There’s a hole
in the world today
where once a mensch stood
a scholar
a teacher
a leader
a rabbi
a father
a husband
a friend
There is a hole in our lives
our school
our institution
our movement
in our world, today
where once a great sage stood
It is shaped like a Lamed and a Vav
It is shaped like the space between two chachams as they study
It is shaped like the space between Moses’ hands and Joshua’s head
It is shaped like a broken heart
Like a void
into which a group of brand new rabbis and cantors
surge forth
forged in fire
spilling into it unwillingly as they weep
standing where he should have stood,
with them
Birthed, spiritually, right into his too-big-to-fill
shoes
they will have to fill them together
somehow
a legacy they did not ask for but must carry with them
They and us and every life he ever touched
So many of us in the void
together
that he left
Carrying his teaching
His wisdom
His words
His memory
His legacy
His love
There is a hole
Where he was
Jagged and raw and we must fill it
with what he left us
We owe him that much
at least
