Eulogies
34
While I haven’t seen Tammy since before she moved to Israel, she’ll always be in my heart. Rest in peace.
Ronit Roe
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I knew Tammy in NY, we used to play capoeira together in the early 90’s. While I had not seen or spoken to her in many years I loved her very much and always remembered her on her birthday (May 7th), I don’t know why. I am very sad to hear the news and very sorry for your loss.
Zahava Cherques
I am so heartbroken to hear this very sad news. Tammy was a kind, funny, smart classmate at NYU Ed Theatre. We had so much fun in London and in our classes. She will be deeply missed.
Condolences to her family.
She was taken too soon.
Evie Hantzopoulos
I cannot remember accurately how & when, but the casual became a habit & so whenever Tammy arrived to Shabtay, I was invited to join. I improved from 10 to 100 in SheshBesh; I learned to play cards, that I have already managed to forget - & in all of it, beyond all the difference between us, one thing floated, deep….
Now I am left alone, without the person who understood my heart so well...
Tamush – hard on the outside & soft inside – but never were you soft on yourself. The armor cracked occasionally, but it would quickly stand up to stand for defense. From what, actually???
For a long time I was seeking very delicately until trust was built between us & conversations became deeper & enriching. You visited me when I was in the hospital, I wanted now to be there for you, in any way it was Ok for you…
I understood, Aviva, & I can say to you that you did everything you could in this situation. There was no other way anymore & you walked in heroically,& you slept there at her side.
It took time until you internalized that not everything depends on you. I know that you understood your own emotional difficulties, which ached me physically…
My Tamush, I know that we will meet; one way or another, sooner or later, & then I promise to invest more...
Gili Reshef
We started this school year with the terrible news about your illness.
Yesterday morning, in great pain & broken heart, we’re told that you’d “returned your soul to the All Mighty”.
You came to us after staying in NY, US for a very long time. You arrived as a woman who embraces & respects all people, everybody. You worked as an English teacher in the Arabic sector w/in an informal arrangement & then you joined in our school the Design Trend.
You have carried with you a recognized success with students in Harlem & using teaching methods from the Big Apple In PS3, but for the most part you brought your soul, your terrific personality.
In your typical calm you adopted & took to heart all of your students. “The student in the Center” was not a slogan for you, but rather the essence of your functioning – as a teacher & educator. The students were your children!!! You’re there for them night & day, holidays& Saturdays, vacations & certainly on weekdays. They shared their most secretive issues with you, found in you the listening ear, warmth, love & good advice in school. Beyond your work regular hours, you took upon yourself a variety of very demanding functions, like: leading the students’ council, building the school schedule, & more.
Among all the many roles Tammy took on she also was my substitute as an English teacher during the long time when I was absent. In a relative short time Tammy led the students to a big success in the matriculation tests. Everybody in the Education system, without exception, was calm, quiet, certain & confident when Tammy filled up any function. And when you transferred the scepter, even from your bedside, you followed the teachers who took on your functions, those big shoes to fill up. You helped out, passionately, spent nights & days & never expected rewards.
Dear Tammy,
There is no way we can contain your contributions in our world. You were loved by all the staff, students & parents alike. This cannot be taken for granted, it is only thanks to the fact that you were, truthfully & surely a person of values & so special. A woman clear of makeup, with no faking mannerisms, that her mouth & heart are in the same place, your inner self was like your outside. .
How lucky we were to get to know you & work side by side with you! We Salute to you today & thank you for EVERYTHING!!!
You were an angel that distributed among us goodness & now you are finding your way to the angels up above.
Be well, dear, & rest in peace in your place, dear. Let your soul be Bundled up in a bundle of life. Amen & Amen!
Loving, appreciating, endearing & missing you
Michal Hopart Barkaye
Remembering Tammy, my cousin.
I've let go of the idea that I could write something that could accurately describe your meaning to me. Or that I could write something that would even approximate your meaning, so this short note is just a humble offering of remembrance.
I remember in the late 90s, as a teenager, visiting New York and staying with you in your studio apartment on 72nd street: parquet floors, upright piano, and of course, a cat. Probably the first time I understood what it meant to be a New Yorker. Eventually I became one myself and joined you there. Like so many people in that city who are striving, you had more than one identity. You were a teacher and an artist (music, dance, more!), passionately contributing to both worlds with equal devotion. Nearly a decade later, you abandoned one melting pot for another, returning to your place of origin, Israel. When I'd come visit for Pesach or during summers, we'd share meals and have long discussions comparing and contrasting the two different places you called home. I cherish those conversations.
But beyond just NY/TLV, you were generous and patient and curious. No matter what was going on in your own life, you always offered calm and wise counsel. Your voice stood out because of its sanity and its kindness; two qualities that are harder and harder to find these days. You were taken from us far too soon.
May your memory be a blessing.
Ben
