Last week I was asked to give words of remembrance for my late cousin, Naftali Hirsch z’l.  

Naftali was the son of the late Rev. A. Asher Hirsch who had a small, but active, shul in the Bronx. Uncle Asher would not take the title of Rabbi, since he did not have the opportunity to qualify as that. He was very principled about this and about everything he did. 

Naftali carried this devotion to public service forward in his own way. When he moved to the Heights in the early 80s, he quickly adopted shul responsibilities and began to lock the shul after services on Friday nights. When Rav Gelley came a few years later, Naftali became someone the Rav could look to for small favors and assistance. Finally, Naftali was a star member of the shul choir with a strong, high-pitched voice that carried the whole show. 

I pointed out that the previous Parshah, Naso, teaches the three jobs of the Levite. He carries the burden of the Mishakn “on his shoulder”. He “carries” the temple services in song. Finally, we learn that after he is too old for these services, he can still serve as a “gatekeeper” in the temple- locking and opening its gates daily. 

These were the exact functions that Naftali found for himself in the community. (Aside from many quiet chasodim he performed and his great ability to laugh at a good joke.) Naftali became a surrogate Levite. 

The next morning while waiting at a red light I suddenly remembered that at the end of his final illness a name was added to Naftali. It was “Levi”. Levi Naftali was his ultimate name. It ironically fit him in a name that no one thought of at the time. 

Yehi Zichro Baruch.