Other than being referred to as the mystical Renaissance man and the descriptions of Azriel above, additional words of praise included: magnetic personality, enthusiastic about whatever he did, passion for creating bridges between cultures separated by strife including Jews and Arabs, enormous curiosity, very sensitive man. A close friend and founder of an international organization admired Azriel’s “honesty, open-mindedness and curiosity, his kindness to all people of all backgrounds, his courage in facing difficulty and his noble refusal to step even an inch away from his deeply felt sense of integrity under any circumstances.”
People from around the world admired Azriel for his art and peace promotion activities.
How is it that these remarkable tributes caught his parents by such surprise? Perhaps we parents know the goodness of our children only through our own eyes without understanding them through the eyes of others. Perhaps his parents really didn’t know the tremendous impact their son had on the world. His legacy truly preceded him through the eyes of so many. Azriel was truly “a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas” – a Renaissance Man.
Our legacy is a gift. We build it with great difficulty and we can lose it with one foolish act. Our challenge as parents is to instil in our children the wonderful, caring, good qualities most of the world cherishes – and the means with which to accomplish them. Then we need to teach them to share them with us. Love them, teach them and they will make you proud – just as Azriel did for his parents. His soul should rise and his memories should be a motivation to us and our children.