 28 years ago, my sense of social isolation became exacerbated but your unquestioning friendship sustained me throughout. I have always been able to rely on your wise counsel, and your consistent generosity has been a source of wonderment to me. Your friendship has been more meaningful to me [than] you'll ever know!" Moshe was his happiest when he received a letter from one of the recipients of a grant Charlotte and he had contributed, or when he met one of them or heard of their success. In the words of the Sifrei (on Deuteronomy 6, 7) "and you shall teach them to your sons - these are your students" - and so you find everywhere, that students are called sons, as it says "and the sons of the prophets went forth" (II Kings 2, 4) (Maimonides, Sefer HaMizvot, positive commandment 11). Gratitude raised his spirits. There are adults that have what to learn from younger people. Moshe invited me to serve on the grants committee. I saw him at meetings, deliberating, and more than once, he added funds to the initial sum, so that a needy and deserving person does not leave empty-handed. He did the same in other projects in which he was involved, when he would occasionally add funds to solve a human or practical problem. Moshe was:
"I am not a man of words, my strength is not in public speaking, but I know how to conduct person to person talks" - he often told me. Moshe loved being with people. He enjoyed hearing and telling a joke, and always had one on hand. Every time he returned to Israel, he had a fresh one to tell. R. Judah Halevi, poet of Zion, eulogized one of his friends, and wrote: "Those who understand are no longer. The wise are gone and the faithful non-existent. Their hero has died and their glory removed. Their crown thrown aside and their veil carried off. The angels of His holiness, greet his soul at the throne of His holiness and it will enter their confidence". And we, in our sparing and sharp language, will say: Friend! We miss you! A man of
We don't know the workings of the world, and the ways of the Master of the Worlds are hidden from us. "What was R. Bon Bar-Hiyya (Abon, lived in Tiberius in the Third century) like? Like a king who hired many workers. There was one worker, among them, who was too capable for his job. What did the king do? He took him and went on long and short walks with him. In the evening, the same workers came to get their pay, and [the king] gave him his full wages. The workers got angry and said: We toiled the entire day, and this one toiled for only two hours and he still got his full pay?!. And the king said to them: this one did more work in two hours more than you did the entire day. Likewise, R. Bon put hard work in the Torah in 28 years, [to the degree] that a well-established student (one who is sharp and excellent) cannot learn in one hundred years." (Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 2, 8, Song of Songs Rabbah 6) Is death a punishment? Or a reward? A punishment for the sins of the deceased? Or of his contemporaries? A reward in that the deceased is spared tribulation or that the reward is awaiting him in the next world. Which is better? The comfort of a reward in the next world, or learning a moral lesson in this world? Although one has no control over the length of his/her life, one must live it without concern for its length but with an effort to achieve wholeness and perfection. "The song of Moshe's work" was cut short. He envisioned and designed many plans. Moshe was not fortunate enough to reach the life expectancy age of an Israeli man, nor the lower expectancy age of an American. When he passed away he was at the age between the young age at which his father, Yaakov Yosef, passed away and the old age at which his mother, Bracha did, but much closer to his father's age at death. When his mother passed away, he said to me: "We wanted her to live longer." I am not asking: "What is above and what is below, what is in front and what in back?" (Tractate Hagigah 11b). The tragedies of my life have made me ask about the secret of death. I asked and knew there was no answer. I have learned that: "It is preferable for man not to have been born than to have been born" (Tractate Eruvin 13b). I have learned that: "A good name is better than good oil and the day of death better than the day of birth" (Ecclesiastes 7, 1). I take comfort in the thought that although man has no control over his longevity, he can nontheless fill his life with good deeds and a striving for perfection. Moshe passed away with a good name. He is backed by good deeds and a wholesome life. "God gave and God took, May the name of God be blessed" (Job 1, 21) We should be thankful for his good, full and wholesome days. Engraved on his tombstone (in a translation from Hebrew):
Yehi Zichro Baruch
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