And, again, every one who appreciates gentleness of manner and
gentleness of disposition, purity of life and purity of thought,
faith in God and faith in humanity, devotion to religion and
devotion to every other duty, sincerity of speech and sincerity
of action, must lament the loss which the community sustains
by the death of Baruch Bloomfield, for he embodied all these
qualities and many more. He loved peace and pursued it. He loved
Hebrew learning and devoted his life to it. He loved Judaism and
made great sacrifices for it. He loved charity and gave it. I
approached him myself several times on matters of charity. Not
only did he contribute a great deal more that I thought his means
allowed him, but what is more, he gave his share with all his
heart and soul--so much so that he reminded me of the proverbial
romantic Hebrew charity which meant not only the giving of money
but also the giving, so to speak, of the very heart with it.
“For a period of twenty-five years Baruch Bloomfield, from time
to time collected and forwarded considerable funds to the Holy
Land. It was the supreme passion of his life to step some day on
the Holy Land. His wish like that of Moses has not, however, been
realized. He died on this side of the Jordan. But, friends, there
was no need for Baruch Bloomfield to go to Palestine in order to
be on holy land. I say in all sincerity, that the ground where so
pure and so pious a man as Baruch Bloomfield stood, studied or
prayed, was holy. It was sanctified by the holiness of an ideal
Jewish life. Yea, the very ground wherein his body, the shrine
of so beautiful a soul is deposited is positively holy. Baruch
Bloomfield was an ish kaddish, a holy man in the traditional
sense of the term. A truly holy man sanctifies his surroundings.”
SIR THOMAS GEORGE RODDICK, M. D., LL. D., F. R. C. S.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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