Whenever I thought of Amir after he left Yeshivat HaMivtar, it was always with a soul smile. All who knew Amir understand the ingredients of that smile: his keen intellect, sharp sense of humor, desire – even passion – to understand…
I see Amir, even now, in my mind’s eye, as he would make his way across the beit midrash toward my table with a quizzical look which signaled a good question or interesting discussion.
Were I to have made a prediction about that teenager – fresh out of high school – I would have bet on an adult who was still concerned with discovering the truths that are often dismissed as the luxury of teenagers who have not yet experienced the “real” world. I sensed that for Amir questions were part of a genuine quest and that his pursuit of answers would be abandoned only at his peril.
How I wish that we could have had another conversation; another moment together. Instead we are left speechless, challenged with one more, final question – zaddik v’ra lo – and nothing to say but chaval, chaval al d’avdin…
I will miss him sorely.
Dovid Ebner