We knew each other for the past 8 years, basically in Park East Synagogue of New York, and especially in the Young Israel of Aventura Florida.
Willy was nearing 100 when he peacefully left us and our heartfelt sympathy goes especially to his beloved wife Lucille and to Paul and Gail, their son and daughter.
Willy was a survivor of the Holocaust and he passed on the eve of the yearly world commemoration of this horror that decimated a third of our people.
Because I was also born in Poland, I was attuned and could identify with the feelings and reactions of survivors. I could not blame anyone for having lost faith, after what was perceived as the “hidden Presence of the Almighty” during this tragic era. I have read and reread many
essays that try to shed light on this theological dilemma without finding a totally satisfying response. My late teacher the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik came to the conclusion that it was useless to try to understand the ways of an Infinite Being, His Justice is beyond our comprehension. We cannot question God, we must just repeat Baruch Dayan HaEmet,
“Blessed is He Who is the True Judge”, admitting we cannot fathom His Wisdom, His Judgment.
However, we can react after the fact. Hitler tried and almost succeeded in destroying us. Our answer is to live and not accept death. Hitler assassinated Talmidei Chachamim, we have to produce a greater number of Torah scholars. Hitler decimated us; we have to make all efforts
to increase the number of Jews in the world.
Many of those who returned from Auschitz and the different concentration camps became cynical and developed a distrust of a humankind that remained insensitive, deaf to their suffering. Sadness accompanied them in the years following the War.
There were those who started new families and tried to forget the past, even though nightmares about the past would still haunt them.
Viktor Frankl taught that many of those who survived had a purpose in life, a project they wanted to accomplish in the future. Remained hopeful notwithstanding the sadness and pain of their present.
What was special about Willy? He was an optimist. He never lost faith in humanity.
Willy was a talented artist and had a sensitive soul. He left on canvas many of his past experiences, yet when you spoke to him there was always a smile, a maxim about the goodness of life and promise for the future.

Paul is a dentist and Gail is a lawyer because Willy and Lucille created a Jewish home environment that included love and respect for knowledge and tradition “Naches fun kinder”, “joy from the accomplishments of children”, was translated by Willy to become “Naches mit kinder”, “join with your children in their accomplishments”.
Willy was a joiner, he shared, he enjoyed this world, notwithstanding the pain and deprivation of decades ago. Why? I always felt that we react to decisive moments whether of tragedy or joy with our inner real self. And Willy reacted with the inner joy and gratefulness to God for being alive in what was nevertheless, in his eyes, a wonderful world. His positive views were a reflection of his healthy and wholesome soul.

We will miss Willy’s smile and wonderful humor, but we still will be able to admire his art, and above all remember the goodness that emanated from him. One always walked away feeling better and more positive after conversing with him.
Willy was not a taker. Willy was a giver. And he gave much to all.
נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים