Shali Kleinhous
Dear Maggie & Jerry,
Sending you a big hug for today, and hope you were surrounded by a lot of love. I always feel that I’m there with you, I just wish it didn’t have to be from afar.
Love to you both and to the rest of the family.
Shali
Brian Gilbert
Dearest Maggie & Jerry,
I’ll be thinking of you tomorrow. I send you all my love. Nothing can make up for the loss of Tani I am sure, except, perhaps a little, the wonderful family you have and the love you feel for each other – so brightly visible to all you friends. I hope at least it brings the comfort you so deserve.
As ever,
Brian xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lital Casper
Maggie and family
I am so sad that I cannot be with you this coming week. As in the past 6 years, we are still living in Chicago. I think if you guys often and love you all and am sad that I can’t be with you on Tani’s birthday or Memorial Day. Please know that I will be with you in my spirit.
Hope to see you on our next home visit.
Xoxo
Lital
Yonina Murciano-Goroff
Dear Goodman Family,
I hope that this note finds you well. I was an American Bronfman Fellow the year that Tani participated, and I still feel constantly grateful to have had contact with someone who was truly such a great tzadik.
Tani had a special vibrance. I remember his absolute excitement about everything from the beauty of the stars over the lake at the Bronfman retreat in Connecticut to his joy in teaching the group the dance routine for “noladeti la-shalom”. He was always anxious to share with others. Even just the way that he taught a new nigun on Shabbat made clear his love of teaching and his ability to be a great leader.
What most struck me about him, though, was his pride in being Jewish. He knew what his ideals were, and he pursued them with total dedication. In particular, I remember being quite moved when he said that the greatest compliment anyone could give him was to say that he had lived a Jewish life. It’s a motto that I regularly quote in his name, and that I come back to in shaping my own path as a Jew.
Tani continues to serve as a model and inspiration for me – and I know for many others- of what it means to live a Jewish life.
May his memory continue to be a blessing.
Yonina
Bill Morell
Maggie, Jerry, Devorah, Micah, Yael, Avi,
Let Shmuel speak eloquently. Let him speak passionately. May his words be full of insight and inspiration.
And yet we know, even when spoken with eloquence, passion, and keen perception words will fall short of truth. They always do.
The truth of Tani is found beyond anything the mouth can testify to. His life is extended and redefined and he is known by hearts and memories and running feet, seeing eyes, and love and wonder. To know the Goodmans is to know Tani. To experience the Tani Way is to find his truth. The truth the Mighty One planted; the truth you nourished and Tani lived, and the truth runners and believers expanded.
18 years is a blink of the eye, even and especially for the eye still damp.
I am with you on the 7th, on the 20th, and on whatever other day personal calendars mark his entry to the Eternal Truth.
Billy
Kathy Ramseur
Dearest Margaret and Jerry and Tani’s siblings, blessings to you.
Eighteen years! How can that be. Doesn’t seem possible. Eighteen years but still painful. It’s interesting that every year around this time I start thinking of him. Curly blond haired two year old with more energy than sense. But mostly the boy getting ready for his thirteenth birthday. Studying for his big day. Wonderful handsome, sweet boy turning into a man.
My heart and prayers are with you. Much love, Kathy
Cindy Rice
Dearest Maggie…
I know what this time of year is like for you and your family and the absence of Tani in your lives. Always remember that you are loved by so many people who care.
Much love, Cindy Rice