Jewish Life Digital Edition November 2013 | Page 28

SERIES

THINGS I LEARNED…

WHILE TEACHING EVERYONE ELSE
BY RABBI YOSSY GOLDMAN

FAMILY FIRST
SADLY, OVER THIS PAST SUKKOS, MY DEAR MOTHER
left this world. She was an extraordinary
woman and much of what I am today I
owe to her, either via her genes or her example. It was a particularly trying time
for our family, not only because she was
the pillar of her home and rock-solid anchor of our whole family, but because the
Yom Tov period added its own string of
complications.
Mom had been fighting that diabolical,
dreaded disease for a few years and was
actually doing quite well. In fact, hardly
anyone even knew that she was receiving
chemotherapy. But suddenly, before Rosh
Hashanah, things went haywire and there
was a dramatic decline, which led to her
passing only a few short weeks later.
My mother, of blessed memory, lived in
Brooklyn, New York. Over the 37 years we
have been living in South Africa we would

26 JEWISH LIFE

ISSUE 68

FOR MANY YEARS I PREACHED AGAINST EMIGRATION;
FIRSTLY BECAUSE I FERVENTLY BELIEVED IT WAS NOT
NECESSARY (AND LOOKING AT OUR COMMUNITY TODAY, I
BELIEVE I HAVE BEEN FULLY VINDICATED), AND SECONDLY
BECAUSE OF HOW IT TEARS FAMILIES APART.
visit her at least once a year. It was a very
big drain on our budget, but my wife Rochel always insisted that our children
should know their grandparents and extended family well. Today, I am eternally
grateful that all our children had a special
relationship with my mother. How proud I
am that my children flew in to New York
from Johannesburg, Cape Town, Los Angeles, and even Hawaii, to be with her at
the end of her life. My mom and dad, may
he be well, were frequent visitors to South
Africa too. They had been visiting often
since their very first trip back in 1979

when they came for their first Pesach here.
Thank G-d, they attended the barmitzvahs
of all our eight sons and the weddings of
two of our three daughters, before travelling became impossible.
For me, living far away always
presented its challenges. I did my best to
attend family simchas, weddings and
barmitzvahs of nephews and nieces, but it
wasn’t always possible. For many years I
preached against emigration; firstly
because I fervently believed it was not
necessary (and looking at our community
today, I believe I have been fully