The great Jewish poet, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi wrote:

My heart is in the East, while I am in the far west.

Nick, we may be in far off New York,  but our broken hearts are with you in Sydney. Oh, how we long to be with you at this time! If there was ever a levaya - a Final Farewell - that we would have wished to attend, it was yours.

All our thoughts are with you our dear and precious friend, Nick - Moshe Mordechai ben Osher Pinchus - and with Ruth, with your children and grandchildren  - as you take this unexpected journey from our world to the next.  I speak not only for Henya and I, but for each of our seven children, all of whom were shocked and heart-broken at the news of your sudden passing.

Our Rabbis say that before the grave is sealed a person hears all that is said about him. If we didn't say it before, we want to tell you now how much we respected you, how much we appreciated you, how much we loved you.

You were a good and generous friend; you were a loyal supporter when times were tough and supporters hard to find; you were a man whose heart and soul were tied to the very Shul that Henya and I have devoted our lives to.

Let me elaborate:

From our first contact with you almost 29 years ago, you were there for us, ensuring that the house that the Shul provided us met all the needs of a then very young family with four children. 

And over the years, as that young family grew in numbers and in years, your concern - nay love - for us and and each of our children grew as well. You were there when we finally bought our own home ensuring that we had what we needed, you were there when we struggled to afford our children's education, you were there when we required overseas specialist medical intervention.

At times when I took strong positions for Yiddishkeit causing some who had been close to distance themselves, you stood by us through thick and thin. I know it wasn't easy for you - others criticised you for supporting us - but you were no fair-weather friend.

And when it came to developing and building our Shul, you were my great partner in all the capacities that you served our Shul - as Board member, Vice President and distinguished President. 

Just one example: 

As the Shul grew and was no longer large enough to accommodate both our Youth and our Kiddushim I proposed that we wall in the garage and create what is now the Herbert Hall. Upon completion, you said that a Hall to which access is through a narrow, rickety staircase just wouldn't do! So although there were serious technical reasons that mitigated against building a wide staircase, for you they were no obstacle. You put all your energy into getting the job done.

So, if I may turn to those gathered to farewell Nick today: next time you descend the staircase to the Kiddush on Shabbos mornings, please remember Nick. And as you do, consider my proposal that we name it the Nick Gardos Walkway - in honour of a man to whom the South Head Synagogue community owes so much.

But it wasn't only the physical building that you supported. You supported our prioritizing youth - and when we became the most child-friendly Shul in Sydney, it was you who ensured that I was given the credit by proposing that I be honored with an Order of Australia. 

And Nick, I don't know if I ever told you this: you know the Shul calendar that so many of our congregants hang on their fridges each month -  it was your encouragement, as we were standing around the Bima in the small Beit HaMidrash in 1986, that made it happen!

Why do I so emphasize your partnership with me? Because one of the highlights of your life was your audience with the Rebbe in the late eighties. You remember it because the Rebbe blessed you with your heart's desire, that Julie find her match. And so she did with Kevin - just a few months later - in a union that was to give both you and Ruth your greatest nachas - your three precious grandchildren.

But you also remember that at that meeting the Rebbe blessed you and told you in these exact words, "You should be happy with your Rabbi and your Rabbi should be happy with you, and together you should build a good Kehilla in Australia". 

We Chassidim know that the Rebbe doesn't just give us good advice. Within his words are contained the very essence or our purpose here on Earth. Nick, you understood the greatness of the Rebbe more than most. The very last thing that you asked Henya and I to do was to deliver a personal letter from you to the Rebbe. We did so on this past Tuesday evening, Gimmel Tammuz. 

As you return your neshama to G-d, we want you to know that we are happy with you, we hope that you are happy with us, and that we deeply appreciate your partnership with us in building a good kehilla. 

Nick, we know that you will be a good intercessor, a gutte better,  on behalf of Ruth, Robbie, Julie, Kevin, Max, Jared and Ashleigh who you loved with every fiber of your being. We also know that you will be busy in Heaven reuniting with your beloved mother and father, whose hands you held as he died  in concentration camp when you were a mere 15 years old.  

And in Heaven, you will see your loving son Danny as you have never seen him before. Here on earth you loved Danny with all your heart, and spared no effort to make his life as comfortable as you possibly could, because you looked beneath the surface and were able to see into his very special soul. In the World of Truth that you now enter, there will be no need to look beneath the surface. You will finally see Danny as he really is - and your joy will know no bounds!

But as busy and as joyful as you will be, we ask that you be a gutte better on behalf of both Henya and I and our family, and most importantly for our Kehilla, Ahavas Sholom, to whom you devoted so much of your energy. The work at South Head  hasn't concluded yet. Please continue to help us from Heaven as you helped us here on Earth.

And most important of all - all those questions that you always challenged me with, sometimes with great frustration, and which I could never answer - questions about the purpose of suffering in general and the terrible suffering of Our People in particular - so much of which you saw with your own eyes. 

Well, you can now challenge G-d directly. Tell G-d that you don't want an answer - just demand of Him that all the pain, that all the suffering, that  all the tragedy - be ended once and for all. Tell him to once and for all send Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

Nick, I am going to so terribly miss you sitting near me in Shul. I so await Moshiach's coming when the beautiful Shul and community that we built together will find its rightful place next to the Beis Hamikdosh!  I await that day so that you too can once again sit in your rightful place, near me in our relocated Shul.

Until then, Shalom Chaver!