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Shalom Chaverim,

The last few days have been difficult for me, and for all of us in the Jewish community in Duluth, Minnesota. Today we laid to rest a very dear member of our congregation. Phil Myzel, or Fivel as he was named at birth and affectionately called by many of us, was a 95 year old man who was a bundle of energy, who would famously hop up the steps to Torah study every Shabbat before the morning service, entering the room with a hearty “Good Shabbos” and a smile. Born in a Lithuanian shtetl in extreme poverty, he became a very successful business man in Duluth, and throughout his life was a model example of the very best in generosity, compassion, joy, and love, and how Judaism teaches these values to be lived.

When I think about Phil, two verses from Pirkei Avot come to mind. In the first, Hillel taught “In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.” In the second, Yose ben Yo’ezer of Zereda and Yose ben Yochanan of Jerusalem said “Let thy house be the meeting place of the wise; sit gladly at their feet, and drink in their words with avidity.” To me, Phil was an example of the kind of Jewish man I hope to become. He was dedicated to our community and to K’lal Yisrael, he was extremely generous, joyful, slow to get upset, and very much an example of compassion for even those who seem to be the hardest to show compassion for. While he was not a rabbi, he was a sage, and he was the kind of person who would be hard to beat as a role model.

I was reminded today of the haunting beauty of Jewish traditions around death and burial, and the one that strikes me the most is the way we all help fill in the grave. As a community we come together to say goodbye. But rather than leaving the simple wooden casket to be covered by a backhoe after we leave, we physically shovel dirt on to the grave. Today those of us who loved Phil and who will cherish his memory forever used our own hands in the cold and snow to shovel the dirt in to his grave. We didn’t leave until he was buried completely, and we did it ourselves, out of love and respect for this man who meant so much to us. While we shoveled, we passed around a jar of his “medicine,” which was brandy he bought and then threw real cherries in; he brought this to simchas and social events, and was very proud of it. He would have been pleased to see us shoveling, enjoying his medicine, sharing tearful stories that brought out laughs here and there as we all remembered the things about him that were so endearing.

Phil’s last lesson to me was a reminder of the beauty of our Jewish community, the love that is all around us, and the joy that we should take from this knowledge, and the commitment we should make to sharing with those in need. I will remember him always, and I hope that I can follow some small part of his example.

The story of Phil’s life is available in the form of a book written by another member of our community, Linda Glaser. I highly recommend it.

Zichrono L’Vracha… May his memory be a blessing.

kol tuv,

Yair