Dear Friends,
We are gathered here on this very sad morning to bring to rest the physical remains of our dear and beloved Emeritus Gabbai Snr. Ruben Franco, who departed from this world, according to the will of God.
The Torah tells us that "Yaacov" our father was ready to move on to the spiritual world. He gathered his children around him in order to bestow his final blessings and prayers upon them. Reuben was his first born and he blessed him thus : "Reuben you are my first born, my might and the beginning of my strength. The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power". Although Snr. Ruben was not the eldest of his family, in fact he was the youngest, no other verse in the Torah can be more befitting to him than Jacob's prayer to his eldest son.
He was truly a pioneer of our Sephardi Congregation here in Cape Town and he channelled tremendous energy and all his strength to create and establish our Kehilah Shallom. His greatest concern was to ensure that we had a "Minyan" at our prayer Services and so, come rain or high water in good health and sometimes not so well, he ensured that he was always present with the Congregants at every regular Service. He was a pioneering force in the establishment of our Congregation and he was the Gabbai for as long as I can remember and later he was honoured to be our Gabbai Emeritus until this day. He ensured through his soft and kind nature, that the Services and the wellbeing of our Synagogue run always smoothly. Snr. Ruben was a Patriarch and a father not only to his dear children and grand children but also to each and everyone of us. I left home when I was just a teenager and continuously searched for a father figure in both the Congregations that I served, I quite resolutely state th my father figure in Cape Town was our dear Gabbai Snr. Ruben Franco. I often turned to him for advice and guidance and found him ready to assist and help. His advice was always effective, his approach was humility, and his insight was that of a wise and highly intelligent man.
Snr. Ruben, as we all know, was born in the beautiful Island of Rhodes; a community that spread its influences through Sephardi Diaspora. It taught its children the true meaning and values of Judaism and the real meaning of the words respect, honour and humility. Snr. Ruben was blessed with these great ideals in his early life and implemented them with everyone. He was a true Sephardi character, sometimes stern in order to discipline and in order to convey the message of our Religion to others, but in his heart like all Sephardi patriarchs he was soft, kind, warm and caring for the wellbeing of his family and other people. If I were to sum up his principles I would choose the Rabbinic saying in the ethics of the fathers, which state "who is truly wise? He who learns something from everyone. Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot, and who is truly respectable, he who respects all creatures". Mr. Franco was wise, rich and respectable.
Dear Congregants, I can hardly imagine "Rosh Hashana" and the High Festivals without the presence of our Gabbai in our midst. Indeed no future High Festivals or Synagogue occasion will be the same for us without him. However, we know that his spirit lives on not only in the garden of Eden but also in the Synagogue that he loved so much. The Gabbai's seat will be empty this year but his presence will be felt in our hearts and souls.
Our Rabbis in the Talmud state that a person who dies on "Shabat" is indeed a righteous person, but one who does on Shabat before Rosh Hashana, is indeed a highly righteous person. Let us make the life, the strength, and the values of Mr. Franco's life an example for us to pursue, and his dedication and ideals a philosophy for ourselves. I cannot but mention his wonderful, sympathetic, and emotional approach on all occasions in our Synagogue.
Mr. Ruben always had a tear for everyone. Sometimes it was a tear of joy, as a father blessed his son at a Barmitzvah, or Batmizvah, or his great granddaughter or anybody he loved, came to greet him and wished him well. Sometimes the tear was of sadness, when a friend of his or a Congregant was buried in this Cemetery. Snr. Ruben had a tear in his eye just before his departure from this world. I visited him to wish him a speedy recovery and bless him with good health and a tear was in his eyes, his final words to me were "enshalla", "with the help of God".
I would like to express my sincere condolences to Mrs. Suzanne Franco, his dear wife, whom he loved so much, to the children, grandchildren and great grandchild. Mr. Franco will be missed by all of us and by the people who were privileged enough to meet him and to know him. May God grant you comfort in the knowledge that he left this world better than he found it and may his memory be a blessing to all of us. We shall forever miss him in our Synagogue, in our hearts and in our lives. May God grant you long life and good health.