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Eulogy for Rabbi Aaron Gold (delivered by Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis)

I have been given five minutes to speak, and I shall be faithful to the promise to do so. Five minutes—to speak of my relationship with Rabbi Aaron Gold. The Rabbi would be horrified! I never heard Aaron limit himself to five minutes form the pulpit in the 22 years I have known him!  However, I have sat often enough where you do today, and I shall be faithful to my promise.

Faithful to a promise. If anything, that describes the beauty of the man I knew in Rabbi Gold.  I first met him when I was less than two years ordained. I was invited to bring greetings to Tifereth Israel Congregation on behalf of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego as you blessed your new  House of Worship and Community Center. I immediately fell in love with the Rabbi of the congregation and, if I were a Jew, I would have joined Tifereth Irael on the spot!  That event began a long, happy and fruitful friendship which has a good del to do with the good relationship enjoyed between Jews and Catholics in San Diego today.  Rabbi Gold was a man who was not afraid to confront a challenge and do what needed to be done despite what others might think.

Dr. Gold was faithful to a promise he made to God when he was ordained a Rabbi to bring the message of God's love and peace to the world.

Dr. Gold was faithful to a promise he made to the people he served as Rabbi to lead them, guide them—even when they didn't want to be led or guided—as their spiritual leader. The only time I ever really saw him angry was with after an "encounter" with members of a congregation who were giving him a hard time.  My bond with him grew even stronger at that time!  I smiled to myself and said: "Thank you God! the rabbis have the same difficulties that we priests do!"

Dr. Gold was faithful to a promise to love and cherish his beautiful wife Jeanne, whom I so admire, and together they shared that promise with so many through the Marriage Encounter Program.

Rabbi Gold was faithful to a promise to be a man of prayer, a man of peace, a man of scholarship and study.  He was faithful to his promise to mend fences, engage in dialogue, heal breaches and promote understanding among all people and faiths. How touched I was, two years ago, when Aaron and Jeanne showed up at my parish for Christmas Midnight Mass—just to wish me a Merry Christmas.

Dr. Gold, rabbi Gold, Aaron—was my friend.  And I shall miss him.  But I believe we will meet again, the the Promised Land, on the mountain of the Lord of Hosts where, the Prophet Isaiah says, "The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces"...where "He will destroy death forever"; Where the justice for which Aaron prayed so fervently and worked so hard will be a reality; And where Aaron will meet his namesake, the brother of Moses, who will raise his arms, bless him and bring him into the eternal bliss of the arms of our Creator.