YRY Dinner 2015 - Tribute to Rav Raphael Marcus z"l & Dedication of the Old City Bet Medrash

my father Z had an incredible ability to connect to people on a very personal level not just to one type of person but to a whole range of people to the elderly European Holocaust survivors in schul he would talk to them in their native yish and to his high school students whether it be in New York or in Toronto he would if necessary play a one-on-one basketball game in the gym so it made no difference who the person was he connected them on a very very personal level that's what made him so special for so many in 10th Grade we got introduced to this Rabbi Rafal Marcus we immediately took to him he spent tremendous amounts of time to teach us about life what was really important about life to help us as young men which was really the way he treated us he treated us as equals even though he was obviously much older than us it was our rebi but he taught us to have respect for him and yet view him as an equal we knew from the moment that Ro Marcus walked through the door we had somebody very special that we were able to look up to and that could be mentor to us and we can learn from he was a RV first in y vmir for about a year when he was a RBI in highight he was R in Upper West Side in otic for about four years and then the bulk of his career was up in Toronto in Bor for about 27 years he was a very friendly person who I don't think had any enemies anywhere he sympathized with the families that came to him for advice he was a Shepherd Of A Flock he represented for Benet torum for the community he was the the Torah figure he was what it meant to be connected to to Judaism and even the way he the way he spoke indicated that Torah for him was something beyond the individual and Beyond himself and he was it he was the representative of Torah for for our community and that really stuck with me he was our father and our advice giver and in many ways our morak uh who charted out our for us in a in a most beautiful way and he was devoted in so many ways to his family at large to his rebi his father-in-law to whom he always referred to in third person and that same that same dedication to his parents to his sister and brother and certainly to his wife to my mother we were Z's children to see a very very beautiful relationship in the family and the home that does has served and continues to serve as a model for our own lives and family life as well when this opportunity presented itself to be able to give back something to the as a to Rabbi Marcus this concept of this B medish in the Roa in The Old City just steps away from the cotel became a really unbelievable opportunity for everybody in the class all the Tam in the class all the Tam from RAB Marcus to be able to do something where his name and his legacy will be remembered forever and where we know that other teenagers other students other tamidan will be able to come and learn in the Yesa on a regular basis and we know that every time they do that it'll be a for his I was very fortunate to have a relationship with my rebi that really transcended rebi talmid relationship he was my friend he was my mentor he was my go-to guy when I had issues I went to him when I had obviously Lo of questions I went to him to this day there's a void in my life without him to have a reib like that is an unbelievable braa and I wish everyone should have the opportunity to have their kind of relationship and it says so much about him that he was able to generate that kind of relationship with his tum there are very very sad when illness gradually took his strength and he passed away but we can't do anything more positive than celebrate his life and his [Music] accomplishments [Music]