Comments (0)Lives of Alan and Naomi Scherr Celebrated With Words, Tears and Prayer
Related story: Mumbai Tragedy Hits Close to Home
November 30, 2008Phil Jacobs
Executive Editor
Alan Scherr and his daughter Naomi were able to accomplish what many of us will never understand. They could find spirituality in its most obvious and sometimes its most hidden places. And that these pursuers of peace and tranquility left this world as victims of violence and hatred has left that those that know them or know of them from all over the world in sorrow.
On a cool, rainy Sunday night at the Etz Chaim Center on Fords Lane, Mr. Scherr and his child were remembered by a crowd of people who overflowed from the synagogue into the hallway.
Mr. Scherr, 58, and Naomi, 13, were killed while they were having a meal at the Oberoi hotel restaurant in Mumbai, India during last week’s savage terrorist attacks.
He and Naomi were in India on a meditation retreat with 20 followers of the spiritual movement called Synchronicity. His wife Kia lives in Faber, Va., the home of Synchronicity. His mother Carolyn, sister Soozie and brother Marc live here in Baltimore.
Etz Chaim Rabbi Shlomo Porter said it so well and completely when he told the mourners that the act of violence that happened so far away seemed so close to us. He said it felt like it happened in our own backyard. We are, he added, one people with one heart and we this loss together.
Marc Scherr made us all laugh for a moment when he talked about how he and his older brother could sometimes behave like kids when they were together throwing food at each other at the kitchen table.
Marc said one thing he knew for sure was that his brother was aware of the presence of this Sunday evening group of family and friends. He said that as a young child, Alan marched to a different drummer. “We loved each other,” he said. Marc talked of his brother as a leader and a visionary.
He ended by saying that his brother and niece were on a once in a lifetime trip. He said they are still on that trip, but they are seeing it from a different place now.
Kurt Seiden, Alan’s brother-in-law, told the mourners that Alan lived each day at 150 percent. He said that Alan lived a life of harmony and peace, and he validated the paradox of how a peaceful person could suffer such a violent death.
Alan, Mr. Seiden, said was a combination of everything wonderful in a human being.
Perhaps some of the most powerful words from Sunday evening were written by Alan’s mother Carolyn and read by Rabbi Porter.
“He had a great sense of humor and wanted the full experience of everything he did,” she wrote. “He moved to the Synchronicity Foundation about 13 years ago, because he wanted to give people a method to enlighten and improve their lives. This was his passion. This is what he dedicated his life to. He planned seminars, set up programs and did intensive lecturing to create a stress free environment.
He traveled to India many times for this purpose and it was place that he loved.
Naomi Scherr was a tenacious, very bright child who was wise beyond her years. She was curious about everything and would gather all the information she could about anything that interested her. Even though she lived in such a spiritual environment, she wanted to be a normal teenager. She dyed her hair, loved music and loved Harry Potter.
“Alan and Naomi were blessed to have a wife and mother like Kia Scherr. She was totally devoted to her husband and her daughter. They were the most important part of her life. The last time I spoke to her she said she is overcome with all the love that is pouring out and hopes it will bring something positive out of this tragedy. I know she will always keep Alan and Naomi’s memories alive.”
Carolyn Scherr and the Seiden’s have requested that any donations made in Alan’s and Naomi’s name be sent to Synchronicity, 2610 Adial Road, Faber, Va., 22938-2361.
Mourners can express their wishes on the website http://www.alanandnaomi.com
Also, the family will be receiving visitors at 3018 Temple Gate Road from noon into the evening through Wednesday. A Torah discussion will be given at 7 p.m.
A more complete interview with Carolyn Scherr and the Seidens will appear in the December 5 print edition of the Jewish Times.