BH Torah Teachings from this week’s chapter of Pirkei Avot in honor of
Aylon Engler of blessed memory
Shammai said: Make your Torah study a permanent thing, speak little and do much, and receive every person with a smile.
Pirkei Avot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 15
Speak little and do much. In the words of Aylon’s father, Asher Engler: “Aylon was short on words and long on deeds. He did not talk about his own accomplishments.” In conversation, he focused on you, listened to you, and remembered what book you were reading the next time he met you.
At meetings, Aylon had the unique ability to “cut to the chase,” to get the bottom line of what needed to be done and how to go about doing it. When he became president at Peninsula Sinai, he announced the impossible: Board meetings would be no longer than one hour! Indeed, speak little and do much….
Rabbi Yishmael said: Be deferential and agile in attending to an elder, pleasant with the young, and receive every person with joy. Pirkei Avot Chapter 3, Mishnah 12
Be deferential and agile in attending to an elder. In the words of Asher Engler: “Aylon fulfilled the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents – kabed et avicha v’et imecha -- to perfection. Never in all his years was he ever anything but the epitome of respect and honor to us.”
Pleasant with the young. Once a week, Aylon took time from his work to volunteer at the Jewish day school to help serve lunch. The other servers complained that when Aylon was there all the kids wanted to be in his line. He joked with each kid and greeted them as individuals, remembering their names and personalities. The children responded in kind and looked forward to their weekly meeting with Aylon, happily waiting longer for their food in Aylon’s legendary long line….
With Joy. This goes beyond Shammai's instruction to greet every person with a smile --greet people with actual joy, not just external cheer. Aylon certainly greeted everyone with a smile. Yet this was not just an external façade. Aylon saw the good in people and was truly happy and joyous in meeting people, both old friends and strangers. May we follow in his footsteps and bring his smile and attitude to everyone we meet…