There But For The Grace Of G-d, Part Two

Debbie Friedman (1951-2011)



Debbie Friedman died on Sunday.  For those of you who are not familiar with Debbie,  she was an extremely popular singer/songwriter who performed all over the world.  She was primarily associated with the Reform and Reconstructionist branches of Judaism.  Her music was sometimes liturgical, sometimes whimsical, always spiritual.  She was an exceptionally gifted, self-taught musician.  Her charisma and buoyant personality drew scores of young people to Judaism, albeit not Orthodox Judaism.  But hey...who am I to Judge?  Who knows how many Jewish souls she saved?  She has even been compared to the great Shlomo Carlebach, whom she held in great esteem, and emulated in many ways.  Extremely prolific, Debbie released over twenty albums of her work during her career.  Based on the few songs of hers that I was familiar with, I was an admirer of her work.  I'm sorry to say I never followed her music very closely.  So what's Debbie Friedman doing in my blog, you ask?  Well, Debbie was born February 23, 1951.  That would make her 38 days younger than I.  She died at age 59.  Know what she died of?  Debbie died of pneumonia.  She was on tour in Europe, didn't feel well, came back to the states and was hospitalized immediately in Los Angeles.  She was quickly put on a respirator, but her particular strain of pneumonia did not respond to antibiotics, and she passed away shortly thereafter.  While reading all the details of her untimely demise, I was struck by all the similarities between us.  Two singers of the same age, struck down by almost identical illnesses at the same time in their respective lives.  One survives and one doesn't.  Arbitrary?  Hardly.  But we don't presume to understand His grand scheme.  I'm very happy/lucky/grateful to be alive.  And yet somehow, even though I did not know her, I grieve for Debbie Friedman.     

PS  Here's a link to a very nice tribute to Debbie...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA0nAec3y7U&feature=related