Posted on 12/30/2005 4:53:16 AM PST by Ninian Dryhope
Mourners asked to remember not how he died but how he had lived
Jonathan Finkelman was surrounded by family and friends Thursday — just as he was in life.
Hundreds attended his funeral, many of them teenagers, exchanging smileless greetings, silent embraces and tears.
They spilled out from beneath a green tent at Beth Yeshurun's synagogue cemetery where his parents and brothers sat in the front row. Before them, Finkelman lay enclosed in a plain pine coffin adorned with a Star of David.
He was 16.
They gathered to mark Finkelman's death from a gunshot Tuesday night in an incident that police described as a drug deal gone bad.
But in a eulogy, Rabbi David Rosen of Congregation Beth Yeshurun called on them to remember Finkelman not as he died. "For what happened cannot be undone," he said. "Rather, our task is to remember Jonathan as he was in life, in health; to remember Jonathan as the beautiful child that he was."
In Rosen's eulogy and in remarks by his 20-year-old brother, Joshua, Jonathan Finkelman was remembered as a warm and charming teen with an easy smile and ability to talk to anyone, young or old.
"Everyone, it seems, liked Jonathan," Rosen said. "It was not something he consciously worked on, but rather something that just happened."
A junior at Bellaire High School, Finkelman was on the junior varsity football team. He had studied his Jewish faith at an Orthodox yeshiva in New Jersey and had attended Jewish camps and schools, Rosen said.
His brother was quick with a helping hand and a kind gesture, Joshua Finkelman said.
He also characterized his brother as uninhibited, "unconventionally brave, fearless and receptive."
"It's a terrible thing to realize that perhaps it was the very same characteristics that made him so wonderful, so unique, so utterly special in life that may have also made him much too susceptible for death," Joshua Finkelman said.
Companion in fair condition According to police, Finkelman was shot Tuesday at Godwin Park in Meyerland after a drug deal turned violent. Warren Payne, 15, a Bellaire freshman, was also shot in the stomach as he ran from the incident.
He was in fair condition Thursday at Ben Taub Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said.
No arrests had been made as of late Thursday, police said.
Finkelman's killing was the second violent death of a Bellaire High School student in the past two weeks. Desmond Hamilton, 17, was fatally shot on Dec. 16 at a southwest Houston apartment complex.
"It's heartbreaking," said Bellaire junior Michaela Carabajal. "They were nice people."
Dianne Johnson, who represents Bellaire on the Houston Independent School District's board, described the Godwin incident as a terrible tragedy "and such a waste of human potential."
"It doesn't matter what high school, or what part of town, or what racial or ethnic group, every school in Houston, whether public or private or rich or poor, has stunning examples of kids that fail to make good decisions," she said.
The slayings have hit the Bellaire and Meyerland communities hard.
'It's time for us to wake up' "We used to think this was a nice, quiet community and that our kids weren't involved in things like that, but they are," said Linda Meason, whose daughter is a Bellaire freshman. "It's time for us to wake up and realize that we're a public school."
Bellaire senior Joey Mendoza was friends with all three victims. He played football with Finkelman. "The first time I saw him play, he picked up a fumble, broke three tackles, and ran it in from 90 yards out," Mendoza said.
He used to do homework with Hamilton each morning before school started.
"Desmond was the type of guy who was never mad at anyone. All he wanted to do was graduate, listen to his music and hang out with his friends," Mendoza said.
Since the slayings, Mendoza has grown closer to his family, he said.
"I know a lot of people who have gotten over their arguments with family and friends because they realized life is too precious to be fighting with someone," he said. "I make sure I tell my mom and dad I love them before I go out."
Chronicle staff writer Melanie Markley contributed to this report.
That's why some parents pay the dealer at the door with a check. Keeps the kids away from crime. We have a very sick society.
It's time for us to wake up and realize that we're a public school."
I like this above quote haha.
So they admit the kids are making the bad decisions. They need to hurry up and find some "reason" that the kids are making these bad decisions. Surely the blame falls on somone other than the schools, the kids, or the parents. Maybe Bush.
Had he stayed in Jewish schools and not switched to government schools, hmmmmmm, I wonder.
The punk that shot him didn't have marijuana, but had a gun. Easier to just shoot whitey than sell him a couple of joints sometimes.
The kid was also 16.
Stay out of the hood.
15 years ago I had a friend whose cousin went into the hood to buy some marijuana. He was shot and killed.
The punk that shot him didn't have marijuana, but had a gun. Easier to just shoot whitey than sell him a couple of joints sometimes.
The kid was also 16.
Stay out of the hood.
I wonder if that would be categorized as a "hate crime".
Do they know who killed this kid in Houston? I wonder what the ethnic background of the shooter was. Hmmm....
Do they know who killed this kid in Houston? I wonder what the ethnic background of the shooter was. Hmmm
Now you know that wouldn't be very PC. Shame on you. sarcasm
My company is relocating me to Houston next year.
Any advice in choosing my neighborhood? Thanks.
Yeah, what's up with that?
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