How to cite this article: Moshe Navon, “Better Than the Day of Birth: Reflecting on David Flusser’s Interpretation of the Love Commandment on the 25th Anniversary of His Passing,” Jerusalem Perspective (2025): [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/31263/].
In my own small archive of memories of David Flusser I remember once coming to his modest Jerusalem home for a lesson, not realizing that David was sitting Shiv‘a (i.e., he was in mourning) for his brother who had just passed away. When I arrived David stood up and said to those who had come to comfort him: “My student has arrived. Now I will teach him!” In light of this memory I can think of no better way to honor the memory of David—l’ilui neshama (“for the elevation of his soul”)—than to reflect on some of his most important teaching with you.
David Flusser left this world on September 15, 2000, which also happened to be his 83rd birthday. Friends called to wish him a happy birthday, only to learn that it had become the day of his passing. The coincidence of David’s birth and death taking place on the same day of the year calls to mind a saying of Kohelet: The day of death is better than the day of birth (Eccl. 7:1).
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