Yartzeit of Mark Samuel 2015

We have recently completed the cycle of Jewish holydays that begin with Rosh Hashana, transition to Yom Kippur and end with Sukkot. The mood of these days are a study in contrasts. The first 10 days, from the New Year to Yom Kippur, are intense periods for prayer, soul searching, repentance, and asking forgiveness from your fellow man. The completion of Yom Kippur leads into the preparation and then the celebration of Sukkot. This agrarian holiday includes dwelling in a Sukkah, a temporary shelter with its thatched roof that is partly open to the sky. Suffice it to say that the climate of Israel is much superior for this holiday than Montreal. Sukkot also has other agricultural symbols, including prayers for rain and the use of four species in many of the holiday prayers. 

The four species, Lulav (Palm), Hadasah (Myrtle), Arava (Willow) and Etrog (Citron) are very diverse in their properties. We are taught that they represent 4 classes of individuals: those who perform meritorious deeds, those who are learned in Torah, those who have both traits, and those who have neither. What is fascinating is that the rituals surrounding the Arba Minim (the four species) are only valid if all the 4 are taken together. We can’t just take the lovely, fragrant Etrog, representing meritorious behaviors and scholarship, nor can we cast aside the lowly willow, which has neither a fine smell nor provides tasty fruit, thus representing individuals without good deeds or learning. In spite of the disparities between the four species, they are always must be brought together in the rituals of Sukkot; they are inexorably linked even if they differ greatly. 

This is a tremendous lesson that can be extrapolated to many things, but it is a crucial part of providing education. There are many different types of students, stronger and weaker, those who are motivated, and those who need considerable encouragement, those who have special needs, and those who have outstanding abilities. The role of an educator, and indeed of a parent, is to recognize if someone is an Etrog, a Myrtle, a Palm or a Willow, or falls anywhere along the spectrum. Like in the Sukkot rituals, all are special and must be treated equally; without one, any one, the others lose value. Treating all as unique with their own special abilities is a crucial lesson we learn from the 4 species.

We commemorate the passing of Mark on the 7^th day of the Jewish Month of Cheshvan, which always comes out soon after Sukkot. Mark was a tremendous scholar, but also an amazing educator. He worked hard as a university professor to both motivate and educate. As a Father and Uncle, he provided games, and puzzles for his kids, nieces and nephews to work on, to think through and to have fun learning. It did not matter who, he always had time and patience to give to his family and his students. This was tied together with his legendary scholarship and his wish to solve complex problems in physics. On the other hand, he wrote chapters for the “Encyclopedia of Physics”, primarily a tool for non-physicists. For Mark, communicating knowledge was key. 

It is the 18^th anniversary of Mark’s untimely passing. 18 is the numerical value for the Hebrew word “Chai” meaning life. Mark’s memory lives on in us and it is important that we carry on his legacy. In honor of this anniversary, we have dedicated a library in memory of Mark at Yeshivat HaKotel, the school of higher Jewish learning that Elan and Ariel trained at and has contributed to the education of many. The plaque is inscribed with his name in English and Hebrew and says “The Pursuit of Knowledge is Everything”, which embodies his vision. We invite anyone who is in Jerusalem to visit, and in remembering his life, remember the lessons Mark taught that should live on through us all: that everyone should be treated as a special person, and that we should never stop learning and trying to understanding the world around us.