First Yahrzeit Melave Malka

Naftali's yahrzeit is the 18th of Cheshvan.  The first yahrzeit fell out on November 8, 2025, starting when Shabbos ended.  Dovid and Chana rented the simcha hall at the Young Israel of Passaic/Clifton to stage a community-wide commemoration.  They wanted to include everyone who had known Naftali.  The entire Passaic/Clifton community was invited to join in a siyum and buffet Melave Malka in honor of the yahrzeit.  They also reached out to Naftali's many friends from Elizabeth.  The turnout to the event was overwhelmingly large--at least 80 people came, when they had been hoping for at most 50.

The program began with Dovid's son Moshe, making the siyum and reciting the Hadran (verses that accompany the completion tractate of Talmud).  Moshe and Dovid had spent months studying Maseches Shavuos, the Masechta (Talmud tractate) that deals with the Torah's rules on taking oaths.  Moshe used the opportunity to mention how his grandfather Naftali had made a promise to his wife Eva, when her dementia started, that he would never put her into a nursing home.  Many people urged Naftali to institutionalize his wife since taking care of a spouse with Alzheimer's Disease was clearly too difficult for him.  Naftali responded that he had made this promise and that he would keep the promise even if it killed him.  Indeed, Naftali's health deteriorated considerably during this period, but he kept his word and survived his wife by 6 years.

Rabbi Weinberger, the Rav of Dovid's shul, where Naftali used to come to daven (pray) on Shabbos, spoke briefly about how Naftali gracefully withstood the severe test of being a Holocaust survivor.

Dovid spoke for about 30 minutes, detailing the difficulties and challenges of Naftali's life, starting from his childhood in Zmigrod, his time in concentration camps, the loss of his first wife, later, his second son, and culminating with taking care of his wife with dementia.  The audience was totally silent except when reacting to Dovid's revelations.  Most of the many people who connected with Naftali during his lifetime had no idea that this cheerful, lively person had struggled and suffered his entire life.  Dovid's speech was designed to show them the greatness of a man who survived so many difficulties without becoming embittered.

Carl Guterman, Naftali's step-son, spoke next.  His speech was about how devoted a father and step-father Naftali was, always ready to do anything for his children.

Here is a link to the recording of the yahrzeit speech made of the speeches.

Here is a link to the edited transcript.

PostScript: A few days before Naftali's yahrzeit, his granddaughter Shoshana Varon gave birth to a son.  The bris took place on the Tuesday following the yahrzeit, and the boy was named Naftali.

Feedback from Attendees

Your husband's speech really filled in such a real picture of who your father-in-law really was throughout the many challenges he grappled with and overcame throughout his life. I feel honored to attend.

It was an evening Beyond words. Thank you so much for the opportunity to get to know him in his life and now, the backstory that he never needed to share with his visitors, because he was too interested in getting to know them better :-)