As I sat in Paperman’s, the funeral chapel, listening to the Rabbis, and to Ben’s boys pay tribute to their father, like all of us in attendance, I marveled at the dignity and honor with which Ben conducted his remarkable life. I was most impressed with the speech of a Rabbi Cohen, who regaled us with a commentary on Psalm 23, apparently a favorite of Ben’s.
In his discussion, I enjoyed a revelation that has reaffirmed a basic spiritual concept appropriate for all of us.
“Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”
From this, I understood that it is not death itself that we dread, but rather the fear of death, the ‘shadow of death’. If one can fathom the concept of God as that of infinite potential, of unlimited opportunity, then the Psalm is truly a call to maintaining a positive attitude of confidence, gratitude, and enthusiastic endeavor. We are advised to avoid the fear of failure, to avoid negativity, or, ‘the shadow of death’.
Could there be a more appropriate analogy to the message that the Weider brothers have tirelessly offered?
I think not.
At the funeral, I was overwhelmed by the colossal influence that Joe and Ben have exerted on the entire world. I started ‘guesstimating’ numbers, masses of population, generations, cultures, nations….it is truly impossible to quantify such a universal phenomenon
December 9th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Recollections of Ben Weider
As I sat in Paperman’s, the funeral chapel, listening to the Rabbis, and to Ben’s boys pay tribute to their father, like all of us in attendance, I marveled at the dignity and honor with which Ben conducted his remarkable life. I was most impressed with the speech of a Rabbi Cohen, who regaled us with a commentary on Psalm 23, apparently a favorite of Ben’s.
In his discussion, I enjoyed a revelation that has reaffirmed a basic spiritual concept appropriate for all of us.
“Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”
From this, I understood that it is not death itself that we dread, but rather the fear of death, the ‘shadow of death’. If one can fathom the concept of God as that of infinite potential, of unlimited opportunity, then the Psalm is truly a call to maintaining a positive attitude of confidence, gratitude, and enthusiastic endeavor. We are advised to avoid the fear of failure, to avoid negativity, or, ‘the shadow of death’.
Could there be a more appropriate analogy to the message that the Weider brothers have tirelessly offered?
I think not.
At the funeral, I was overwhelmed by the colossal influence that Joe and Ben have exerted on the entire world. I started ‘guesstimating’ numbers, masses of population, generations, cultures, nations….it is truly impossible to quantify such a universal phenomenon