It has almost been 2 months since Solomon Wolffs (Shlomo ben Yechezkel Shraga) passing and we are going to post the eulogy at his funeral of his rabbi from the Boca Raton Synagogue, Rabbi Ephram Goldberg: Shlomo ben Yechezkel Shraga – Sol Wolff It is so hard to believe that we are here to say goodbye to Shlomo ben Yechezkel, to our beloved Sol. When people in Boca Raton found out how ill Sol had fallen, nobody could believe it as he had just been in Shul, just been active in the community and was just recently was taking someone else who was sick out for dinner to cheer their spirits. Sol has been taken from us so quickly leaving us bereft and bereaved. While quiet and unassuming, Sol meant the world to all of us, but to nobody more than his beloved family. Ward and Edie, your brother loved you. Gloria – your husband cherished you, admired you and was so devoted to you as you were to him. Jay and Renana, Rachel and Aaron, Michael and Judy and Seth, your father was so proud of each of you and the people you have become. Gavriella, Tehilla, Ayelet, Hodaya, Avi and Shira, Amy, Daniella, David and Brian, Netanel, Naomi, Uriel, and Azriel, Hailey and Tyler, your grandfather adored each of you and only wished he could spend more time together with you. Your lives are forever changed today as the patriarch of your family has left this world. But, you must remember, that today we say goodbye only to his body. His spirit endures and lives on through each of you and through the wonderful memories and impact of a special man. Sol was born in Berlin in 1932. After Hitler was elected in 1933, his family escaped into Poland where they stayed for five years while waiting to get visas. In 1937 they received visas to America and they moved straight to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to be with family. They were one of the last boats out. Throughout his life, Sol recognized that he was alive only because his family saw the writing on the wall and because they were politically astute. This knowledge undoubtedly had a great impact on him and shaped the activism of his life. As a young boy, Sol attended Talmud Torah because his parents couldn’t afford more. He wanted to make sure his children got a full time Torah education and therefore made it a priority to send them to yeshiva day schools. Even at a young age, Sol was a fan of chazzanus (cantorial music) and would go around to shuls to hear the best chazzanim (cantors). Most young boys don’t actually know what they want to be when they grow up but Sol knew from a young age that he wanted to be an engineer. He loved to understand how things work. He would take things apart and put them back together. Sol was very bright. He attended Brooklyn Tech, which was an elite high school for gifted students and he received numerous awards in math. He attended Brooklyn Poly Tech for college but it was interrupted when he was enlisted to serve in the Korean war where he was stationed in Panama. After his return, one of his friends invited him to a party, but Sol had no interest in going. They dragged him there anyway and it was fortuitous for at that party he met Gloria to whom he was married for 53 years. Gloria and Sol had very similar upbringings and connected strongly. Throughout their lives they saw life so similarly and almost always agreed. Sol was giving, kind, respectful, a wonderful partner and husband. He finished his masters in electrical and mechanical engineering at CCNY. They lived in Brooklyn for a short time and then moved out to Spring Valley. Their four children came on the scene and having a family was critical to Sol. Upon reflecting on the loss of the Holocaust which was very much on Sol’s mind, he would say that we need to create Jewish families with lots of children to replenish the population loss we experienced as a people. Sol got a wonderful job in Connecticut and while it made much more sense to move there, they didn’t because there were no yeshivas for the kids. Sol sacrificed personally by driving up to 90 miles each way to work every day to make sure that his children could have a proper Jewish education. Sol was very bright, an incredible engineer and had a successful career. He had a patent and was involved in the design of modems, multiplexers and many of the communication devices we take for granted today back in 1969. He designed ground equipment for the army and made lasting contributions in his field. He loved to go to shows and he loved to get together with his cousins. They would rotate houses every 6 weeks and cherished the family time. Family was a core value and he was devoted not only to his nuclear family, but to his cousins and extended family. Sol was a fantastic father. His children sat with him in Shul and were always by his side. During the week he was working very hard and wasn’t home often, but he cherished Shabbat (Sabbath) and the time it gave him with his family. He would sit at the table, talk to the children, sing zemiros (special songs for the Sabbath) and have fun. He truly loved Shabbat and he successfully passed that love on to his family. How appropriate that his neshama left this world on his day, on Shabbat, something reserved only for the righteous. He found everlasting menucha (rest) on the yom ha’menucha (day of rest) and he not only received mei’ayn olam ha’bah, a taste of the world to come, but he has traveled to the world to come itself. In his final hours on earth, Sol was surrounded by those who love him and whom he loved as they sang his favorite zemiros and through shalom Aleichem welcomed the angels that would escort his special neshama upstairs. Sol was very organized, thorough, and efficient. When there was a need for a local minyan where they lived in Spring Valley, it was Sol who made the phone calls to make sure there was a minyan, arranged for the sefer Torah and even hosted it in his home. He was a modest and humble person. He was happy with his lot in life and was never jealous or envious of others. True, he appreciated a fine house or a nice car but not for the status or honor but because he understood how they were designed and made and appreciated them for their function and craftsmanship. His friends loved him and the diversity of his friends speaks volumes about him. He was never judgmental or critical and didn’t look down at people. He could talk to anybody no matter his or her socio economic status, age, or religious observance. On Sukkot (Festival of the Tabernacles), he and Gloria would host a Kiddush (To sanctify the day with a special benediction on wine and great food) each year and those who attended came from every walk of life. The mishna in avos teaches: b’sha’as petirato shel adom, ein melavim lo l’adom lo kesef, v’lo zahav, v’lo avanim tovos u’margoliyos elah Torah u’maasim tovim bilvad. In the hour of ones departure neither silver nor gold nor precious stones nor pearls accompany him, but only Torah and good deeds alone. Yes, he was soft-spoken, modest, and an understated person who wanted to attract attention. He didn’t pursue materialism and didn’t run after honor or respect. He was quiet and soft-spoken…for the most part. In the last two parshiyos (weekly Torah readings), Moshe describes himself as lo ish devarim anochi, a man of few words and yet the 5th and final book of the Torah begins, eileh ha’devarim, these are the words that Moshe spoke. The midrash notes that while Moshe was inherently modest and soft-spoken, he found his words when they were needed to fight for justice and to advocate for his people. Shlomo ben Yechezkel Shraga, Sol Wolff like Moshe was soft-spoken, but he too found his words, his voice and his resolve when it was needed. Sol was an activist before it was popular. He was part of rallying to free Soviet Jews in its infancy, he attended the Salute to Israel parade religiously. In Boca Raton, he and Gloria showed up multiple times to rally against a man who wouldn’t give his wife a get and they could be found on a contentious corner in Hollywood supporting Israel against vocal enemies on the other side of the street. They were a big part of our Social Action and Israel Action committee attending meetings, volunteering, running rallies, letter writing campaigns and hosting speakers. Sol will certainly be missed and his loss creates a vacuum in the lives of you, his beautiful family, but also in our community and klal yisroel. May he find his voice in shamayim as he loyally advocates for you, Gloria, and for his children, grandchildren and his beloved state of Israel. T’he nafsho tzerura b’tzror ha’chayim
Posted on: Fri, 21 Feb 2014 08:12:27 +0000
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