By Riki Goldstein every soul A WORLD

“Yesomim

shared their stories with us: “Rabbi Kahana had a heart of gold; the word “no” was not in hayinu v’en .” was the only one who believed in me,” and his lexicon; he would bend over backward to “I am who I am today because of him.” Some do another Yid a favor. of them grew up to be businessmen and professionals, while others followed in Ab- Our parents were married for 61 In Tribute to Rabbi Avraham Moshe Kahana z”l ba’s footsteps and became mechanchim. He years, and the respect and admiration loved each and every one of his students as if they showed each other throughout they were his own children, bringing to life their lives has always been an inspira- e may have been a master educator who impacted the lives of the words “kol hamelamed es ben chaveiro tion to us all. It was with tears that we thousands of students, but to us he was simply, Abba. Torah ke’ilu yelado.” mourned the loss of our mother, Tzipora Feigel (Florence) bas Yitzchak Elchan- Rabbi Avraham Moshe Kahana was born in the old yishuv Throughout the years, Abba was able to an nee Kwalwasser shortly after Chanu- of Yerushalayim Shel Maalah, the wscion of two families well accomplish all that he did because of Ima, kah. Who could have imagined that less known as bastions of chesed and chinuch: The Eisenbach fami- the loyal eishes chayil who stood by his side than three months later Abba would join ly of Yerushalayim and the Kahana family of Tzfas. He grew up Abba had a heart and who was an accomplished educator Ima for a truly Heavenly Seder? We take under the British Mandate, educated in Eitz Chaim in her own right as a special education su- comfort in the fact that our parents were basking in the glow of Torah luminaries such as Rav , Rav Yechiel of gold; the word pervisor with the NYC Board of Education. zocheh to see doros yesharim of children, H Their home was open to students, and more grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Michel Tukachinsky and Rav Aryeh Levin ztz”l. In fact, when the Kahanas moved to Detroit in the United States, he promised Rav Aryeh that he would never play ball “no” was not in than one former student had their chuppah each of whom were their pride and joy. in America, a promise he kept throughout his entire life (which he often said was, at in our living room. Relatives from Eretz In fact, our parents had so much nachas times, quite difficult). After attending Torah Vodaath and a “new” yeshivah his lexicon; he Yisrael who came to America, often stayed from the generations they produced that in Lakewood, known as Beth Medrash Govoha, Abba joined the fledgling for weeks as honored guests. As children, in Abba used to bentsh people “you should group of talmidim in Beis Medrash Elyon in Monsey, New York. Under the guidance would bend over an era where self-driving cars were the stuff get as much nachas from your kids as I of his rebbeim, Rav ztz”l and Rav Gedalia Schorr ztz”l, that Abba of science fiction, we used to joke that the get from mine.” developed the passion for chinuch that became his lifelong mission. backward to do Kahana car had a button that would auto- Yehi zichrom baruch. matically drive the car to Kennedy (17 min- The family requests of anyone who has utes) and LaGuardia (13 minutes) airports memories, pictures or stories to please Abba was a powerhouse in the world of Jewish education who had thousands of another Yid a because we spent so much time driving email the family at talmidim and talmidos over the years. Entire books could be written on his career in there picking up friends and family. Abba [email protected] chinuch and during the short shivah we heard from hundreds of students, all of whom favor.