A couple of weeks ago, my sister-in-law’s husband passed away from a terrifying and poorly understood form of young-onset dementia which she wrote about in “A Collector of Our Mesorah: Alexander Kratz, z”l,” February 27, 2025.
As the article explains, and I myself know, Alexander was very much at home with books and learning, both literally and figuratively. Whenever our family would visit, Alexander and I would review his printed schedules for various shiurim (lectures) available for us to attend. The evening lectures were typically more intricate and fascinating, and we’d spend most of our walk home and parts of dinner excitedly trying to reconstruct the lecture we just heard while generating points and counterpoints to consider. It was great fun for us (and with apologies to the folks who had to listen to us going on and on).
The fact that Alexander passed away the night leading into Tu B’Shevat (New Year for the Trees) also reminded me of this this passage from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers):
One whose wisdom exceeds his deeds is like a tree with many branches and few roots: the wind comes and uproots it and turns it over. […] But one whose deeds exceed his wisdom is like a tree with few branches but many roots: even if all the winds in the world come and blow against it, it cannot be uprooted.
Not only was he wise, Alexander also had deep roots. I cannot adequately convey the extent of his good character or the countless ways he helped others, especially in his capacity as a “Herr Doctor Doctor” at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
May his memory be for a blessing. Baruch Dayan HaEmet.
