Nathan N. Kasdan

A funeral service for Nathan will be held Sunday, July 17, 2022 at 12:00 PM at Chabad at Short Hills, 650 South Orange Avenue, Livingston, NJ 07039. Following the funeral service will be a burial at Beth Israel Cemetery, 1098 Woodbridge Center Drive, Woodbridge, NJ 07095.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.bernheimapterkreitzman.com for the Kasdan family.

Rabbi's Blog

My Dear Friends,

In life there are people and moments that randomly come into our life that help to define us.

28 years ago, when Minna was a little 1 year old baby, Chana and I met at one of our first Shabbosim as Rabbi & Rebbezen in Short Hills, a very soft, kind, sweet, tall gentleman by the name of Nathan Kasdan - whom since then we affectionately refer to him by his Jewish name, "Nochum".

Over the course of those 28 years, Nochum has become a part of my family as well as our community "family".

If anyone shares Shabbat with you for 28 years straight (actually 26 years due to covid when he couldn't attend) and travels with you to Auchwitz, Poland and then to Israel, makes it a point to attend all your family simchas, joins for countless Shabbat and Yom Tov meals, partakes in community members simchas... well then this "member" IS family.

Nathan "Nochum", surrounded by his family, peacefully passed away last night at the age of 91.

Honestly, right now my emotions are too raw to pen my thoughts to paper so I wish to share some of the many messages I have received from family and community members which clearly illustrates the kind of man Nochum was and the impact he has had on all of us.

There will be a large hole in all our hearts this Shabbat and this weekend with an empty chair in the back row at shul that is irreplaceable. The greatest way we can honor the life of this most remarkable gentle giant, Nochum HaKohen is to join us here at Chabad on Sunday at 12pm to honor his life, bring comfort to his family and to us.

There are so many thank you's that need to be conveyed to the so many in the community for their love, dedication and friendship that you have shown Nochum over all these years.

Over time you will all be recognized and deservedly so, but for today I want to thank two individuals in particular.

First is our dear member, David Wise, who knowing Nochum's story, took it upon himself to interview Nathan over the course of a year and then painstakingly transcribed his entire life story into a book that is called, "The Fields Have Ears", had it published and is now read by thousands.

David, thank you for giving Nochum the gift of being remembered, and one that will proudly embrace thousands of homes.

Next are all my children. All six have had a very special and unique relationship with Nathan. Last night they shared with Chana and me, how in many ways, they viewed him as a grandfather and as expected are crying over his loss.

You see, a Rabbi's children are born into a life that is not the "typical" home structure. Their days, nights, meals, special occasions and most importantly their home is shared with so many others and while it may take away from personal time with mom and dad, they get to meet so many special people.

Today, I want them to thank them and let them know that these selfless acts has allowed them one of life's greatest gifts in return. In getting to spend so much quality time with Nochum in their lives, leaves them an impression on the true meaning of life, Judaism their liberty and their freedom that no text book or classroom could ever impress upon them.

Children, I know your loss is deep, but please always remember that most humans are not as fortunate to be molded by someone like Nochum and so in truth you have received one of Hashems greatest gifts possible.

Here are some of the messages I have received from community members. The first message is one from Chana to our children on our family whatsapp chat last night.

My Dear Children,

I’m so sorry to share this news with you but I wanted to let you know that Hashem decided it was time for Him to take Nachum back to be with Him and his beloved parents, sister and wife.

We were honored and lucky to have had Nachum in our community from our humble beginnings and as an extension of our family.

We were very blessed to have had him come to our Shul again for 2 special occasions recently after being away from us since Covid.

The first visit back was for our daffodil project where he spoke to our Hebrew school children and parents about his little sister Chana as we put a plaque with her photo on it near the first daffodils planted outside our shul.

The second visit was recently on Shavuos where Nachum came back into our Shul for the first time to be honored by two members of our Shul, David Weiss who had written his book “The Fields Have Eyes” and his wife Debbie who dedicated one of our classrooms in his honor.

Abba was speaking about Nachum and how honored we were to have him in our community and how much we miss him. At that moment he arrived and entered the shul. The room became silent and everybody stood up and cheered for him. It was an unforgettable moment. Tears were running down so many cheeks including mine.

We will miss our dear Nachum. I’m so happy you all have had such a strong connection with him, each of you in your own special way.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet.

Mommy

Hi mom and dad, Crying while watching and reading this. He was such a huge part of my childhood and Poland experience. I felt like he was our grandfather since I was little. This is a devastating loss and he truly was such a beautiful, kind, soft spoken and loving man. I wish I got the chance to see him one last time before he passed away. Freida

Hi family, I don’t think it hit me that he’s gone. He was such a beautiful, gentle, kind soul and I always thought of him as a family member, he was like a grandfather to us.

Dad, your video and words made me emotional. Mom and Freida yours too. I wish I got to speak to him before he passed, he meant so much to me and I know he will be cherished and remembered by so many in our community. Minna

Here are some messages from community members.

We're so sorry for Nathan his family and our community It's a great loss for all of us and and I know for you a great personal loss, The survivors are dwindling and their death is a loss for humanity, It's not only that they miraculously escaped death but they miraculously taught the world how to live!

Very sad to learn this news. Rabbi…you articulated what made this man remarkably special. I’m grateful for the short time I’ve known Nathan!

Very special man. His gentle nature, his warmth to everyone he knew and his enthusiasm for his Judaism despite all that he endured as a youngster will always be remembered by the people who knew him. He will be missed. Baruch dayan ha’emet.

So sorry to hear this sad news

Reading this makes me tear and I just sent this to Emma who remembers him well from when she was in high school.

So sad to hear. He was our Kohen Gadol , courageous survivor, proud Jew, role model.

May he Rest In Peace.

I just read about Nathan. I would imagine his passing saddens you as I know what he meant to you (by you I mean your shul and you personally). During the pandemic I had done some volunteer work for JFS of Central NJ. One of the things I did was deliver lunches to some people at home so that they could participate in a virtual program for holocaust survivors. I had brought lunch to Nathan’s home a few times and he had a unique way of expressing immense gratitude with just a few words. I don’t know if he recognized me from having spent some time in shul together. Having known some of his story couldn’t help but put things in perspective for me. I just want you to know I am thinking of you at this time as I know Nathan was important to you.

Very sad - a true mentsch and true friend

Baruch Dayan emet. We were all very privileged, Rabbi.

A real Tzaddik. Fortunate to have known him Baruch Dayan Emet

We will miss him

He truly blessed our community;-)

We were all honored to have known him. May his memory be for a blessing.

I did not know him very well but remember when I first came to Shul he always greeted me with a smile and made me feel comfortable and at home. He must have been quite a man.

A real mensch and fine human for sure.

A very special man to me and to my family

I recall meeting him only once at the dedication in his honor several weeks ago. I know it meant so much to have his name displayed on the door of a classroom in the shul that he loved.

ברוך דיין אמת Special person

Very sad to learn this news. Rabbi…you articulated what made this man remarkably special. I’m grateful for the short time I’ve known Nathan!

Very special man. His gentle nature, his warmth to everyone he knew and his enthusiasm for his Judaism despite all that he endured as a youngster will always be remembered by the people who knew him. He will be missed. Baruch dayan ha’emet.

So sorry to hear this sad news

So sad to hear. He was our Kohen Gadol , courageous survivor, proud Jew, role model.

May he Rest In Peace.

This Shabbat we will share and celebrate Nochum's life and on Sunday, which is the 17th of Tammuz, we will honor him on this very solemn day.

Our deep condolences to Nathan's daughter Elissa and husband Yale Greenspoon, daughter Renee Dasaro and husband Daniel, brother Abraham Kasdan, grandchildren, Nicole, Corinne, Zak, Michael, Mia and great granddaugher Mina.

Thank you to Esther and Isaac Lam Kanchik and family on sponsoring this week's beautiful Kiddush in honor of the Chabad at Short Hills Community. We wish you lots of nachas on your new journey down South. We will miss you.

Shabbat Shalom and looking forward to seeing you in shul,

Rabbi Solomon