From Vadim Axelrod

לא התמזל לי לא להיות סטודנט של שלמה בנטין ולא לעבוד איתו באופן ישיר. אך אפילו מההכרות הלא עמוקה אפשר היה ללמוד איזה בן-אדם איכותי וטוב לב הוא היה. השיחה איתו תמיד הייתה בגובה העיניים  - שום דיסטנס, כפי שהיה אפשר לצפות מפרופסור בעל שם עולמי. הוא היה גם אדם שהשתדל לעזור, אפילו במקרים שהיה יכול להתעלם ולא לטרוח. אי אפשר היה שלא להתרשם מהיושר והגינות שלו אפילו בדברים הקטנים, דוגמת לבקש אישור להשתמש בקוד תכנותי שכתבת.

תנחומיי העמוקים למשפחה ולחברים הקרובים של שלמה.

From Isabel Gauthier

I met Shlomo at Yale when I was a graduate student. We started with different assumptions about common questions of interest and so it was always fun talking with him, whether we ended up agreeing or not, and often even more fun when we did not agree. The Perceptual Expertise Network invited him to a workshop a few years ago, to get a chance to discuss with someone who saw things differently from many of us, but to our surprised we ended up agreeing on most everything, and being humbled by the breadth of his work, and getting to know Shlomo and Miri better made the meeting one of the most memorable for our group. Last year, I had the chance to be invited to speak in Jerusalem and Shlomo proved to be the best host one could get and an amazing guide for a city that he loved. And what an honor to be invited into Shlomo and Miri’s home and treated to a wonderful meal cooked by him! I know that Shlomo was greatly loved by his family, students and colleagues. But it is a measure of a wonderful man that he was also loved by a much larger circle of psychologists and neuroscientists for whom he could have just been the respected scientist he was, that would have been impressive enough – but no, once you met Shlomo in person, once he gave you that look and that smile, you had to love him. Thank you for everything you shared with me Shlomo.

-Isabel Gauthier

From Terry Picton

Farewell Shlomo

 

We have lost a great colleague

Faces are special.

Like your quizzical and friendly face

explaining to me how Shlomo’s dog illustrated

the living of the good life.

Voices are special too.

Like yours warm and reassuring voice

telling me how I perhaps

did not make perfect sense.

We shall miss you immensely.

From Giuseppe Vallar

It is very sad to learn that Schlomo has passed away, and in such an unexpected and absurd way. I remember the many discussions with him about science (spatial neglect, particularly), in Israel and in Italy, but also about science more in general, the society and politics, and his love for Miriam and his family. We not always agreed, but always the interaction was fruitful and warm. I shall miss him.
Giuseppe Vallar

From Joe DeGutis

Shlomo was a passionate and thoughtful scientist, a great mentor, and an admirable and wonderful man.  Shlomo helped me get through a challenging time in grad school.  While struggling to find my dissertation topic, I had become interested in trying to train a prosopagnosic to better recognize faces.  While visiting Berkeley one summer, this project piqued Shlomo's curiosity.  At first I remember being a little intimidated by Shlomo because at colloquia he asked tough questions and sometimes seemed less than fully satisfied with the answers.  It wasn't long after I started having one-on-one conversations with Shlomo that I experienced his softer side - his profound curiosity, his sense of humor and lightheartedness, and his kindness.  Shlomo dove into our face training project, adding key expertise, and really helped encourage and focus my efforts.  The results turned out even better than we had hoped and with Shlomo's help I wrote the paper and sent it to the top journals.  After proceeding to get reviewed and rejected by each journal, I became demoralized and deflated and could hardly bring myself to look at the manuscript.  When Shlomo arrived back in Berkeley, he told me to gather up all the reviews and that we were going to go over each and every comment and re-write the manuscript together.  So we sat together in his office in front of the computer for 8+ hour stretches over several days, thinking out loud, arguing, and hammering out every last detail.  It was intense and exhausting, but together we got it right.  Looking back at that experience, it is amazing to me that a professor of Shlomo's stature would take the time to help a struggling graduate student that wasn't even his own.  But that was Shlomo.  He was never afraid to fully invest in and engage with students and colleagues. Though I miss Shlomo dearly, I feel extremely grateful that I was able to spend time with and engage with such a special man.

Information about the Funeral

The funeral will take place on Monday, July 23rd at 18:00

It will take place at "MENUCHA NECHONA" funeral house 

http://mn-kfar-saba.org

The family will hold the "SHIVA" at the Bentin residence, 26 Hayarmuch st. Tel Mond

להלן, פרטי הלוויה והשבעה:

יום שני 23.7 בשעה 18:00 בבית העלמין "מנוחה נכונה"  בכ"ס (רצ"ב לינק)

השבעה בבית משפ' בנטין ברח' הירמוך 26 תל מונד

http://mn-kfar-saba.org

From Kia Nobre

Wow. This news really shook me up.

Shlomo has always been there, from my early PhD days. He's remained an inspiring presence ever since - as scientist and friend. I greatly admired his  commitment to scholarship and his enjoyment of a good argument. I hope I caught some of his feistiness of spirit !