Baruch Dayan Emet - Rav Natan Siegel z"l

Rav Natan Siegel z"l of Efrat, Israel passed away on Shabbat, following a period of illness. Rav Natan was my inspiration for becoming a Sofer STaM, when he ignited the passion for the Holy Hebrew letters one tikkun leil Shavuot 24 years ago. Rav Natan was a master Sofer, teaching many students and advising experienced Sofrim. He wrote tefillin and mezuzot with great care and excellence. For Rav Natan, every Jew was an "Ot" in the Torah - every Jew has his and her critical place, and without whom the Torah could not be complete. Rav Natan loved to sing and dance, and so it was painfully difficult to watch him in his last weeks tied to a respirator, in a coma, and unable to move. Rav Natan Siegel has now danced to infinite heights, and no doubt welcomed in the choir of Angels - where they are certainly singing Zimrot Shabbos... in the niggun of Reb Shlomo Carlebach. May Rav Natan's family be comforted with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

(attached photo of Rav Natan and my son Gavriel preparing the teffilin for my son's bar mitzvah.)