Ten Years On

I miss you more than ever on this day and when there is a public health disaster in our home town, Melbourne. The Medical Officer for Brunswick is doing overtime today in your old job.

You were in my dreams last night. Smiling and caring. I felt your father's love for me and I want to thank you for it.

You can't really hear me or read my words - and that makes me sad.

I love you now and have loved you all my life.

Enjoy your retirement...

Alan

One year later

Today, July 25 2011, is the twelve month anniversary of Len's death according to the Hebrew calendar. Symbolically, it is also the anniversary of my birth according to the Gregorian calendar.

I joined the lunchtime minyan at work today to say Kaddish for him. It was an emotional experience, supported by my friends Ken and Eitan, and in the quiet reverent atmosphere of prayer that Len himself enjoyed.

This evening I have invited family and friends to sit in my home and reminisce about Len. We will probably light a candle, read a poem, and look at old photos.

I missed the opportunity to share with my Israeli friends because I sat shiva in Melbourne. I am looking forward to taking another step on the path of remembrance and honouring his name.


This is a comment on my father's blogspot - that was made 2 months ago, and I only discovered it this afternoon as I was preparing for this evening:

Alan,

My name is Albert Oaten. My mom, Mira, adored your dad for his personal devotion and care of her sickly 3 month old colic son 46 years ago- that would be me.

She has often told me about your dad - he came over to their house personally - realized there was a problem with the formula the hospital had given me, changed it, and followed up to make sure all was well. He was a naturally caring person, and a friendship was born between Len and my parents.

He and his wife and 9 year old son - that would be you - even visited us in California many years later.

She was saddened to see that your father had passed, and wanted to contact you and tell you about her memories of your father. His memory and spirit are alive and well in people like my mother and now me to some extent.
Sincerely,
Albert

I will now recite some short poems about death and dying that I find very moving.

When he shall die
Take him and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of heav'n so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet


When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
~Kahlil Gibran


Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

....

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

Emily Dickinson


El Malei Rahamin (A Hebrew poetical prayer for the dead)

Transliteration of "E-l Malei Rachamim"

E-l malei rachamim,
shochayn bam'romim,
ham-tzay m'nucha n'chona
al kanfay Hash'china,

b'ma-alot k'doshim ut-horim
k'zo-har haraki-a mazhirim,

et nishmat Yisrael Arie Ben Baruch Hartman
she-halach l-olamo,

ba-avur sheb'li neder etayn tz'dakah
b'ad hazkarat nishmato.

B'gan Ayden t'hay m'nuchato;

la-chayn Ba-al Harachamim
yas-tiray-hu b'sayter k'nafav l'olamim,
v'yitz-ror bitz-ror hacha-yim et nishmato,

Ado-nay Hu na-chalato,
v'yanu-ach b'shalom al mishkavo.

V'nomar: Amayn.

Translation of "E-l Malei Rachamim"

O God, full of mercy, Who dwells on high,
grant proper rest on the wings of the Divine Presence -

in the lofty levels of the holy and the pure ones,
who shine like the glow of the firmament -

for the soul of Leonard Julian Hartman
who has gone on to his world,

because, without making a vow,
I will contribute to charity in remembrance of his soul.

May his resting place be in the Garden of Eden -

therefore may the Master of Mercy
shelter him in the shelter of His wings for Eternity,
and may He bind his soul in the Bond of Life.

God is his heritage,
and may he repose in peace on his resting place.

Now let us respond: Amen.

Len's body is gone, but his legacy lives on in me and my family. Yehi Zichro Baruch (May his memory be blessed).

Eulogy

I want to say farewell to my father, and say a few words about what made him special to me.

He was a man of actions rather than words, he inspired me and many others by what he did. He showed me the world as he saw it and gave me exciting and challenging experiences. When I was a boy he shared with me his life as a general practitioner. He even let me observe a tonsilectomey. After making sure that the patient was anesthetized, he let me in to the operating theatre to watch the operation and see the details of his work. When he took up the study of mathematics at the University as a hobby, he took me with him to the lectures. This was the seed of my life long love for mathematics. He played golf with me after school, initiated me into the world of orchid cultivation, and was always ready to discuss his life and times with me and my friends.

Len had an infinite curiosity and passion for learning and problem solving that also inspired me. He loved to gather and store information about many subjects, from cooking and gardening, to Jewish philosophy and medical ethics. He loved Gilbert and Sullivan and we had a great sing-a-long in his last week of life - swapping his store of G&S lyrics with my store of Tom Lehrer and Flanders and Swann. Right to the very end he worked on his daily Sudoko puzzle.

He was a true leader who led by example rather than charisma or manipulation. There are many people today in Melbourne who were inspired by him to become doctors, just as he was inspired by his uncle Dr. Percy Bartak.

But more than the inspiration was his love and devotion to me and the rest of the family.

Len I loved you more than I can ever express.

Len's Biography, as read by Rabbi Heilbron at his funeral on August 3rd 2010

Len Hartman was born in 1925 in Northcote, the son of Barney and Rose Hartman. His full name was Leonard Julian Hartman, Yisroel Leibe in Yiddish, and Yisrael Arie ben Baruch ben Shimon in Hebrew.

He grew up in Melbourne in the depression, and his father was out of work for a long period in his boyhood. He attended Melbourne High School, where he was an outstanding student, winning a Senior Government scholarship (one of only 40 in the State of Victoria) to study Medicine at Melbourne University during the Second World War.

He was an active member of the Labour Party at the University and was always concerned with social and community issues. He met many of his lifelong friends at the University including his first wife Dora Bialestock, who he married immediately after getting his internship in a Geelong hospital.He set up private practice as a general practitioner in Brunswick and North Carlton, where he was the beloved doctor to a host of new immigrants, including the Jewish refugees in the 50's, the Italian and Greek communities in the 60's and all the other communities that passed through the inner northern suburbs.

He served as Medical Officer of Health to the Brunswick City Council, was the doctor for the Brunswick Football club, and supervized community health initiatives including immunization programs, health centers, factory hygiene, and workplace safety. He also served a term as a City Councillor on the Brunswick City Council, where he took charge of public health and welfare and other committees.He and Dora shared a strong commitment to family life, bringing up two children, Alan and Rivka, and keeping close contact with his parents and in-laws.

Not long before Dora died in 1975, he left general practice and the community health field to work at Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, where he soon became a specialist in Endocrinology. His lifelong commitment to learning and study enabled him to make the career switch - and give many valuable years of service to CSL, and indirectly to the public at large.

He met and married Cyla in 1978 and took his place as the father to Cyla's children, Barbara, David, and Alan Meerkin. He worked very hard at making a new life with his new family and created a loving and supportive environment in the house in Prahran.

His hobbies included gardening - cultivating beautiful orchids, and equally beautiful tomatoes and olives, and woodwork producing many beautiful items including candle sticks, children's toys, and jewellery

In his later years he devoted time to studying Judaism, and was a loyal supporter of the St. Kilda Synagogue. He attended the Melton course and visited Israel with the group. He read the Talmud and books on Jewish medical ethics. He worked with Jewish Care, visiting sick.

Len was a loving, giving and very humble person. He was pleased that Alan and Irith, Rivka, Efrem, Barbara managed to be here to spend precious time with him. David & Deena together with part of their family were here to give him much joy, Early in the year he enjoyed the visit of his grandson Adam and his family.He felt that he was a fortunate man blessed with a loving family.

Tonight the Israeli contingent of the family are gathering to honour and remember the man whom they loved and respected.

Len is survived, by his wife Cyla, five children, eighteen grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren.