Conservative light of Irving Kristol goes dark

commercialappeal ^ | 25 September 2009 | Charles Krauthammer

[underthestreetlite]

The intellectual leader of a movement of thinkers remained humble through his many influential works, and his spirit of creative skepticism will be his legacy.

After the plain pine box is lowered into the grave, the mourners are asked to come forward -- immediate family first -- and shovel dirt onto the casket. Only when it is fully covered, only when all that can be seen is dust, is the ceremony complete

Such is the Jewish way of burial. Its simplicity, austerity and unsentimentality would have appealed to Irving Kristol, who was buried by friends and family Tuesday. Equally fitting for this most unsentimental of men was the spare funeral service that preceded the burial. It consisted of the recitation of two psalms and the prayer for the dead, and two short addresses: an appreciation by the rabbi, followed by a touching, unadorned remembrance by his son, Bill

[khnyny]

I read this wonderful tribute the other day. Thanks for posting.

[Vasilli22]

bfl

[Daveinyork]

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Kristol in 1994 at a conference of Jewish consevatives sponsored by Rabbi Lapin’s Toward tradition. He was a quiet, unassuming man, who was smoking a cigarette while we chatted and didn’t act like he knew he was one of the great and influential intellectuals of our time.