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Mervin Butovsky Obituary
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25 Entries
Frances Maika
March 5, 2013
I was a grad student in Professor Butovsky's 1996 (?)course, The Bible As Literature. Best course I have ever taken. He was a wonderful teacher, a warm person and a fiercely intelligent man. So sorry to hear that he is gone. I will be forever thankful to Professor Butovsky for helping me, his student, understand the Tanakh much better and for sharing his love of language and of the written word, both modern and ancient.
Gordon Peffer
July 8, 2010
One of the best teachers I had at old Sir George.
Linda Eggers
July 3, 2010
Professor Butovsky was , without a doubt, my favourite professor. I learned of his passing through the Concordia Magazine which I received at my home in Oakville On. So many memories of Sir George Williams of long ago came flooding back. I am filled with sadness for his family. He was a lovely man.
sincerely,
Linda Brown Eggers BA 1965
Gordon Murray
May 7, 2010
We were shocked and distressed when we were told that Mesh had passed away on the last day of the Jewish Passover festival. Although not religious in the accepted meaning of the word, Mesh was deeply traditional. It therefore may be symbolic that he left us on the last day of the most family-oriented of all the Jewish holidays.
Mesh was a boyhood friend, a friendship which spanned the decades from Ottawa to Montreal. He was always there when he was needed; never judgemental, always listening and offering words of encouragement.
Bertha joins me in extending our condolences to Rivka, to Yaron and Andre; to grandchildren Marielle and Mathieu; to family, to friends and to his former associates.
Mesh is missed, but he will always be with us in our hearts and minds.
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musia schwartz
April 25, 2010
Dear Rivka and Yaron
I was shocked and deeply saddened by the terrible news. We were out of town at the time of Mesh's death and the funeral. Of whatever use condolences may be, it's of some comfort to know how many people loved Mesh and are going to miss Him. Students of all ages worshipped Him and speak with passion of His generosity, fairness and dedication. Our meetings , although not frequent were always warm and "heimish".
I will miss Him and remember Him fondly.
For you and your family I wish health and strength to endure this immense loss. A hug for Yaron, who was my student years ago and whom I remember well. I would like to contact you if I may, musia schwartz
Carol Foster
April 21, 2010
What a kind and gentle man he was and how deeply he will be missed!
Steve Scheinberg
April 21, 2010
Mesh was a great colleague at Sir George and Concordia. There was no one more gentle, more considerate than Mesh.
I remember working on many registrations and watching his courses fill up before any others. The students knew him as an outstanding lecturer and a compassionate teacher.
I did not know him in those early Hashomer days but later met some of those who were greatly influenced by him. He was part of one of the most important utopian movements of our time and that is something to take pride in.
We will all miss him.
sherry simon
April 20, 2010
Dear Rivka and family,
I have just now read of Mesh's passing, and I am immensely saddened. He was a warm and lively presence at literary gatherings at Concordia, and I so much appreciated his contributions to our conferences. He was articulate, kind and generous.
I offer my most heartfelt condolences.
Sherry Simon
April 20, 2010
Rivka,
MY condolences on your loss.....You were my madricha in Ken Mishmar Hanamal in Brooklyn...,briefly....[.I did get to Kibbutz Nachshon for a few years] So my memories of you and Mesh are quite distant...but clearly still with me .
May your memories bring you some consolation.
Rachel Schwartz Jacobs New York
Ted (Natan) Friedgut
April 13, 2010
Dear Rivkah and Family: Mesh and you are part of my early and warm memories from Hashomer Hatzair, when you participated in the summer Moshava at Waubamik near Toronto, and when we came from Toronto to Montreal, to the Ken or the Moshava. Then much later, when I renewed my acquaintance with you during the sabbatical year I spent in Concordia in 1980-81. Rivka, I know how deeply you must be pained by Mesh's death, particularly after the tragic death of Avriel that pained you so very deeply. Perhaps all the warmth that people like Saki and Aryeh and Nachum have written here will provide some comfort. They are all true and heartfelt, for Mesh was indeed one of the kindest, gentlest and most helping people that I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Over the years and the miles I send a comforting hug and sympathy. Natan (Ted) Friedgut, Jerusalem.
sacvan bercovitch
April 12, 2010
Dear Rivka,
I just heard the news and write to convey my profound sense of loss.
Mesh was the gentlest, most decent, and most humane person I’ve known. He was also a central figure in my life. I first met him at the age of fourteen or fifteen –as my madriach in the Shomer. That he was a wonderful group leader – beloved and inspiring -- is attested to by all his many chanichim, in Montreal and New York. In my case there were two special moments that marked turning-points in my life. The first came when, at the age of fifteen, an unhappy foster-kid, with (in my mind) no prospects, he took me aside one evening on St Urbain St and told me how well he thought of me intellectually and offered to have personal sessions with me on books I’d read. I was too surprised, too confused by this, to take up his offer, but the offer itself gave me a boost I’d never had before. It gave me the courage to at least test my capacities. The second moment came when I returned from kibbutz to work at Steinberg’s. There Mesh gave the encouragement I needed to go to college at night. He was model for me – I followed his lead in academia – and also a mentor: he read term-papers, advised on course, discussed the future. He had a great gift for literature
For my adolescent and for my career, Mesh made all the difference in my life.
It was not for these reasons that I loved him. I was always deeply grateful for what he did, but for what he was I felt instantly and always enormous admiration and affection. There is a section in the Talmud that asks: “if God loved man so much, why did He create him?” The sufficient answer is: Mesh Butovsky. His compassion, his understanding, his insight, his honesty and fair-mindedness were unfailing. He seemed to lack selfishness – certainly he abounded in appreciation. I was amazed that he became a dean at Concordia because he was such a kind, gentle person, but evidently he could win people over even in the world of bureaucracy. His friends I know loved him – I think he had a genius for friendship. He also had a great gift for literature. He was gift to his students, his friends, his family. This is not eulogy, it is the plain truth – indeed, not all of it. I can’t express how much he meant, and means to me.
I mourn his loss and send my love and condolence to you and your family.
Michael Polowin
April 12, 2010
Dear Butovsky Family,
Mesh was the Director of Camp B'nai Brith of Ottawa in the early 60's, and is still remembered fondly by alumni of those days.
As the Chair of the Board of Camp B'nai Brith of Ottawa, on behalf of the camp, its Board of Directors and alumni, I wish to extend our sympathies to the family, and our thanks to Mesh for his role in the history of our camp. He will not be forgotten.
Jerry/Yak & Chana Ornstein
April 12, 2010
Dear Rivka and family,
Although we've been out of touch for a long while we remember you both with warmth and affection. We've stayed abreast of your family over the years via Aryeh Gold.
Memories of 5250 St.Urbain remain a salient part of my(Jerry's) early years in the t'nua.
You are in our thoughts,
Yak and Chana Ornstein, New York,N.Y.
Aryeh Gold
April 11, 2010
Dear Rivka:
Just learned of your terrible loss via Yak and Chana Ornstein, via Shalom Endelman. I think you know what Mesh meant to our kvutza when you and he descended upon New York after the summer of l950. It was a love-in before the phrase was coined! I have valued my relationship with him and with you ever since. Stella and I are thinking of you and wish you strength and every possible moral support from your family and many friends. Aryeh Gold
nachum flax
April 8, 2010
Dear Rifka; words cant express the sad feelings I have. Mesh was a very specialn person in my life . he was a exceptional mench and role model . I know I will miss him as a friend. He was so special to me from eally in my life . He was loved by all who knew him, my deepest condolences
Nachum Flax
Sylvia Benedetti
April 8, 2010
My sincere condolences to the Butovsky family. I was one of the secretaries in the English Department at Concordia for 20 years and knew Professor Mesh Butovsky very well. He was kind, pleasant, polite, funny,considerate and always interested in others. He was so admired and loved by the staff including me. I recall how deeply saddened he was by the death of one of his sons some years ago. He bore it so bravely and was still his wonderful self. I am saddened by his death but also gladdened to know he is now reunited with his beloved son in a beautiful place.
April 8, 2010
To Rivka and family.... My heartfelt condolences on the death of Mesh. He will surely be remembered with love and affection by all those who new him. With sorrow...Mitzi B. Alper
Kibbutz Barkai
Eve Troutt Powell
April 8, 2010
Dear Butovsky Family,
I send my sincerest condolences to you on this sad day. I have such gentle memories of Mesh and of you all, brought through Avriel.
sincerely,
Eve
PETER HILL
April 8, 2010
A MARVELLOUS PROFESSOR. WHAT A TERRIBLE LOSS.
Seymour Dubrow
April 8, 2010
My sincere condolences to you and your family on Professor Butovsky's passing. I enrolled in his course on English Literature at Sir George Williams University in the mid-1960s. He was an inspiring teacher! He generously provided me with the chance to resume my studies at SGWU after my two-year absence. His generosity, enthusiasm for literature and his caring are memories of him that I will forever treasure!
Carolyn Beaton
April 8, 2010
Yaron,
Please accept my sincere condolences.
Carolyn Beaton
Harold Toulch
April 7, 2010
Hands down, my favourite professor. A wonderful man. My condolences to the family.
Hira and Zev Shachter
April 7, 2010
April 7,2010
To Rivka and all your Family:
Please accept our sincere condolances on the passing of your dear husband and our childhood friend in the Hashomer Hatsair and the time to-gether in our Kibbutz. We will always remember his wonderful philosophy of life. Our hearts and thoughts are with you.
Gita Pearl
April 7, 2010
I have such fond and vivid memories of the book reviews that Professor Butovsky gave at the Shaar Hazion. He made Bernard Malamud come alive for me.
My sincere sympathy to his family. The Montreal community has lost a great man who left his mark on so many of us.
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