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Gone Too Soon

Gabe Friedman | JTA

T

his past year has taken many
notable and influential members
of the tribe from all walks of life.
Here are just a few of those whose passing
left a lasting mark.

ELIE WIESEL, 87
Nobel Prize winner, writer of over 50
books, moral conscience — the honors
and titles abound for Elie Wiesel. As JTA’s
Ben Sales wrote after his passing in July,
the Night author’s books and activism
seared the horrors of the Holocaust into
American cultural consciousness and
arguably did more to unite American
Jews than any other figure.

SHIMON PERES, 93
Few people had as
much of an impact on
Israeli history as Shimon
Peres. In fact, Peres —
born Szymon Perski in
Wiszniew, Poland —
fought for Israel before
Shimon Peres
it was a state, leading
divisions of the Haganah,
the precursor to the Israel Defense Forces.
Over his decades in public service, Peres won
a Nobel Prize for negotiating the 1993 Oslo

Accords with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
and became a symbol of the movement for
peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

GENE WILDER, 83
From Willy Wonka to Dr.
Frankenstein to the rabbi
in The Frisco Kid, Gene
Wilder — born Jerome
Silberman — played some
of the quirkiest, most
beloved film characters
Gene Wilder
of the 1970s and ’80s.
After Mel Brooks gave
him his first major role, as Leopold Bloom
in The Producers, the Jewish comedic team
went on to collaborate on other classics,
such as 1974’s Blazing Saddles and Young
Frankenstein.

ESTHER JUNGREIS, 80
Many try to promote observance among the
Jewish masses, but only one was nicknamed
the “Jewish Billy Graham.” Jungreis, who as
a child in Hungary survived the Holocaust,
founded the Hineni organization in 1973
with the aim of bringing young Jews into the
Orthodox fold.

GARRY SHANDLING, 66
Before shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and
Louie gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look

at the comedy industry, there was The Larry
Sanders Show, Garry Shandling’s Emmy-
winning and somewhat dark take on the life
of a late-night talk show host.

DORIS ROBERTS, 90
She is most widely known as the snappy
Italian mother of Ray Romano’s character on
the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond —
a role that earned her four Emmy Awards —
but Doris Roberts (nee Green) was proud of
her Russian-Jewish heritage.

IMRE KERTESZ, 86
The novels of Imre Kertesz — recipient of
the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature — seek to
describe life in Nazi concentration camps as
faithfully as possible, without indignation.
Take the Nobel committee’s description of
Fateless, his 1975 book: “The novel uses the
alienating device of taking the reality of the
camp completely for granted, an everyday
existence like any other.”

MEIR DAGAN, 71
After a decorated 30-year career in the
IDF, in which he rose to the rank of major
general, Meir Dagan became known as one
of Israel’s most brilliant military minds. He
went on to head the Mossad, where among
his accomplishments he was credited with
overseeing the creation of the Stuxnet

virus, which wiped out a fifth of Iran’s
nuclear centrifuges.

ANTON YELCHIN, 27
The untimely death of
Russian-Jewish actor
Anton Yelchin can
only be described as a
freak accident. Friends
found Yelchin — a ris-
ing Hollywood star who
Anton Yelchin
appeared in dozens of
films, such as the Star
Trek reboot series — pinned between his
Jeep and a brick pillar in the driveway
of his Los Angeles home in June. He had
apparently left the car, which rolled into
him, in neutral.

GOLDIE MICHELSON, 113
Who would have thought that two Jewish
bubbies named Goldie would be two of
the oldest people in the world? After the
passing of Goldie Steinberg last year,
Michelson likely became the oldest Jewish
person in the world. Then, after the
passing of Susannah Mushatt-Jones in
May, Michelson became the oldest living
American. She passed away in July, only
a month away from her 114th birthday.

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66 December 8 • 2016

Obituaries