I cannot imagine your loss.  It is against the nature of things to lose a daughter. I miss Tammy terribly!!! (I thank the person who is able to read this note in honor of my friend Tammy Levy zichronah livracha).  Tammy lived simply and well.  She gave so much to so many by teaching and investing her energy to move other people's lives forward.  We met 39 years ago, at the gym of Kinneret Day School in the Century Building in the Bronx. She was in 7th grade and I was in sixth.  We played basketball while all the American girls discussed makeup and boys.  Having just arrived from Israel, I was thrilled to have someone speak Hebrew with someone who wasn't my family. We bonded instantly sharing the feelings of living ba-gola.  In those days, few Israelis thought that it was cool to live in America.  We were Yordot-traitors, in a sense. After almost 39 years of friendship and Tammy deciding Laalot La-a aretz, we still spent countless hours comparing living in Israel to living in New York - the crowds, economics,  violence,  neighbors,  familiarity, intimacy and questioning where we belong. Like family, Tammy and I could drop into each other's lives at any time and find acceptance and unconditional love. Who will I sing Kol bet shel Machar and dozens of Israeli Chanukah songs?  Tammy chose to live in exile often.  She moved away from an apartment in Manhattan to live on the last stop of the train in Brooklyn.  Crown Heights was full of Chabadnikim and people from the Caribbean.  She belonged to neither group but admired their devotion.  In the Israel, she chose to live in Yafo rather the bustling Tel Aviv, appreciating good Arab food and nearly empty beaches with fully dressed people frolicking in the waves.

Perhaps because she gave so much of herself to others, Tammy chose quiet surroundings filled with cats.  She taught young kids in New York. 

She taught teenagers to move themselves through. She taught yogaclasses

in Sderot when rockets from Gaza were not an extraordinary occurrence. 

She taught herself to laugh at absurd situations. Kind,

easygoing, practical; she was a strong swimmer, a musician, a great

person, and a lover of the sea in all seasons. 

 

I will miss your singing my friend. 

 

Elinor