The 10th yahrzeit of Rabbi Dovid Michoel ben Yaakov Feldman, z”l was marked on Shabbat, Parshat Vayetzei. The following Wednesday evening, Dec. 11, family and friends joined in a tribute to Rabbi David Feldman, z’’l at Congregation Ohr Saadia, whose mara d’atra is son Rabbi Daniel Feldman. At the suggestion of Aviva Feldman, matriarch of the illustrious Feldman family and highly regarded former rebbetzin of Teaneck Jewish Center, the theme for the evening was “Olam Chesed Yibaneh,” the world will be built on chesed, righteous deeds.
In keeping with the uplifting theme, Rabbi Daniel Feldman shared the impressive biography of his beloved father whose life’s work implemented chesed from all vantage points. As rabbi of the Teaneck Jewish Center for over 25 years, Rabbi David Feldman’s pastoral compassion and community leadership were exemplary and influenced generations of congregants. His teachings focused on guiding individuals through personal and family choices, illustrating the practical application of Jewish law in everyday life. As a community leader, he fostered connections with individuals from all backgrounds and shaped discussions in Jewish educational settings.
In introducing his father’s expertise in medical ethics, he mentioned that Rav Moshe Tendler, the renowned Torah authority on Jewish medical ethics, had commented that Rabbi David Feldman had taken seriously the Talmudic posit that “The best of doctors go to Gehenom.” In Rav Tendler’s view, the comment is complementary to physicians as it suggests that they are so empathetic toward their patients that they even suffer “Gehenom” with them.
Undertaking to study the depths of Jewish medical ethics was indeed an act of chesed by Rabbi Feldman for the wider Jewish community. In 1968, Rabbi David Feldman authored “Birth Control in Jewish Law: Marital Relations, Contraception, and Abortion As Set Forth in the Classic Texts of Jewish Law.” The work was groundbreaking as it laid the groundwork for further writings and discussions in this sensitive area. It was followed by “Health and Medicine in the Jewish Tradition: L’Hayyim-To Life,” which explores health related issues from a halakhic perspective and is still widely used as a resource in both academic and communal settings. Rabbi David Feldman implemented his expertise in these areas of medical ethics through serving as chairman of the Committee on Medical Ethics of the UJA-Federation and dean of the Jewish Institute of Bioethics.
Rabbi Daniel Feldman concluded his remarks by praising his father’s approachability and menschlichkeit and his living life in accordance with the dictum, “The way to overcome baseless hatred is through baseless, uncompromising love.”
Son Rabbi Jonathan Feldman, rebbe at Yeshivat Frisch, continued with the theme of chesed being the foundational principle of the world. He cited Yaakov’s response to Hashem’s promise to him to become a great nation spread throughout the four corners of the earth by responding with what sounds like a bargaining session with Hashem (Bereshit 28:20-21): “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.” He suggested that Yaakov was praying to Hashem that he grant him the fortitude to withstand the negative influences of the house of Laban where he had dwelt for 20 years and enable him and his family to uphold their moral and ethical behavior in peace. “Our father unapologetically upheld a spirit of chesed, valuing the sanctity of life in an uncompromising way. His legacy lives on in his family and the congregation of Israel.”
The third speaker was son-in-law Dr. Tal Becker of Yerushalayim, vice president and senior faculty of the Kogod Research Center at Shalom Hartman Institute, where he leads educational initiatives on Israel and the Jewish world, including recently addressing the International Court of Justice in The Hague on behalf of Israel. Representing himself and Feldman daughter Rebecca, Becker referenced the difficulties of the past year and a half, when it has been almost impossible to accept that the world is “built upon chesed.”
He continued, “Our goal in defeating the enemy should be not only their destruction by the sword but by re-creating a world of chesed after their defeat. Armies cannot kill ideas. True victory lies in killing destructive ideas and replacing them with new constructive ideas. Our objective in this war is to create a new Middle East, not in the image of Iran, but in the image of ‘a world created upon the ideals of chesed,’ the mantra of a true ish-chesed, my father-in-law Rabbi David Feldman, Yehi Zichro Baruch.”
