There was one moment when I could respond only with silence

Rabbi Avi Shafran

Director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America

New York

For better or worse, I’m rarely at a loss for words, as countless conversational victims of mine can attest.

But there was one moment when I could respond only with silence.

It was in 2017, on the first yahrtzeit of my father. He’d been an inspiration to so many in his role as rav of a shul for more than a half-century, a beloved father to my siblings, me, and our spouses, and a devoted grandfather to every one of his grandchildren.