The day before we completed the counting of the 49 days of the Omer, we escorted Arthur Levin — Aaron ben Enoch z”l — on his last journey. This occurred just before Shavuot — the holiday of receiving the Torah.

In various places throughout the text, the Talmud claims that in studying Torah — beginning with Moses, who was the closest to the original teachings on Mount Sinai — there has been a “deterioration of the generations,” because every generation moves farther away from Sinai. Regression rather than progression.

To demonstrate this concept, R. Yohanan states: “The fingernail of earlier generations is better than the belly of the later generations.” (BT. Yoma 9b.)  For example, the Tanaim, the earlier rabbis who lived in the time of the compilation of the Mishnah (1st-2nd C. CE), receive automatic precedence over the Amoraim, who came afterward.

The lesson from this is that the only way to overcome the “deterioration of the generations” is to act like “dwarfs on the shoulders of giants.” R. Isaiah di Trani (circa 1200-1260), an Italian commentator of the Talmud was the first to cite this aphorism of the Christian philosopher and theologian, Bernard of Chartres. The thought pays tribute simultaneously to progression and regression, as it always remains necessary to explain how progression in Torah study was possible despite moral regression. In other words, it’s a lost battle unless we sit on the shoulders of the giants who came before us.  This is who Arthur was — a giant.

Three years ago in February, Stanley Rubin and I traveled to Florida to celebrate Arthur’s 100th birthday with many of our Florida contingency and the rest of the Levin family. It was nice to get out of the cold in February for a few days, but the real warmth came from seeing Arthur dance at his party. It was worth the three-day trip in the car and then back. It was a Friday night, and we sang the last lines of Psalm 92 from Kabbalat Shabbat — the welcoming of Shabbat: “…The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; they shall grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon. They shall bear fruit even in old age; they shall be ever fresh and fragrant…” This was Arthur, always celebrating life.

Now Arthur joins his wife Emma and his brother Jack. On Arthur’s last journey, we went through the stations of his life. I was with his two daughters, Carol and Diane, and his niece, Jodi. We went through Greenport High School, his early dentistry practice on Front Street, his home, the Island’s End Country Club and, of course, the shul. I loved Arthur. He and his older brother Jack will forever be an inspiration for me. I feel fortunate to have known them. It is hard to understand this place without knowing that generation.

Now it is up to us. The only way to overcome the “deterioration of the generations” is to act like dwarfs on the shoulders of the giants that preceded us. It is up to us to take the extra step from 48 to 49, to the top of the mountain, to keep receiving the Torah and long life.

May Arthur’s soul rest in Eden, and may his memory be for a blessing.

—Rabbi Gadi Capela