Back from New York
My throat is sore and I'm wrung out but I'm home. It filled my heart to see so many of my New York friends before, during, and after David's funeral. I'm proud and humbled to be a part of such a family. Watching everyone come together to help Alexandra, to support each other, to create the kind of send-off that would have delighted and slightly embarrassed David, was a sad joy and an honor. I can't tell you all how many times I found myself thinking that I'd been gone too long.
I have to say that Alexandra was magnificent. She held herself together so well. I don't know how she did it.
David was laid to rest at Green-Wood Cemetary in Brooklyn (Wikipedia entry) overlooking Leonard Bernstein's and Charles Ebbett's graves. What better place for a musician and baseball fan? His resting place is also adjacent (as many of us noted) to Nut Path. 'Nuff said.
I was privileged to speak during the service at the funeral home. This was what I said:
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The 13th century Sufi mystic Rumi wrote:
God picks up the reed-flute world and blows.
Each note is a need coming through one of us,
A passion, longing pain. Remember the lips
Where the wind originated,
And let your note be clear.
Don’t try to end it.
Be your note.
I’ll show you how it’s enough.
David found his note. Whether as writer, musician, or a rabbi, he sang it. And I was, we all were, blessed to have been able to hear it. He invited us all to sing with him each in our own way. We can talk about his friendship and his life works, but in the end, what he was doing was sharing his love with us all. David’s heart was enormous, and he poured it into everything he did and everyone he knew. Among other things, he
introduced me to Rumi’s work, so I share it one more time with you, and with him, with all my love.
Don’t worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
It doesn’t matter.
The strumming and the flute notes rise into the atmosphere
And even if the whole world’s harp
Should burn up, there will still be
Hidden instruments playing.
So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.
------------------------------------------------------
I also wanted to share kradical's official obit for David. He did a wonderful job (but, of course, we expect no less).
------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi David M. Honigsberg passed away on Tuesday March 27, 2007 of a heart attack. He was 48 years old.
Rabbi Honigsberg wore many hats: besides his rabbinical work, he was a singer/songwriter, a guitarist, a writer, a game reviewer, a graduate student, a Kabbalah expert and teacher, and an online quality assurance professional. He was mere weeks away from receiving his Master of Arts in Jewish Studies from Jewish Theological Seminary, which will be awarded posthumously.
Born on September 13, 1958 in New York City to Charles and Marilyn Schwartz Honigsberg, Rabbi Honigsberg was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended the University of Hartford from 1976 to 1978, where he achieved his Associates Degree, and also where he met his future wife. Alexandra Elizabeth Honigsberg-a priest in the Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Church-married Rabbi Honigsberg on May 24, 1981. They moved to New York City, where they continued to live and work.
A musician from his days as a high school student, Rabbi Honigsberg wrote and performed extensively over the years, particularly in recent times. From 1994 to 2000 he was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the rock/blues/country band the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players. The DQYDJP performed at science fiction conventions, New York City clubs, college campuses, and county and state fairs, and released two CDs, TKB (1996) and Blues Spoken Here (1999). After the band split up, David pursued a solo career, releasing two CDs of his own, Ten the Hard Way (2001) and The Pattern (2006). He was in the midst of a tour in support of The Pattern at the time of his passing.
His writing career ranged from short stories in the fantasy and science fiction genre-published in such anthologies as The Ultimate Silver Surfer, Magic: The Gathering: Tapestries, Elric: Tales of the White Wolf, On Crusade: More Tales of the Knights Templar, and Bruce Coville's UFOs-to gaming work, most notably Ars Magica Kabbalah, an Ars Magica Sourcebook that combined his love of gaming with his scholarly interest in Kabbalah.
He was ordained a rabbi at the New Synagogue on June 27, 2000, but even before that, he was a spiritual advisor to many of his friends and acquaintances, always ready to provide assistance, aid, a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to bend. After his ordination, he regularly performed weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and funerals with his unique combination of studiousness, warmth, and joy. His scholarly articles appeared in the newsletter of the Order of St. Michael and Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, and he presented his paper Pre-Kabbalistic Philosophy in the Age of Augustine at Oxford University. He also regularly taught Kabbalah workshops out of his home, and both he and his wife were active in the interfaith community. Several of his sermons and articles can be found online at http://www.DavidHonigsberg.com.
Rabbi Honigsberg is survived by his wife, his parents, and his brother Michael.
------------------------------------------------------
ferragus took this photograph of David during his last concert at Lunacon just a couple of weeks ago. I wish I'd been there to see it.
On Thursday, when Alexandra and I were alone in her apartment, she returned to me two pieces of jewelry that I gave to David. One was a silver ring that I've been wearing on my thumb since she gave it to me. She told me he called it his lucky ring. The other is his star of David, which he wore nearly every day since the day I gave it to him more than 12 years ago. It now resides on a gold chain around my neck, with the star he gave to me.
Farewell, my beloved friend. I'll see you in the place where no shadows fall.
I have to say that Alexandra was magnificent. She held herself together so well. I don't know how she did it.
David was laid to rest at Green-Wood Cemetary in Brooklyn (Wikipedia entry) overlooking Leonard Bernstein's and Charles Ebbett's graves. What better place for a musician and baseball fan? His resting place is also adjacent (as many of us noted) to Nut Path. 'Nuff said.
I was privileged to speak during the service at the funeral home. This was what I said:
----------------------------------------------------------
The 13th century Sufi mystic Rumi wrote:
God picks up the reed-flute world and blows.
Each note is a need coming through one of us,
A passion, longing pain. Remember the lips
Where the wind originated,
And let your note be clear.
Don’t try to end it.
Be your note.
I’ll show you how it’s enough.
David found his note. Whether as writer, musician, or a rabbi, he sang it. And I was, we all were, blessed to have been able to hear it. He invited us all to sing with him each in our own way. We can talk about his friendship and his life works, but in the end, what he was doing was sharing his love with us all. David’s heart was enormous, and he poured it into everything he did and everyone he knew. Among other things, he
introduced me to Rumi’s work, so I share it one more time with you, and with him, with all my love.
Don’t worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
It doesn’t matter.
The strumming and the flute notes rise into the atmosphere
And even if the whole world’s harp
Should burn up, there will still be
Hidden instruments playing.
So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.
------------------------------------------------------
I also wanted to share kradical's official obit for David. He did a wonderful job (but, of course, we expect no less).
------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi David M. Honigsberg passed away on Tuesday March 27, 2007 of a heart attack. He was 48 years old.
Rabbi Honigsberg wore many hats: besides his rabbinical work, he was a singer/songwriter, a guitarist, a writer, a game reviewer, a graduate student, a Kabbalah expert and teacher, and an online quality assurance professional. He was mere weeks away from receiving his Master of Arts in Jewish Studies from Jewish Theological Seminary, which will be awarded posthumously.
Born on September 13, 1958 in New York City to Charles and Marilyn Schwartz Honigsberg, Rabbi Honigsberg was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended the University of Hartford from 1976 to 1978, where he achieved his Associates Degree, and also where he met his future wife. Alexandra Elizabeth Honigsberg-a priest in the Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Church-married Rabbi Honigsberg on May 24, 1981. They moved to New York City, where they continued to live and work.
A musician from his days as a high school student, Rabbi Honigsberg wrote and performed extensively over the years, particularly in recent times. From 1994 to 2000 he was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the rock/blues/country band the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players. The DQYDJP performed at science fiction conventions, New York City clubs, college campuses, and county and state fairs, and released two CDs, TKB (1996) and Blues Spoken Here (1999). After the band split up, David pursued a solo career, releasing two CDs of his own, Ten the Hard Way (2001) and The Pattern (2006). He was in the midst of a tour in support of The Pattern at the time of his passing.
His writing career ranged from short stories in the fantasy and science fiction genre-published in such anthologies as The Ultimate Silver Surfer, Magic: The Gathering: Tapestries, Elric: Tales of the White Wolf, On Crusade: More Tales of the Knights Templar, and Bruce Coville's UFOs-to gaming work, most notably Ars Magica Kabbalah, an Ars Magica Sourcebook that combined his love of gaming with his scholarly interest in Kabbalah.
He was ordained a rabbi at the New Synagogue on June 27, 2000, but even before that, he was a spiritual advisor to many of his friends and acquaintances, always ready to provide assistance, aid, a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to bend. After his ordination, he regularly performed weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and funerals with his unique combination of studiousness, warmth, and joy. His scholarly articles appeared in the newsletter of the Order of St. Michael and Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, and he presented his paper Pre-Kabbalistic Philosophy in the Age of Augustine at Oxford University. He also regularly taught Kabbalah workshops out of his home, and both he and his wife were active in the interfaith community. Several of his sermons and articles can be found online at http://www.DavidHonigsberg.com.
Rabbi Honigsberg is survived by his wife, his parents, and his brother Michael.
------------------------------------------------------
ferragus took this photograph of David during his last concert at Lunacon just a couple of weeks ago. I wish I'd been there to see it.
On Thursday, when Alexandra and I were alone in her apartment, she returned to me two pieces of jewelry that I gave to David. One was a silver ring that I've been wearing on my thumb since she gave it to me. She told me he called it his lucky ring. The other is his star of David, which he wore nearly every day since the day I gave it to him more than 12 years ago. It now resides on a gold chain around my neck, with the star he gave to me.
Farewell, my beloved friend. I'll see you in the place where no shadows fall.