When I was a senior at Brandeis, a fellow '04 graduate died while I was in Israel for the week. I knew people who knew him. There was even a girl on that trip (who I later became close friends with) who was very close friends with this guy's sister. But I didn't know him. And being away, I missed most of the communal reaction. I remember saying to my mom, "My community is hurting, and I want to be there to support them". But there wasn't much that I could do. I know that a cloud hung over us for a while, but I went back to my regularly scheduled life, not really aware of the missing person.
Yesterday, another classmate of mine passed away. This time it wasn't a Brandeis classmate, but a JTS one. The difference being, 3000+ students at Brandeis and someone I didn't know vs. a class size of about 20 people. When we are ordained in a few short months, there will be a emotional hole in our hearts and a physical hole in our ranks. How do we exist as a class, while one of us is missing?
I don't have the words to express the sadness and pain that I am feeling. How does a 27-year-old, about to be married, about to be ordained as a rabbi, son of a rabbi that I care deeply about, die? That is not supposed to happen!
Today is going to be a hard day, to say the least. And I imagine that there are many more sad days ahead of us.
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