Studying Together

I got an e-mail last night from Sammy Kahn. His uncle, Rabbi Phillip Harris Singer passed away yesterday. The funeral was the same day and the burial will take place in Israel.

Rabbi Singer was a great Talmudist with a wonderful sense of humor. He was married to Rabbi Kahn’s sister, Tziril. They live in Brooklyn. For years I knew him as “Pinny”, long before I ever met the man. Whenever Rabbi Kahn and I had a question of Jewish law he would pick up the phone and dial Pinny. Pinny always had the answer. He would immediately say which page of Talmud to look at and even where on the page the source could be found.

Pinny spoke at Rabbi Kahn’s funeral as well as the unveiling. But my most meaningful memory of Rabbi Singer and Rabbi Kahn together was a conversation they shared one late night a couple of years ago. After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Rabbi Kahn was told that he had “6 months to live”. On the last day of that 6th month, at midnight, Rabbi Kahn called his brother in law on the phone and the two of them studied Talmud together as the clock struck 12 midnight. The next day, Rabbi Kahn explained to me that if the Malach Ha-Mavet (The Angel of Death) was going to come for him, at least he would find him studying Torah. And who knows, maybe that would send The Angel away.

It must have worked, because Rabbi Kahn lived another 6 months or more after that. They were both men of great faith, and now, in Olam Ha-Bah they are studying together once again.
Beth El mourns the loss of Rabbi Singer and we offer our condolences to his family. Yehi Zichro Baruch – May his memory be a blessing.