I have been exposed to a fair amount of pain and death in my life, but I was wholly unprepared to read about Moshe Kanovsky's suicide last night. I fear that the vision of an old friend throwing himself from a skyscraper and landing upon a balcony thirty stories below is now seared into my mind forever.
For a short period of time, Moshe and I studied Talmud together at Ner Israel Rabbinical College. I think we were both a little too "shtark" for our own good, and I can only recall his personality as reflected through our talmudic discussions. The years cloud my memory, but we may well never have had a personal conversation. Nevertheless, I clearly remember a keen, penetrating intellect and a sensitive soul.
It is tragically too late for those personal discussions. Perhaps it's because I failed to get to know him in his lifetime that I am now driven to learn about him in his death. Friends, please share your fondest memories of Moshe.
