Sunday, January 09, 2011

Deborah Lynn Friedman z"l

Early this morning, in a California hospital, Debbie Friedman breathed her last. For most of us, she is as alive as ever she was through the music she wrote that we listen to and sing. We shall always have that. To the people who really knew her - her family, and her friends; they mourn a grievous loss. May they be consoled with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. And, as my friend Halima said: "inna lillah wa inna ilayhi raji'un" (we belong to God, and to God is our return).

Many of my friends are currently sharing their memories of Debbie. Although I met her a couple of times, and attended many of her concerts, I do not have a eulogising anecdote. What comes to mind is that she attended the Limmud Conference at the University of Warwick last month. I was there for a day, and in a spare moment considered going to one of her workshops. I was, however, exhausted, and decided to catch her next time. No next time now. So, in the words of Horace,"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero – Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future."

Some links:





The Washington Post

Union for Reform Judaism

The Jerusalem Post

Seize the Day by DLF on Amazon

Memories of Debbie Friedman by Ben Dreyfus

David Levy on Jewschool

New York Times obituary

Los Angeles Times obituary

A recording of the synagogue portion of Debbie's funeral


Debbie Friedman Journey of Spirit


possibly one of Debbie's last jam sessions, late one night at Limmud:


And then there is Cantor Wally and the Ess-Bees. Love this one:

No comments:

Post a Comment