In Memory of Vendyl Jones

The Talmud teaches that whoever cries over the passing of an adam kasher is forgiven of all his sins – and what’s more, the tears that are shed over the loss of an adam kasher are so precious to the Al-mighty, that He literally counts these tears and stores them away in His special treasure house for safe keeping.

But who is an adam kasher, which literally means a proper or fitting human being? And why should the tears shed over such a loss be so powerful that they bring atonement to the individual who cries? Why should these tears be so special that they are watched over by the Creator?

It is not so simple today to find a proper human being. We live in a generation that is bereft of human dignity and feeling. Society at large is characterized by a divestment of the Divine image in which man was created; values of a higher nature are trodden underfoot. In the din and tumult of hedonism, manipulation and greed, there are very few voices of clarity and conviction. Long ago Henry David Thoreau wrote “the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.” How much more so is this true in our time, in the muted, dismal and weary grind that is the universal human condition.

Against this bleak background, the life of Vendyl Jones streaks across the heavens like a shooting star. Vendyl was not satisfied to live a life of quiet desperation. He refused to be trodden underfoot. His was a voice of clarity and conviction. In a world peopled by men who blindly accept all that they have been taught and look no further than at the surface level, men who are either too comfortable or too frightened to challenge society’s corrupt conventions, Vendyl was a hero of Biblical proportions. Echoing the story of Rabbi Akiva himself, he began to study Torah at an advanced age, with the little children. He brought the message of the One G-d of Israel and His Torah to countless people and blazed a trail that had been cold for nearly 2,000 years. It can be safely said that no man in living history has done as much as he, to raise high the banner of the Noachide covenant and its validity, centrality and importance for all mankind. In this manner, Vendyl was an active participant in tikkun olam, in fixing the world, and reckoned as a partner in the creation itself. He helped to return human dignity and the Divine image to the family of man. His archeological discoveries and activities helped to foster love for the Land of Israel, and contributed a great deal towards restoring a consciousness and awareness of the importance of the Holy Temple.

Perhaps the tears that one cries over the passing of an adam kasher are precious enough to bring atonement to the individual who cries them for this reason: by showing that our hearts can still be reached, by demonstrating that we can be inspired by the life of a good person, G-d sees that we are deserving of His mercy and another chance at living our lives, in order that we may continue seeking to emulate this individual and to strive towards fulfilling the ideals and values that this person lived for.

In the book of Daniel we find the verse, “The wise will shine like the radiance of the firmament, and those who teach righteousness to the multitudes will shine like the stars, forever and ever” (Daniel 12:4). This was Vendyl Jones, whose life will continue to shine like the radiance of the firmament. What is the true meaning of this verse? Why are those who teach righteousness compared to the shining stars? Science proves that our eyes register the light of stars that are no longer there. Yet the radiance of these stars goes on and on, shining forever. So too will the light of this adam kasher shine on forever, lighting the way for the multitudes who seek the path of truth. May his family, students and friends be consoled and comforted and may his memory be for a blessing.

Rabbi Chaim Richman