Shloshim for Harav YM Hertz in Chicago - Dr. Ira Weiss

So, hearing about Rabbi Hertz's father is certainly inspirational, especially considering his journey from Israel to London, the influence he had on the entire world through his travels and his different locations. But, one has to take into account also something that hasn't been touched upon. And that through Rabbi Hertz's father we have Rabbi Hertz here in our shul here in our community. And there's there's no doubt in my mind, even though I had not the privilege of meeting Rabbi Hertz's father, there's no doubt in my mind that Rabbi Hertz's father has a lot to do with Rabbi Hertz being such an effective spiritual guide and leader of this community. With an extraordinary amount of kindness, effectiveness, and he follows in the footsteps of someone whose footsteps might have been hard to follow, my my own teacher, Rabbi Herschel Schusterman, who was my guide when previous rebbe passed away. It was just the year that I became of age to go to cheder, and I had such a wonderful teacher in Rabbi Schusterman, and he left such an imprint that I said, "It's going to be hard for another rabbi to follow in Rabbi Schusterman's footsteps." But, we have the example of how this can be done. I'm sure that Rabbi Hertz's father instilled in Rabbi Hertz a special way of looking at his being head of a community. It may have had a lot to do with his extraordinary kindness that we all experience with him. And I have personally been the beneficiary of Rabbi Hertz's immense guidance, kindness, and concern. And I think this had a great deal to do with my own mission of helping with the Rebbe's recovery at a time when his health was really close to down to zero. So, I have to thank Rabbi Hertz and of course Rabbi Hertz's father for giving us Rabbi Hertz and his foundations in a way that really represents the transition from the previous Rebbe to our Rebbe, our dear Rebbe, Rabbi Schneerson, and his legacy and how our leader here, Rabbi Hertz, helped us to appreciate what benefits we were given in this sequence of Rebbeim who led the Lubavitch world. And I kind of thank you, Rabbi Hertz, for always having been extraordinarily generous with your community and certainly with me.