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The following is a verbatim
transcript of the hesped (eulogy)
that Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner
z”l gave at the levaye for Boobe
Honig z”l, before her departure
for burial in Israel.
The parts he spoke in Yiddish
have been translated and are in
brackets.
Nafla Ateret Rosheinu, the
crown of our head has fallen.
I address not only the family,
but I, a person who knew the
tzidkonius Mrs Rikl Honig,
zichrona livrocha, say
forthright, as one of the Rabbis
of this community for many
years, that not only has the
crown of the family of the late
Mrs Honig fallen, but truthfully
the crown of Melbourne Jewry
fell.
The younger generation doesn’t
truly know who this woman
was, and I haven’t got the
adequate words.
( I’m sorry if I’m going to
scream and I’m sorry if I become
emotional, I can’t help it )
There is an expression in the
Talmud Kilu hamekonenos. Let
us call people who are
adequate, who are capable to
describe the caliber of this
woman, unique in the annals of
Melbourne Jewry
As our sages tell us tell us in the
Gemora Sanhedrin, the purpose
of a levaya is not so much to
praise the deceased, because at
the doors of Gan Eden her
illustrious family will come
greeting the neshoma of Moras
Rickl bas Harav HaGaon Rav
Moshe, zichrono livracha, with
open hands and give her the
correct place in Gan Eden for all
her great deeds, but the
objective of a funeral, of a
eulogy, is vhachai yiten el libo.
Those that remain, the children,
the grandchildren, the great
grandchildren, the friends, the
community, to learn and to
endeavor to emulate. It is a
great challenge , my dear, it will
be difficult to have another Mrs
Rickl Honig in this community.
Because its geshniten fun an
underer teig,(she was cut from
another dough) as they say in
Yiddish. Es iz underish gevoksen,
es iz underish gehodevet.( She

was brought up differently, she
was raised differently).
Coming here as I’m told by her
son in law, in 1920, do you know
what that means friends, before
I was born, before Melbourne
became the ir v’em beyisroel it
is now, and struggling with her
late husband to have
parnossah, and keeping a home
in the true spirit of
Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh
where she was born. Then in
the pioneering days, giving of
herself, the bittul, the humility,
the anivus, the simplicity. Vu
gefinter dos? (Where do you
find this?)
If I were to enemurate this
morning who Mrs Rickl Honig
z”l was, I’m afraid they would
miss the plane taking this holy
body to Yerushalayim.
But its kedai, its worthwhile
mentioning just a few things
before I say some divrei Torah
associated.
Speaking here about the Chevra
Kaddisha. Reb Moshe Kantor,
zol zein gezunt un shtark, tells
me that before he even came
on the scene of the Chevra
Kadisha, this woman was active
in taharos. With kleiner kinder,
with difficulty in parnossah, she
worked together with the late
Mrs Szydlo z”l, and then when
Mrs Szydlo unfortunately
passed away at a young age, she
was left alone, krankerheit,
(even though she wasn’t well.)
You know 35 years ago there
were hospitals, and I can say
outright, I doubt if there was
one hospital where the nurses
didn’t know who Mrs Honig
was, because she went to visit
everybody. Without fanfare,
without a committee, there was
no organization, there was no
gantzer shpiel.
I will never forget when her
daughter, aleiha hasholom was
not well, so she was coming
from a moshav zekeinim, I was
travellng with Mr Gurewicz, I
said Mrs Honig I’ll give you a lift.
She said “ Kinderlach, Amol hob
ich kekent farnemen di kranke
mentchen. Ich hob geven
shtarker un yinger”, (once I
could cope with the sick people,
I was younger and stronger),
haint ich kein shoin nisht, (now
it’s getting harder for me. I can’t
do it any more.”)

In this week’s sedra we read V’
hoysa lo ulezaro achrov
When you want to bless
someone for doing great deeds,
for upholding Yiddishkeit, the
blessing is lo ulezaro achrov , for
him and his children. And Mrs
Honig showed it to this
community. Other families did
it also, but she was one of the
people, b”h surrounded here by
kinder and einiklach and ur
einiklach, lo ulezaro achrav,
sholom.
One great man, Pinchas, was
blessed with the blessing of
peace. When can there be
wholesome peace? Only when
there is a united family that the
children and grandchildren and
great grandchildren all stick
together in one belief of
yiddishkeit, and she merited to
see that. She was zoche geven
And therefore there is a very
interesting interpretation in the
gemora kiddushin.
Those who are familiar with this
week’s sedra will find
something unique, which is in
no other place in the Torah. You
know that each word has to be
perfect. If there is a vov that’s
not complete, the Sefer Torah is
possul. But in this week’s sedra,
shin, lamed, vov, mem, vov. The
vov is pitua, its nifsik, there’s a
space between one and the
other. Other people say it’s a
yud. And our sages tell us,
sholom means peace, shlim
means wholesomeness,
gantzkeit. Shlim also means at
the end, itz endikzach.
Hatzidkonius Moras Rickl Honig
z”l, ba’ir hot kekumen ihr ein
bashlim, her end has come, but
her end is shlim, gantz,
(complete) and therefore she
will be zocher to the sholom, the
peace that this tzidkonius
deserves.
Preparing something to say at
this occasion was very difficult
for me.
Let the children and the
grandchildren tell you how she
prepared a Yomtov, how she
prepared a Shabbos. Ich vill
nisht fargesen kein mol. (I never
want to forget It.)
Kinderalach, Ich gedenked vir
mayn mumme hot gezokt Tzena
uRe’enna. (I remember how my
own mother used to say Tzenna
U’Re’ena). I would give a

million dollars for my children
and grandchildren to have been
able to see how my mother said
Tzenna uRe’enna Shabbos
afternoon in the house. Mir tor
nish fagesen vi a Bobe un a
mamme hot tzugegreit de
Shabbos un der yomtov, mit de
mesiras nefesh, mit de kedusha,
mit de tahara, mit de iber
gegebenkeit, mit de zehirus.
(We must not forget how a
grandmother or a mother
prepared for Shabbos and
Yomtov, with sacrifice and
holiness and purity and
devotion and care.)
In this weeks sedra we talk
about all the Shabbosim and all
the Yomtovim. But there’s an
interesting interpretation, my
friends. Take the sedra, and
read it. For each special musaph
korban it uses the word,
vehikravtem, and you shall
offer. By Rosh Hashana it
doesn’t say vehikravtem, it says
ve’asisem, and you shall make.
Our sages tell us why is there
the change from the word
vehikravtem by other Yomtovim
and ve’asisem by Rosh Hashana.
Because Rosh Hashana is such
an auspicious day, the person
themselves have to become
ve’asisem, you yourself should
become the korban, you
yourself should be prepared to
sacrifice what you have for the
Ribono Shel Olam.
This lady lived her life, not only
vehikravtem, she gave of
herself, but ve’asisem, she
personified the korban and the
kedusha. Zi hot mekayem geven
de vehikravtem, zi hot mekayem
geven de ve’asisem.
When the daughters of
Tzelophchad came asking for
their inheritance of the holy
land of Eretz Yisroel,
(interesting because she is
going to Eretz Yisroel), Rashi
says “roatan ma she eino ra’ah
Moshe”, they saw deeper than
Moshe, and when Moshe
Rabbenu put their case to the
Ribbono shel Olam, it says in the
Torah “kein bnos Tzlophchad
dobros”, they were correct.
And Rashi, on the spot
comments, Ashrei adam
shehakadosh boruch hu moideh
es devarav. Unique is the
person who the Ribono Shel
Olam consents to his words.
That the Ribbono Shel Olam
could say to a human being that
what you are saying is kein, is

correct. The Torah this week
speaks about the righteous
women, of Tzelophchad, and it
says kulom chachomos and
kulom tzidkonios, (they were all
wise and all righteous). Our
sages tell us an interesting
thing, in midrash rabba, noshim
govros ma ha’anashim poitzrim
, that which sometimes the men
breached, the women kept
together, held up the Beis
Yisroel.
How appropriate it is to say
about Mrs Rickl Honig zichrona
livrocha. Kein hakodosh Boruch
Hu mode lidevoreich. You were
an individual who came to this
country and you saw pirtzos,
you saw breaches in yiddishkeit,
families that dissolved, families
that got lost through
assimilation, and you ofgeshtelt
gantz doros fun yiddishkeit, fun
kedusha un tahara un ahavat
yisroel (you established whole
generations of yiddishkeit, of
holiness and purity and ahavat
Yisrael ) underlined a 100 times.
Let me speak on a personal
basis. Ich hob gegein bentchen
ba dir froi. Zir kekeint main
Bobe. Zi freg foren fun
Yerushalayim biz Chevron zu
maras hamachpelah, hot zi
arain gegangen tzu de Bobe
Etel. (I used to ask this
woman to bless me. She knew
my grandmother. When she
used to travel from
Yerushalayim to Chevron to visit
the Maarat Hamachpela, she
would drop in to see the Bobe
Etel.)
Kinderlach, I could go on and
on, but I have no strength and
the hour is getting late.
Ich hob aich gezokt, far ir gan
eden zorg ich zach nisht,
halevai mir zol hoben a zchus
tzu zein a kuk vir zi vel zain. (I
told you, that I have no worries
about your Gan Eden. If only we
had the merit to see where you
will be!)
The challenge for the young
generation, to the children and
the grandchildren and the great
grandchildren, and to the
community, is to see that
women of this caliber should be
produced, if not 100% at least
50 %.
Moras Rickel bas haRav hagaon
Rav Moshe, ir fortz tzurik in
Eretz Yisroel, un ir velt zain
tzuzamen mit dain mun, un dain

heilike mishpocha, mishpocha
fun tsaddikim kedoshim el
elyon, baalei mekubolim.
menschen vos hot geshpilt a
groise rolle nisht nor in Eretz
Yisroel nor iber dem gantze velt.
(Mrs Rickel bas haGaon Rav
Moshe, you are going to Eretz
Yisrael, and you will be together
with your husband and your
holy family, a family of holy
tsaddikim, kabbalists, people
who had a great role to play not
just in Israel but in the whole
world.)
Mir beten aich a toive. Ershte
zach ir zol zain a melitza yosher
far dayne kinder, far ayer
einiklach un ur einiklach. Ir zol
zain a melitza yosher far aleis,
far klal yisroel un eretz yisroel.
(We ask you a favour. First be a
righteous advocate on behalf of
your children, your
grandchildren and great
grandchildren. Be a defender
for everyone, for all Jews and
for Eretz Yisrael.)
De mesiras nefesh vos ir hot
gehat, der ershte zach iz , bila
hamovetz lenetzach. Ir hot zain
moser nefesh geven fadem, ir
hot zain moser nefesh geven far
taharos. Haint is der b”h froyen,
mir zolel nisht darfen onkumen,
ober ven ir hot gevent ein
eintziker, or mit noch a froi, mit
Mrs Shidlow a”h, hoz du
geshrigen vos vel zayn, de
mesiros nefesh vos ir hot gehat,
un ir hot mekayem geven a
chesed shel emes, does vel aich
bayshtelen ven dir geyen far
dem kisei hakovod . Ich hob
nisht kain tzfeifol az ze vil aich
lozen far dem kisei hakovod un
du daf zogen “Ribbono shel
olom, ich bin a mumme un a
boobe un an elte bobbe , hob
rachmonus af am yisroel un klal
yisroel un eretz yisroel.
(Your self sacrifice, the first
thing is that death should be
eradicated. You were moser
nefesh for taharos. Today, b”h
there are a number of women
who do it, we shouldn’t need
them, but you were often alone,
or with Mrs Szydlo a”h, and you
used to cry “what will be?” Your
mesiras nefesh and your chesed
shel emes will stand you in good
stead when you come before
the Holy Throne. I have no
doubt that they will let you
approach the Holy Throne and
you must say: “Ribbono shel
Olam, I am a mother, a

grandmother and a great
grandmother, have mercy on
Am Yisroel, klal Yisrael and Eretz
Yisroel.”
Es zoll mekuyem zayn “hinneni
nosen lo es brisi sholom. Shoin
tzait az dem am yisroel un der
eretz yisroel zol hobben sholom.
Ir mit ayer tefillos, ir mit ayer
umshtelen frier tzu gein in
slichos, ir mit dayn davenning
un dayn techinos un dayn licht
bentching fun dem alter dor,
Zol du oys poelen kol tuv, ois
poelen teshuos un nechomos far
dem mishposcha, far
Melbourne far klal yisroel un am
yisroel un eretz yisroel.
Gey tzu ayer helike ort, vos
dorten velt zayn sholom, un
fages nisht vegen unz, un fagest
nisht vegen ayer tayare
chosheve mishpocha vos du
host ois gehodevet, kulam
berurim, kulam tehorim.
You with your prayers, you who
got up so early in the morning to
go to Selichos, you with your
davenning and your techinos,
and your candlelighting as it
was done in the Alte Heim, you
should bring about all good,
bring teshuos and nechamos for
the family, for Melbourne, for
klal Yisrael, for Am Yisrael and
for Eretz Yisrael.
Go to your holy place, where
there will be peace, and do not
forget us. And do not forget
your dear important family
which you raised. They are all
special and pure.
May death be consumed
forever and Hashem wipe the
tears from all faces.)
Bila hamovet lenetzach, umoch
elokim dima me’al kol ponim
(The words “behold I give you a
covenant of peace” should be
fulfilled. It is time that the
Jewish people and Eretz Israel
should have peace.