A day with a funeral is never a good day. Today was one. The talk of the attendees (admittedly, a close community) was the N&R page 1 article on Maurice “Chico” Sabbah (z”l). Most people would have preferred there had been no article. Many commented that the article was totally out-of-balance. See the article here.
Although everyone I spoke to expected to read something about post-Sept 11 legal problems, most agreed that the amount of space dedicated to those issues was out-of-proportion to the other 70+ years of this philanthropist’s life. Publishing gossipy info about the Kornfelds seemed unnecessary, many commented (and I agree with that opinion). Of course the legal issues were news, and Jim Schlosser and I talked about it yesterday.
I expected to see more about these things: “the hospital wing” he donated. Or “Sabbah’s charitable foundation,” or “… You won’t find a building named for him…” and the article didn’t do that enough. I recognize that without the legal problems, most people in Greensboro or the Triad wouldn’t have known who Chico was and that would have been just fine — and even preferable — to him.
If you haven’t seen the American Hebrew Academy, arrange for a tour. It’s magnificent. It’s a legacy like none other and Chico did it for children, for families, for his beliefs, and for his community. That’s how most who knew him will remember him.