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Eulogy for Rabbi Aaron Gold (delivered by Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal)

The great Talmudic sage Hillel said:

הֱוֵי מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַהֲרֹן, אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, אוֹהֵב אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת וּמְקָרְבָן לַתּוֹרָה:

"Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving humankind and bringing them close to Torah." (Pirke Avot 1:12)

Rabbi Hillel was referring to Aaron, the first Kohein Gadol, High Priest and brother of Moshe Rabeinu. But his words apply just as aptly to Harav Aharon Shalom ben HaRav Elazar Elimelech v’Zlata Mirel, Rabbi Aaron Shalom Gold, who died on Wednesday morning at the age of 81.

Rabbi Gold’s life was a reflection of his name. He dedicated himself to creating Shalom Ba’Olam, peace in the world and peace within communities and families. He loved all human beings, regardless of skin color, national origin or religious creed. He not only taught Torah, he lived Torah, through the sacred work he performed and the daily life he led.

Although you would never know from listening to or reading his melodious and poetic English, Rabbi Gold was born in Poland, the son of Rabbi Elazar Elimelech and Zlata Mirl Gold. He was the tenth of his father’s eleventh children. Sadly, only his two sisters, Fran Schechter and Blanche Renov remain with us, and we pray that God will comfort them, along with Rabbi Gold’s many nephews and nieces, on their loss.

Rabbi Gold’s childhood was darkened by the Anti-Semitism of Poland. He once was beaten so severely that he went into a coma, and bore a scar on his head for the rest of his life.

His father and older brother emigrated to America, where he found work among his fellow Chassidim as a Rabbi, Cantor and Shochet. In 1928 they sent for the rest of the family.

Life was not easy for the Gold’s in America. They found the streets not paved with gold, but with deprivation and hardship instead. Despite the contributions of every member of the family towards their support, there were many times when at least someone went hungry. But that never stopped Aaron’s mother from baking two challas on Friday to give to poor families down the street.

His father insisted that he have a strict Orthodox and Chassidic upbringing and education. Secular studies were out of the question, and so Rabbi Gold learned at Yeshivat Torah v’Da’as and the Mesifta Talmudic Seminary in New York, and received Orthodox S’micha when he was a young teenager. In addition to being trained as a Rabbi and Cantor, he also was certified as a Mohel and Shochet.

As a child his musical skill earned him the title of "Areleh the Vunderkind," and people came from far and wide to hear him.

Rabbi Gold’s heart and soul were always filled with music and melody. He had great musical talent. It was just as natural for him to hum a Chasidic melody his father composed at the dinner table as it was to chant Kol Nidre in the synagogue. And when he was truly inspired, he would get up and dance; dance, as his family said, with "Chassidic genes."

Much like the characters in Chaim Potok’s books, young Aaron Gold soon felt himself torn between traditional study and the modern world.

Even though Yiddish was spoken in his home, he learned English from "Miss Chloe." Not only did he insist on speaking without a Yiddish accent, he also worked hard to eliminate any hint of Brooklyn as well!

Without his father’s knowledge or permission, he attended public high school as night and received his diploma after his Rabbinic Ordination.

But while his brain may have been torn between traditional and modern scholarship, his heart was always with Am Yisrael. He began his service to the Jewish community in his youth.

One day while walking with his father on Shabbes, they saw a group of young Jewish boys playing in the street. His father spoke about them with great disdain, but young Aaron insisted that it was education they lacked, not Yiddishe Neshamas. He established the Ashford Street Junior Congregation which at times attracted hundreds of kids to services. They naturally responded not only to Aaron’s superb voice and articulate teaching skill, but to his beautiful neshama as well.

His first job as a "Rookie Rabbi," as he liked to call himself, was as an Assistant Rabbi in an Orthodox congregation in Cleveland, Ohio. His tenure was cut short after he protested the member’s weekly Shabbes observance, which consisted of poker and bingo games in the synagogue social hall after services.

He achieved his first success as a pulpit rabbi at the Superior Hebrew Congregation of Superior, Wisconsin. The members fell in love with him. He taught them, motivated them and inspired them. To this day they remember the impact that he made on their lives.

A few years ago Rabbi and Jeanne went to a reunion of the Jewish community of Superior, and people came up to him expressing their gratitude for the contributions he had made to their lives thirty years before. "Rabbi Gold," they said, "You have no idea the kind of impact you made on my life. You helped change my perspective on everything."

It was during these years that he also started his own family. Sadly, his only son died in infancy, but he went on to raise four daughters, who mourn him today, as do his four grandchildren.

While he lived in Superior, Rabbi David Aronson, z"l, one of the most respected leaders of Conservative Judaism of this century, took a personal interest in him. He told the young Rabbi that with his knowledge, style and perspective on Judaism, he fit more with the Conservative Movement than with the Orthodox. If Rabbi would get himself a college degree, than Rabbi Aronson would sponsor him for membership in the Rabbinical Assembly, the Conservative Movement’s rabbinical association.

Rabbi Gold accepted the challenge. While working full time at this pulpit, he enrolled in Wisconsin State College, graduating with honors with a degree in English literature. True to his word, Rabbi Aronson proudly Rabbi Gold’s admission to the Conservative Rabbinate in 1951.

His Bachelor’s Degree whet his appetite for continued academic study. He continued his education at Columbia University in New York, where he earned a Masters Degree in Education, a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Counseling, and an Ed.D. in Education.

During these years of study he also served as the full time Rabbi of Temple Israel in Riverhead, N.Y., and served as a chaplain for two Air Force bases and the Brookhaven National Laboratories.

In 1957 he assumed the pulpit of the Mt. Airy Jewish Community Center in Philadelphia, in order for his children to attend Jewish Day school. He loved it there, but Jewish families began to flee when African-American families began to move in to the neighborhood. This offended and hurt Rabbi Gold deeply. He not only was color blind, but fought actively for the civil rights and well being of all human beings. He was unsuccessful, however, in keeping his congregants from fleeing. His congregation dwindling, Rabbi Gold regretfully left to assume the pulpit of Temple Beth Sholom, at the time, the only synagogue in Las Vegas.

Rabbi Gold loved Las Vegas and Las Vegas loved Rabbi Gold. After his first sermon the headline in the Las Vegas Israelites read, "All that Glitters is Gold."

He helped build the congregation, served and inspired his congregants, and became active in inter-faith work. One of his proudest moments took place in June of 1967, when he was president of the Clark County Ministerial Association. Israel had just been attacked, and he organized 70 Christian ministers to stand side by side with him in support of the State of Israel.

He also became somewhat of a celebrity in Las Vegas. Not only was he the only Rabbi, but he was polished, good looking, impeccably dressed, and always ready with the right words at the right time.

Rabbi Gold was a very trusting soul. He always saw the good in everyone, unfortunately, even in those who did not deserve his trust.

One such individual took advantage of him. And although Rabbi Gold was the only the victim of one of his scams, the attendant publicity made it impossible for him to continue living in Las Vegas.

Rabbi Gold moved to Burbank, where he became the Rabbi of Temple Emanuel. During his tenure the congregation moved from its former location into it current home.

In 1974, Rabbi Gold was called to serve this congregation, Tifereth Israel Synagogue, as successor to the congregation’s beloved Rabbi Monroe Levins, z"l. Past President, Irving Goodman, also of blessed memory, would tell the story that as soon as Rabbi Levins met Rabbi Gold he told the Search Committee, "Stop looking. You’ve found your man!"

At the time, Tifereth Israel was in the throes of moving from its former home on 30^th and Howard, to its present location in San Carlos. Those were difficult as well as heady days. Rabbi Gold rallied the congregation to raise the funds necessary to pay for the construction, and helped design this beautiful sanctuary, including the Aron Kodesh, the beautiful stained glass windows which surrounds us, and our Holocaust Memorial.

Rabbi Gold’s accomplishments while he was the Rabbi of Tifereth Israel are too numerous to mention, so I will need to suffice by acknowledging his contributions to this congregation and its members, including his instituting of Family Services, "Rap with the Rabbi, continuation of the "Torah Luncheon Club" and his establishment of the King David Section at Greenwood Cemetery.

He also helped found the San Diego High School for Jewish Studies, the San Diego Jewish Academy, the Navajo Interfaith Clergy Association and encouraged dialogue with Christians and African-Americans. He had a close personal friendship with Monsignor Dennis Mikulanis and invited Bishop Leon T. Mather to address our congregation.

His greatest accomplishment at Tifereth Israel, however, was his marriage and twenty-seven year love affair with his beloved Jeanne.

We can’t even begin to count the number of times that he stood before us and proudly said, "I came to San Diego, went to the beach and found a Jeanne in a bottle!"

Aaron Gold was not looking for love when someone in the congregation tried to fix him up with an attractive vibrant single woman by the name of Jeanne Weisbuch. When he finally got around to calling, they talked on the phone and Aaron regaled her with his upcoming calendar and which just didn’t seem to allow even a minute to meet her.

"Why don’t I come to services?" she said. How could he refuse? "All right," he said. "But just remember that I have to mingle with members of the congregation at the Oneg Shabbat!"

So Jeanne came to the synagogue and dutifully waited for services to start. An elegant and regal man dressed in a beautiful black robe came to the Bimah. The only problem was that he looked about eighty years old. "Oy vey," thought Jeanne, but was greatly relieved to learn that it was Cantor Goldberger, z"l. When Rabbi Gold came to the Bimah, it was different story. She tried to say something to her friend Sharon, but Sharon said, "Don’t bother me. I’m meditating. You’re going to marry him."

At the end of the service she dutifully stood in line and introduced herself to him. They chatted at the Oneg Shabbat, with Jeanne carefully moving away whenever a congregant approached to "mingle" with the Rabbi.

At the end of the evening Aaron, who before they met was terminally over booked, asked, "Do you want to go out tomorrow night?"

Jeanne accepted, and the truth was that Rabbi Gold did have a busy schedule. So their "second date" was going to an engagement party of someone that neither of them knew. That did not stop someone from asking Rabbi Gold to make a toast to the bride and groom, which he did so masterfully that he received a round of applause at the end.

Jeanne thought to herself, "Boy is he talented," and asked him: "When I get married, will you perform the ceremony?" To which he responded, "How do you know that I won’t be the groom?"

This conversation took place on Thanksgiving weekend. In June, they were married, at Jeanne’s home congregation in Anaheim.

As anyone who knows them will tell you, Aaron & Jeanne were love birds, with each day of their twenty-six year marriage as special, unique and new as the day before, indeed as the day they wed. They enjoyed each other’s company, cared for and loved each other, and in their faithfulness, warmth, generosity and honesty, an inspiration to others. Their coming together was not a matter of chance or luck. It was beshert. They deserved each other.

Aaron did not have much of a childhood in Poland, but all of the playfulness and glee he missed as a child came out during his years with Jeanne. They both worked very hard at their professions, but when they weren’t working, they were together. They would laugh and play and even cook together. I remember vividly that every Shabbat when Aaron was preaching, Jeanne would sit in the congregation listening carefully as his magnificent voice and inspirational message filled the sanctuary, her eyes filled with pride as his resonant voice and messages filled to the brim with meaning and inspiration filled the sanctuary.

Aaron often bemoaned the inability of couples to communicate, and was saddened in his knowledge that not all marital relationships were like his and Jeanne’s. This was one of the reasons that both of them dedicated so much of their free time and so many of their weekends to Jewish Marriage Encounter. During the years that they led these seminars they touched the lives of over 1,000 couples. They taught couples to share with one another, how to strengthen their relationships and how to hug.

Together, Aaron and Jeanne, also expressed their love for Israel by traveling there together over a dozen times. Sometimes they would lead groups from the synagogue, other times they would just go together. They would walk through the streets of Jerusalem, late at night, hand in hand, enjoying the sights and sounds of the holy land. And Rabbi Gold would always return to share his insights and inspiration with the congregation.

Out of their love and devotion to Israel and to Jewish education, a few years ago they very quietly established a Scholarship Fund at the University of Judaism. Each year a Ziegelar School Rabbinical Student receives this award to help finance his or her year of study in Israel.

And just a few months ago, they established the Rabbi Aaron Gold Israel Scholarship Fund to help send one of Tifereth Israel’s teenagers or young adults on an Israel Travel Study program. This year’s recipient will leave next week.

Even though Rabbi Gold was not a Holocaust Survivor, he was deeply moved by the murder of the Six Million, and it was sermons which dealt with the Shoah which were the most difficult for this usually eloquent man to deliver. The thought of the atrocities suffered by so many men, women and children always moved him to tears. He not only paid tribute to the victims, but to the survivors as well, and celebrated many joyous occasions with other members of San Diego’s New Life Club.

Rabbi Gold faced many difficult obstacles and challenges in his life. He never let them faze him or change his positive attitude about life. He instead sought to transcend them, and to use the lessons he learned to teach others.

One of the most difficult challenges Rabbi Gold faced was when he was diagnosed with Colon Cancer thirty-seven years ago. He underwent surgery, beat the cancer and never looked back. But he never kept his illness or treatment a secret. He was already ready to share his experience with other cancer victims, in order to show them that they could live with the consequences of their disease, survive, and in live a full and active life. He was an inspiration to others.

Another one of the other challenges Rabbi Gold faced was when he became Tifereth Israel’s Rabbi Emeritus in 1992 after eighteen years of devoted service to this congregation. The truth be told, he wasn’t ready to retire. He always looked and acted many years younger than he was.

But he understood Tifereth Israel’s desire for new leadership, and as the congregation’s Rabbi Emeritus he was always complimentary and supportive, and allowed me the time and space to find my own way with the congregation. For this I am especially grateful, since many relationships between rabbis and their emeriti are filled with tension and angst. But Aaron Gold was always encouraging, accommodating and helpful.

But he believed that he still had many years of service to Klal Yisrael left in him. After Tifereth Israel he became the Interim Rabbi of Temple Beth Emet in Anaheim for a year, and then the Rabbi of Congregation Ner Tamid in Rancho Bernardo for six years. After having served many years in larger congregations with larger staffs, he once again became a Kol Bo, not only preaching and leading services, but acting as Chazan and Bar and Bat Mitzvah tutor. It was demanding work, and much more than the part time position he signed on for, but he loved it! And his congregants loved him, just as had so many others before them.

He retired from Congregation Ner Tamid in 1999, and was succeed by Rabbi Aharon Kopikis, but was still not ready to leave the pulpit. He became the Rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom in Chula Vista, and served that congregation with dignity, strength and integrity until last May.

It was around this time that his lung cancer was diagnosed. He and Jeanne fought to beat it. He maintained his confident and optimistic attitude, but it soon became clear that this was one battle he was not going to be able to win.

He and Jeanne used this last year of his life wisely. They became even closer than they had been before, and every single minute was spent with each other. They were soul mates to the end. Their love flowed back and forth.

Israel Bonds honored Rabbi Gold a few months ago. Jeanne spoke on Rabbi Gold’s behalf in accepting the award, but Aaron could never resist taking the microphone.

He did not want to speak about Israel or his career or even to acknowledge his award. All he wanted to speak about was his beloved Jeanne.

"I did not go looking for her, but I found her, and she found me," he said. "She made me the type of Rabbi I wanted to be. Between the two of us, it has been a wonderful life, a joy of participation in the synagogue, and all of the beautiful things with which life can surround us."

When Rabbi Aaron Shalom Gold died, he died in peace, with his beloved Jeanne, daughter Claudia, our Cantor, and some of his close friends by his side.

With his passing, an era closes, for our synagogue and for the Jewish community. Although he is gone, the mark he leaves on the Jewish community and in our hearts is indelible.

I would like to close with Rabbi Gold’s own words, from an article he wrote in the June, 1981 Tifereth Israel Shofar, our congregation’s monthly newsletter.

He entitled the article, "What is a Rabbi?"

Rabbi Gold wrote:

"A rabbi must...acknowledge to many of his congregants the deep sense of gratitude he sincerely feels for friendship, frankness, encouragement, helpfulness, and the warm clasp of numerous hands and hearts who understand, and share the love and joy that flow from the essence of his being into the life stream of the people he serves....

"Every day of my life I thank God for the privilege of being Aaron, [God’s] servant, ministering to the holy congregation of Israel. On many of those days I argue with Him and ask, "Why did you choose me?" But once in a while I surrender to the thought, "What kind of business is this for a nice Jewish boy?"

Aaron, all of us here today know why God choose you. He chose you to lead and to inspire His people, to teach Torah, and to spread His message of love and holiness with all of His children, and this you did, through your words, through your actions, and through the way you lived each day with which you were blessed.

God wanted you to follow in the footsteps of your namesake, Aharon HaKohein, Aaron the High Priest. And so you did. And now that your earthly journey is complete, we can say of you that which was said of him:

"Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving humankind and bringing them close to Torah."

May the name and memory of Harav Aharon Shalom ben HaRav Elazar Elimelech v’Zlata Mirel, Rabbi Aaron Shalom Gold, always be a blessing and inspiration to all of us.

May his soul be bound in the bonds of Eternal Life. Amen.