Two Sundays ago, I attended the levaya of my brother-in-law’s brother-in-law, Jordan Rockowitz, z”l (Yosef ben Mendel Halevi) of Fair Lawn. Only 57, Jordan passed away suddenly and inexplicably at his home on Shabbat morning and our entire family was in deep shock when we heard the news right after Havdala. Jordan was in excellent health and had been a part of our extended family for over a quarter century. While we mostly saw each other at family smachot or shared Yom Tov meals and occasional community events, I always felt close to him, always looked forward to speaking to him and sharing our mutual challenges in raising our children (who are all around the same age), and making our way in today’s complicated world.
Things were not always easy or smooth for Jordan and his family and I related to many of his professional challenges. He was both a peer, a friend, a chaver and a relative all in one, and I feel his loss quite keenly.
A former attorney, former high-level executive recruiter, master networker, and high energy, all-around positive and growth oriented person, Jordan also wrote a few well-done, insightful financial columns for our paper in 2022, not long after he started working for New York Life. We would often talk about our families, but we also spoke about business, our careers, politics, the Jewish community, you name it. He was also a big fan of our paper and no conversation would ever be complete without him telling me how much he appreciated The Jewish Link and how proud I should be for having founded it. We also had a long running, albeit frustrating, joke about how our paper never got properly delivered to his home. His paper’s home delivery was truly jinxed.
At the last big family simcha a few months ago, the bar mitzvah of our shared nephew, we sat together for two Shabbat meals and Jordan floored me by telling me that not only had he been studying Chasidut very seriously over the past few years (which I was marginally aware of) but that he had even begun to give a regular class in Tanya. I couldn’t believe it.
You see, Jordan had not grown up religious and only came to Orthodoxy in his late 20s/early 30s. He had never had a full yeshiva or day school education (although I had never heard him complain about it), and I was completely unaware that he was able to teach Tanya on a more than rudimentary level. When I pressed him on this, he said that he was following the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s famous dictum, “If you know aleph, you can teach aleph…” He told me that he considered himself an “advanced beginner.”
I asked Jordan to give me a taste of his Tanya class and he proceeded to give me the first 15-20 minutes of his most recent shiur and I was blown away by what I heard. He quoted extensively from the Samech Vav, authored by the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe (the Rebbe Rashab), which is considered one of the deepest, most profound (read: challenging) works of Chasidic philosophy out there. I almost didn’t recognize the Jordan who was talking to me, and I certainly had a bit of trouble following him, but he possessed a command and depth of knowledge of Chasidut that I was only barely aware of.
And after he finished speaking to me at the bar mitzvah meal, he proceeded to get up and deliver a memorable and charged dvar Torah with a powerful lesson for the bar mitzvah boy in front of us. All of us who were there were struck by what Jordan said and the passion and commitment he displayed. This was not the Jordan Rockowitz of a decade ago and he had grown tremendously. It was a sight to see and behold.
I remember him telling me that he was originally not a fan of Chasidut nor of Chabad and what changed his view was reading Joseph Telushkin’s 2016 biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Once he read that book, his perspective changed completely and he began reading on his own and learning with the rabbis at Fair Lawn’s Chabad, Rabbi Neubort and Rabbi Bergstein. He became, in his own words, a “Chasid in camouflage.” For Jordan, the emphasis was on the following idea: “How do you fall in love with God, who you can’t see or touch or feel, and once you do that, how do you stay there?” Chasidut did that for him.
I know that he tried hard to impart what he was learning and teaching to his three children, Maya, Matan and Lital and his wife, Rahat, and I am sure he did it in his always positive, always upbeat manner and style. At the levaya, I heard his son Matan speak about how much the family looked up to him in all things and as a role model for them in all areas of life. They certainly did and I did as well.
Jordan, I will miss you at all of our future family smachot and I know your special and close family will certainly miss you far more.
(Note: If you are interested in learning more about Jordan, I highly recommend the podcast he recorded in late 2021 on the Saturday to Shabbos podcast hosted by Jeff Cohen and available at tachlismedia.com (It’s episode 18.) In the session, Jeff and Jordan review his upbringing in a minimally-observant family and how Jordan went from becoming a self-described socialist and political activist to getting interested in Jewish life and ultimately down a path to Torah Judaism.)
