Nihum Avelim

The mitzvah of nuhum avelim (comforting mourners) is being carried out with great sensitivity. We all thank you for the warm, wonderful condolence messages. It has brought solace to get a glimpse of the many lives Faina continues to touch. A blessing of this internet age is the enabling of people to get such messages to us from across the region, across the country, and from Israel, Estonia, and Kazakstan in fractions of a second.

I am sharing a small, sample, unattributed, since they were private messages:

I was a patient of Dr. Nagel's and she was such a kind and gentle soul. She was always concerned about my pain and how to minimize it. When I panicked during a root canal procedure, she held my hand. To her dear family ... know that she touched the lives of many and we are all better for having known her. My husband and I are sorry for your loss.


Our thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family over the loss of your wife/your children's mother. We are so sorry that she was ill and now has passed. You are very strong and always seemed to light up whenever you talked about her. We want you to know that you and your family are in our thoughts.

I will always remember her warmth, the twinkle in her eyes, and how confortable she made me feel. I hope that you, Margo and Jamie will find comfort and peace now that she is no longer in pain. May her memory be a blessing.



We fondly remember going out to dinner with the two of you – how charming, how beautiful, how fun, how intelligent Faina was. We also remember visiting you at your lovely home when you had just discovered that Faina had cancer. I remember taking Faina’ hands into mine and feeling how powerful her life force was. We are so grateful that you let us into your lives at a very private moment. We cherish the memory of that visit.


This may speak for a lot of people:
I can't possibly communicate as insightfully, poetically, and perfectly as you have with all of us, but please know that I am one of many who were with you and Faina, if only in cyberspace, over the past few months and in moments of silence I will think of your love and her spirit.

The funeral will be this Sunday at Beth El @ 12:30. We will be sittting shiva, at home, through Thursday evening.

People have asked about donations in Faina's memory. Our daughters proposed something in Israel and related to cancer research. Faina got her masters degree from the Haifa Technion, a school that is often described accurately as the MIT of Israel and has several departments conducting cutting edge cancer research. Combining the three, we are asking for donations to be sent to the American Technion Society - http://www.ats.org/


Shabbat Shalom