2,766 Days*

 My father passed away on May 21st. (19 Iyar), 2003.  It was quite thoughtful of him, since it's

Moshe Yaakov Zweig

the day after Lag B'omer, so it's very easy for me to remember when I have 

Moshe Yaakov Lieberman

yahrzeit.  It doesn't surprise me that he would be so mindful of someone else's

needs; he was, as I wrote in the obituary for the Jewish Press, the "quintessential nice guy".  He never had a bad word for anyone and was the embodiment of someone who is someach b'chelko**. Officially Jews mourn a parent for a year...don't believe it for a minute.  You never really stop.  I don't think a day has gone  by since that fateful Tuesday night that I haven't thought of him.  Along with the rest of us, he was blown away when Feige married Yehuda.  For his granddaughter to marry Sam and Esther Lieberman's grandson was almost too good to be true.  It's difficult to explain how close our two families have been over the years.  My father and Sam sat next to each other in shul for at least fifty years, probably more.  Along with the Engels, they played cards every Saturday night for years.  They each had three children and remarkably both the ages and the genders of their progeny corresponded, so my siblings and I were all best friends with our Lieberman counterparts.  Naturally, I too was thrilled when Feige and Yehuda hooked up; there was an undeniable elegance to our families finally officially merging.  But last Thursday the symbiosis was finally complete: Feige's eight-day old baby was named Moshe Yaakov Lieberman.  For the names "Moshe Yaakov" and "Lieberman" to become the moniker for a spanking new human being is truly awe-inspiring.  Yes, there have been other children named for Moshe Yaakov before, and Moishy Lench and Moshe Yaakov Judowitz are each the kind of kid my father would have loved.  But for Moshe Yaakov's name to be attached to Shmuel Chaim's surname represents a symmetry of the highest order.  I'm sure Moish and Sam and Esther are all smiling now.  Babby would be too, if she could stop crying long enough.  May the nachas just keep coming for all of us and may I be around long enough to see it all.  Okay, you too.  Amen!     

* 2,766 days: That's how long it took for there to be a Moshe Yaakov Lieberman from the day Zeidie passed away. Trust me.
** Someach B'chelko = satisfied with one's lot.

Sam & Esther