Page 34 - issue
P. 34
RAHBABLIESVHI MSIUEEGLEDL,OzV”lID
O(above photo) Rabbi Siegel and his children.
n May 27, 2016, our father (Totty), Rabbi Shmuel
Dovid HaLevi Siegel, was niftar as a result of compli-
cations caused by advancing Alzheimer’s disease, a
condition with which he struggled during the final
years of his life.
Even in the throes of his significant challenges, Totty
maintained the essential elements of his personhood: his
gentleness and humility; his courtesy and courtliness; his
yiras Shamayim and bitachon (fear of and faith in G-d);
and his deep connection to his Torah learning. Even when
his awareness of current times was obscured by his illness,
Totty could still recite psukim (verses) from anywhere in
Tanach, put on his tefilin unaided, and participate in a
minyan.
As his mind cruised through the old memories that he
cherished, our father would make reference to his beloved
Baltimore; to his parents and his sisters, Ada and Debby; to
his old friends from his years at Talmudical Academy; to his
home on Eutaw Place; to his boyhood shul, the Shearith
Israel of McCulloch Street; and to his reverence for his
rebbeim, especially his Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yaakov
Yitzchok Ruderman, zt”l, of Ner Israel.
Wherever Totty was, his world was ever-defined by his
beloved Baltimore and the fundamental values and ethical
standards that were etched into his psyche by his parents,
30 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
O(above photo) Rabbi Siegel and his children.
n May 27, 2016, our father (Totty), Rabbi Shmuel
Dovid HaLevi Siegel, was niftar as a result of compli-
cations caused by advancing Alzheimer’s disease, a
condition with which he struggled during the final
years of his life.
Even in the throes of his significant challenges, Totty
maintained the essential elements of his personhood: his
gentleness and humility; his courtesy and courtliness; his
yiras Shamayim and bitachon (fear of and faith in G-d);
and his deep connection to his Torah learning. Even when
his awareness of current times was obscured by his illness,
Totty could still recite psukim (verses) from anywhere in
Tanach, put on his tefilin unaided, and participate in a
minyan.
As his mind cruised through the old memories that he
cherished, our father would make reference to his beloved
Baltimore; to his parents and his sisters, Ada and Debby; to
his old friends from his years at Talmudical Academy; to his
home on Eutaw Place; to his boyhood shul, the Shearith
Israel of McCulloch Street; and to his reverence for his
rebbeim, especially his Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yaakov
Yitzchok Ruderman, zt”l, of Ner Israel.
Wherever Totty was, his world was ever-defined by his
beloved Baltimore and the fundamental values and ethical
standards that were etched into his psyche by his parents,
30 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
