Dear Friends,
Last week, on Erev Sukkot, we escorted a dear member of the community, Dr. Nicolas Cohen to his resting place. Nicolas was a very special individual, someone who made a great impression on everyone who knew him.
Since I have known Nicolas, he was suffering from a very advanced Parkinson's disease, and was very limited in his function. However, instead of complaining about his condition, he always found the time to complement people and share kind words of appreciation. Here are two incidents how he touched my life:
Nicolas was one of the regulars to receive the "Light of Shabbat" box, every time after receiving he made sure to call or send a note of thank you. The following is a letter he sent a short while before he left Victoria. The letter is classical for Nicolas, filled with emotion and poetry:
"On Friday... I felt abandoned, utterly lonely. I opened your box, took the candles, lit them said the Brocho... and everything was transformed. By the time I came to Hamotsi my heart was calm and filled with happiness of Shabbat".
A few weeks before he left Victoria, Nicolas contacted me and asked if I'd come for a visit. When I came, he expressed his strong wish to put on Tefillin, something he hadn’t done for a few decades. I helped him put them on, and he said the Shema in a tear-choked voice... When we finished he thanked me, as always, with a great smile...
May his soul be bound in the bond of life.
Ignacio wrote...