184

Tuesday

Eliezer Frenkel 1929 – 2012

My first day at college / consisted of a History of Art exam / based on / E. H. Gombrich's / "The Story of Art". / This set the tone / for the next four years / of in depth / uncompromising / study / and hard work / under the orchestration of / the architect Eliezer Frenkel / founder and head of the SADNA College Of Architecture & Design. / During my fourth and final year / while I was still a student myself / Eliezer assigned me a teaching position in the college. / He evidently recognized abilities / I did not at that point know I possessed. / A mentor / is how teachers of his caliber / are referred to. / After more than twenty years of being a teacher myself / I can still hear him / commenting / differing / encouraging / what I teach and the way I teach it. / Being his student wasn't easy / it had a profound effect / not only on me / but on my whole living environment. / Today / accompanying him to his final resting place / all the alumni / were unanimous / in feeling that without him / we would not be who we are today. / We were his children / he was our father. / And though I am grieving / I know I am fortunate to have had the honor of being his student. /