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Page 22 text:
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GOODBYE MR. SOYER By Harold Uriel Ribalow lalumnusl The deaTh OT Abraham Soyer deeply grieved his hundreds OT sTudenTs, who loved him, admired him, and imiTaTed him wiTh aTTecTion. They will never TOrgeT him, Though They have leTT his class Tor The lasT Time. ThaT he was an old-Tashioned pedagogue maTTered nOT To sTudenTs who cherished warmTh emanaTing Trom a Teacher raTher Than eTTicienT discipline. To all his sTudenTs l'Mr. SOyer lalways Mr. l was The ideal Teacher, alThough They admiTTed wryly ThaT he was a biT Too exciTable. A liTTle man, neaT and kindly, Mr. Soyer won The love OT all his sTudenTs. His inTense and whOlehearTed inTeresT in Teaching awed Those sTudenTs who had noT yeT Taken seriously The business OT sTudy, and made him asymbol OT Jewish wisdom TO Those who undersTood knowledge and iTs value. The rewards OT a Teacher, especially a Hebrew Teacher, are noT greaT. BUT The Tinal reward OT Abraham Soyer is one OT which any man mighT iusTiTiably be proud. He leTT behind him warm memories, sTudenTs who loved every ThoughT OT him, boys who came To him TrighTened wiTh The ThoughT OT delving inTo The mysTeries OT Jewish cuITure, and leTT wiTh The knowledge OT Jewish ideals deeply imbedded wiThin Their souls. The monumenT OT Abraham Soyer is a living one. lT is alive and young, iT lives in hundreds OT young men, and old men, who sTudied and peered inTo The books OT Jewish lore. Yes, Mr. Soyer's monumenT is carven in living Tlesh, noT a cold high slab OT marble. IT is wiThin The souls OT Jewish men, men who laughed aT his jokes, who nudged each oTher when he looked droll, as he whimsically explained The meaning OT a Hebrew word Through picTures on The blackboard, who smiled wiTh aTTecTion when he kissed an embarrassed sTudenT who had answered a quesTion brillianTly. His sTudenTs gained more Than mere knowledge, They caughT a brieT glimpse inTo a noble soul. ln The monumenT OT Abraham Soyer lies Israel iTselT. So long as a sTudenT OT his lives To Tell his son OT This man, who gave his liTeblood To Teachingg so long as anyone who saT in his class can Teel sharp pangs OT regreT now ThaT he no longer graces This earTh - so long shall Abraham Soyer live. Those OT you who knew him and read These lines, do you remember Those unTOrgeTTable liTTle TraiTs OT his? l know They are deeply eTched on The slaTe OT my own memory. Do you remember how he walked inTO class, dapper, well-dressed, how he saT on The desk, liTTle TeeT dangling over The edge, how he leaned Torward and said, in his curious inTonaTion which we all mimicked, Shalom Y'Ladim He called all his sTudenTs Y'ladim lchildrenj, no maTTer whaf Their age. He behaved Toward all his sTudenTs like a Triend who sympaThized wiTh all Their Troubles, like a TaTher who undersTood Their woes. TWG-My ELCHANITE
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Page 23 text:
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l-le knew children. And having This qifT, he enioyed The love of all who came info conTacT wiTh him: for, somehow, in some mysTerious way, he realized ThaT all men are children, and acTed accordingly. l-le TreaTed his fellow Teachers no differenTly from his sTudenTs. l-Te beraTed Them for giving difficulf examinaTions: he saT in on Their lecTures when he had a Tree hour: he could noT keep away from Teaching. Toward The end of his years, when The heads of The Yeshiva asked him To reTire he said, in effecT. ReTire? BuT Teaching is my liTe. Pension? Please, if I had The money l would pay To Teach, noT be paid. And ThaT was how Mr. Soyer Took his job of Teaching. l-le was an arTisT. l'lis sons, who are well-known painfers acquired Their love of arT from Their Tafher. IT anyone did noT undersfand a word, Mr. Soyer drew The meaning in some sorT oT picfure language. lf The sTudenT sTill failed To grasp The idea, he acTed ouT The word. lTo illusTraTe The flighT of a bird, he would climb up on his desk, Tlap his hands, and descendl l-le knew ThaT sTudenTs had difTiculTy in learning all ThaT They mighT, because Teachers Took for granTed ThaT They had sufTicienT background in The subiecT. Mr. Soyer knew ThaT Those who saT in his class were bewildered children Trying hard To learn. So, wiTh love and pafience, he coached Them, TaughT Them, learned Their moods and caughT Their ioys and sorrows. He was a sTory Teller. Fafe desTined him To live among The children he loved, and had TiTTingly endowed him wiTh ThaT giTT. T-le Told of children who wondered abouT The ways of The world: he Told legends which capTured The imaginafion and Tragi-comic Tales OT American Jewish liTe. l-le wroTe books l A Generafion Passes , and The Book of Miraclesml, which Told Tall Tales wiTh gusTo and vigor, beauTiTul simpliciTy, and childlike naiveTe. l-le was a child himselT. DespiTe his years, and so-called old counTry background, he was of The world in which he moved. When his sTudenTs grew older and advanced To higher classes, or graduaTed, They Talked of him wiTh smiles on Their faces, wiTh chuckles in Their voices. They spoke wiTh reverence and smiled wiTh admiraTion. ThaT Goodbye Mr. Chips appeared when iT did seems no more Than poeTic iusTice. The Tender sTory of The warm-hearTed Teacher, who had only The love of his sTudenTs To keep him alive, was wriTTen abouf such a Teacher as Mr. Soyer. BuT no Mr, Chips could have won more aTfecTionaTe esTeem Than Mr. Soyer. To Those who knew him he was a grand old man wiTh all iTs warm connofafions. l-le was an experience, pulsaTing, and rich. ThaT he lived a Tull life by ordinary sTandards, and knew The respecT and admirafion of all who knew him, in no way lessens The sorrow of his passing. He should have lived forever. T-le shall live longer Than mosT people, people who are more famous and have aTTained greaTer recogniTion. Goodbye, lvlr. Soyerf' ELCT-TANITE Twenfy-one
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