Yehoshua Glik

I haven't written in ages, I know...

However it seems that a blog is just that... for me anyway. Writing when the need rises up inside...I havent felt that need in a long time.

Saba's death and the events leading up to it, swept me into a time of reflection and much musing. Death so close and so visible was a diclosure for me in many ways.

Not that I had ignored death... but I simply hadn't faced it so clearly.

Saba, Yehoshua Glick left us on 28th April 2009.

It was Erev Yom HaZicharon when he died. A national "holiday: - a time of reflection and mourning for all those who have fallen for the land of Israel. Soldiers, terrorist victims etc.

He too was a victim. A victim of cancer, a kind of terrorist that invades your body and kills you. A fact of life in the living world. Our imperfect bodies, will eventually die.

He wanted so much to live, he wanted CHAIM! He fought till the end. We had peace as we knew that he was blessed with an incredible life. From a devout Jew growing up in Hungrary, to surviving the Holocaust, coming to Israel and finding his wife alive and well after Auschwitz - now in a kibbutz in Israel. Establishing a kibbutz, fathering 3 children, a teacher and a revolutionary in many ways the kibbutz system ran. A man who spoke the truth and though many didn't always like to hear that truth! He was remembered for his uprightness.

He was always patient, loved his grandchildren and loved me! A non-Jew, a wife to his youngest son. He accepted me right away. I am sure he worried about our faith, the homeschooling, our financial struggles, but he never judged or criticised us and always helped where he could.

Here is what I wrote for the kibbutz tribute to Saba:

In memory of our Saba: Yehoshua Glick

We all live on borrowed time. I know this, but as life goes on we forget. We get lost in our own lives and busyness. As a wife and mother this was heavily impressed on me as I watched Saba slip away during his last days. I was strongly reminded just how precious the gift of life is and how we need to appreciate each moment, especially in our relationships.

I came into the Glick household as a foreigner, and often see myself as a kind of Ruth the Moabite, joined to the people of Israel. The blessing and acceptance that I received from Saba when Yaron and I married was immediate and without prejudice. He loved me and made me feel part of the whole family in every way. He loved me as a daughter, I know, because he told me so…

Some months ago I felt the importance to write to him to thank him for being so precious to me and our family. To tell him how much I love him. I am glad that I didn’t wait till it was too late to tell him. The children also had time to let him know how much he meant to them, especially Kai and Tessie.

We who are left behind are gifted with beautiful memories from Saba and there are many – he left behind a lot of admiration and love.

I miss you Yehoshua/Saba, as do the children.
Thank you for all that you were to us and may you live on in us.

Kelly

His grave: The stone gets placed after 30 days. The sign there is temporary. We went up for the 30 days just recently. Just the family and said a blessing and Drora spoke also.

It was also Shavuot - the time of harvest. Another holiday here! He died on memory day and the 30 days was over the harvest time. May there be harvest here in our souls and in the land of Israel!