The funeral of Els Salomon-Prins Bendheim A”h

To the Bendheim family,
We were very saddened to learn of the passing of Els. She was a great inspiration in my life, she was literally a force for our people, as your father and grandfather whom we also remember with great love. I have the most wonderful memories growing up of spending holidays, particularly Passover lunch after synagogue at Shearith Israel in your home. Of the happy times, many many that I spent with your family in the US and in Israel as a student. She knew how she quietly influenced my life and I remember how she would simultaneously wink and smile when she would see me. I would not that she had also grown up in Holland with my second cousin’s family going to school with them. One of the most important things she did was to encourage Rabbi Angel to send me and several others at Shearith Israel to Yeshiva University’s Torah Leadership Seminars. I am so glad that in her lifetime I was able to thank her. That gave an influence so far reaching, even to my own children and my home. How many many people today were influenced in so many ways by her looking their way and touching their lives as she did mine. My love to you all, Eliza de Sola Mendes and the Mendes Marks family