Even a month after his untimely death, I have tears in my eyes as I write this. I am so proud to have known such a great man. Every word I read in this blog is true. It was Shlomo who introduced me to my advisor Leon, and I was privileged to work in his "sister lab", and have him on my PhD committee. When I think of Shlomo, so many images come to mind: Shlomo wearing a suit and tie when giving lectures (in Israel this is extremely rare), Shlomo dancing with me at a party in Bodrum, Turkey at ICON X 2008, Shlomo telling me about his latest ski trip, Shlomo calling me on Skype to let me know he managed to discover how to do something in Analyzer 2 without my help, Shlomo telling me I need to revise my entire PhD plan (wisely, of course), Shlomo asking me to slow down when I speak before I even open my mouth, Shlomo who loved all the latest technologies, Shlomo's smile, Shlomo's laugh, Shlomo who would ask my advice, Shlomo's words of encouragement, Shlomo who was so many people's mentor, an inspiration to everyone. Shlomo who you could talk to about almost anything. Shlomo who had a temper but always listened to the other side. Shlomo who you felt admired you like you admired him. That was his greatness. It is hard to express just how someone touches your life, I like to look at the photos I have of Shlomo in many of our lab's events and remember all the things I loved about Shlomo. In the past year, every time my 3-year old spoke in rhyme, I thought of Shlomo, who taught us word games are so important for learning later how to read. I recall the saga he had with the Israeli ministry of Education and smile knowing he had the satisfaction of knowing he was right, and today everybody knows he was.
Shlomo, I'm so sorry that you are no longer here, thank you for everything, and I hope to be more like you.
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