Saturday morning Dave would have been with us, studying the Torah portion of the week. He would have had a lot to say about the meaning of these chapters of Genesis. He always did. Saturday, the day he died, we studied Chayei Sarah—and we did so knowing that Dave would have argued for his point of view of what these verses of Genesis meant. We spoke of Sarah’s death and of Abraham’s death. We heard Dave’s voice in the “in between” telling us what it means to measure a life—Chayei Sarah—the life of Sarah, the life of Abraham, and the life of Dave. We gather today to be with one another in memory and to acknowledge with one another that Dave’s life was one of deep meaning.

We know that his legacy is great—he touched more people than we will ever know. Chayei Sarah—the word “life” is plural. For Dave that refers to the fact that he lived not just one life, but impacted on so many—and he lives through our lives in the many acts of kindness, generosity, support , inspiration and love that he showed. He lives in our lives in the way that enriched our minds and our souls.

Dave was a devoted son to Carolyn, Sheldon and Lynn, a loyal brother to Lia, a loving husband to Karen and an extraordinary step-father to Jessica. He was a man of integrity, conscience and opinion. He had respect for all, young and old, of various stripes and even political leanings and that made him a friend for life to so many.

Arvada Tavern

Dave was born here in Cincinnati to Carolyn and Sheldon. Although they divorced when he was young, Dave found a way to have a relationship with everyone, sharing life with them and with Lynn, when Lynn came into his life, marrying Sheldon when David was 8. In time, he would also come to know Sandy Cohen and be with his mom in that loss and in the days and years that followed Sandy’s death. As he grew older, Dave honored his obligations to be there for his parents.

Carolyn will tell you that Dave was the light of her life. He would often have coffee with his dad and took his mother-in-law to lunch after church on Sundays. Betty would often say how nice and chivalrous Dave was at their Mexican lunches. Sheldon will always be proud that his son would go out of his way to do for anyone—to be a mensch above most.

As one of his friends has recently written, “Over the years, I witnessed not only the continuation of his brilliance, but the expansion of his tremendous humanity. The term 'mensch' comes to mind-but, like all words used to describe Dave, it falls short. He made up many of his own words in the days of inspired, joyful madness. We need him now to come up with more.”