This past Tuesday we were notified of the very sudden and untimely passing of a friend of the blog, Reb Shmuel Knopfler. It came totally out of the blue. I hadn't heard from Shmuel since before the new year, but that wasn't necessarily a surprise. There were ups and downs in our stream of contact. Then suddenly I see a message on whatsapp:
[11:09 AM, 10/9/2018] Sam Knopfler: Hi Hirshel
[11:09 AM, 10/9/2018] Sam Knopfler: This is David, Sam's Son
[11:10 AM, 10/9/2018] Sam Knopfler: Sam passed away on שבת 😭
Imagine the shock.
Shmuel was unabashedly Zionist and made sure everybody knew about it. Every good thing that happened in the Holy Land warmed his heart. Every "Shabbat Shalom" from an irreligious person in Israel was the realization of biblical prophecies. Every Ani Maamin" sung by a חיל was the advent of moshiach. And we all should know about it. I never got to meet him in person but we had mutual friends and acquaintances, and the sudden passing of any Jew is always shocking. We did have several phone conversations, though. I would like to take this opportunity to ask him מחילה if I ever did not treat him with the proper respect.
תנצב"ה
More Here
Here is what a search of our blog came up with.