[Avodah] Remembering Haham Solomon Gaon

[Prof. Levine via Avodah]

 From http://tinyurl.com/hzar9qq

At Shabbat services yesterday at Congregation Shearith Israel 
(December 26, 2015), a memorial prayer was recited for the late Haham 
Dr. Solomon Gaon (1912-1994) when Ben Cohen, a grandson of the Haham, 
was called to the Sefer. The hundred or so congregants in attendance 
all stood up respectfully during the memorial prayer.

As I looked around the room, it struck me that many of the people 
there had never known Haham Gaon personally, and many had probably 
not even heard of him. A generation comes, a generation goes, and the 
lives of most people gradually fade into oblivion.

As one of Haham Gaon's first students at Yeshiva University in 1963, 
I want to share a few thoughts about a man who was not merely a 
teacher, but a mentor and friend. Had I not studied with Haham Gaon, 
I almost surely would not have become a rabbi; had he not been a 
constant guide and friend, I almost surely would not have had a 
rabbinic career spanning nearly five decades.

<Snip>

Haham Gaon represented a balanced religiosity, deeply faithful to 
tradition while deeply sensitive to the needs and feelings of modern 
men and women. Haham Gaon was a model of dignity, compassion, and 
total commitment to the People of Israel and the State of Israel. He 
did not attempt to validate his religiosity by adopting "Hareidi" 
style rabbinic garb; on the contrary, as a proud Sephardic rabbi, he 
refused to compromise his own traditions in order to curry favor 
among others. He respected Ashkenazic rabbis who were faithful to 
their traditions, and he expected them to be respectful of his traditions.

As we mark the anniversary of the passing of Haham Gaon, we may well 
also be marking the end of an era of Sephardic rabbinic leadership. 
The broadness of vision, tolerance, spirituality and humanism of the 
Sephardic rabbinic tradition is on the brink of extinction. At the 
very moment when the Jewish world needs exactly this kind of 
spiritual leadership, we miss Haham more than ever.

See the above URL for more.