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Orthodox Jew in UK gives away nearly $4million hours before he dies in car crash


I vehemently disagree with Bizzy Blog’s name-calling tactics and find it ironic that right next to stories that use Tom Blumer’s acronym for Barack Obama, we’ll find excellent Positivity stories.  I’ve read Tom’s explanation for why he purportedly can sleep at night feeling that Obama himself has said the use of his middle name is just fine, but Tom’s a smart guy and that’s a very weak excuse.

Regardless, I cannot tell a lie and as soon as I saw this story about Benzion Dunner, I immediately thought of the great service Tom provides by always posting something positive, each day.  I really, really, really wish he’d stop with the name thing but he and I have had this conversation before.  So, it is what it is.

I couldn’t find any US media covering Dunner’s life and death yet but maybe tomorrow.  In the meantime, here’s one from The Independent.  I’ve never heard of Dunner before but he really sounds like he was something else completely:

Two days before his fatal road accident, Mr Dunner opened his home in Golders Green, north London, to any member of his community who had been hit by hard times. According to one witness, thousands joined the queue. Every one was received with a smile and an attentive ear – including a few, it is said, that Mr Dunner knew and did not like, but who were treated courteously all the same. He stayed up until 4am, so that no one went away empty-handed. By then, he had distributed cheques totalling about £2m.

The occasion was Purim, the Feast of Esther, when Jews celebrate their escape from Persian captivity. One of the commandments attached to the occasion is to get drunk. Most of the Dunner family spent Purim at the Normandie Hotel, in Bournemouth, while he stayed at home to use his chequebook to brighten the lives of fellow Jews. The next day, he observed Shabbah, the Jewish Sabbath. He had to wait until Saturday until he could get ready for his car journey to Dorset.

On the A338 spur road outside Bournemouth, his £150,000 Bentley Arnage collided with a Toyota Celica and plunged into woodland. Two of his children, aged 20 and nine, and a 77-year-old friend of the family emerged from the wrecked car with minor injuries. So did the two men in the Toyota. Initially, it was thought Mr Dunner had suffered a heart attack at the wheel, but his inquest was told the cause of death was multiple injuries resulting from the collision.

May he be of blessed memory.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:39 pm April 1st, 2008 in Announcements, Jewish, Judaism, RIP, Religion 

Comments

4 Responses to “Orthodox Jew in UK gives away nearly $4million hours before he dies in car crash”

  1. 1 BizzyBlog » Positivity: Benzion Dunner’s random acts of kindness on April 2nd, 2008 5:58 am

    [...] London, England (HT, and thanks for the heads-up, to Jill at Writes Like She Talks) Last Updated: 12:01am BST [...]

  2. 2 Tom Blumer on April 2nd, 2008 8:28 am

    Jill,

    Your timing on the FYI was excellent, and I put the story up this morning. Thanks.

    BHOO started as a lark (Dec. 2006) with “Obambi,” well before there was any stated problem with his middle name (always by people other than him). I just checked, and Maureen Dowd used his middle name in her Dec. 13, 2006 “Will Hillzilla Crush Obambi” column (third para):
    http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/opinion/13dowd.html

    I’m unaware of any repercussions to her or criticisms of her for that.

    Dowd also noted Andrew Sullivan’s use of the middle name — apparently consequence-free — on Dec. 2, 2007:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/opinion/02dowd.html

    Shoot, she herself used it as late as Sept. 2007 to begin a column:
    http://select.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/opinion/05dowd.html?scp=2&sq=dowd+obama+hussein&st=nyt

    Each letter in the acronym, which went from BHOO to BOOHOO eventually, ties into something about the guy. It’s a “clever” way to give every reader an opportunity to know certain things about him regardless of what the current Obama-related post is about, and a way to perhaps help them remember those things. Plus, serendipitously, BOOHOO ties in nicely to a guy who is sennnnnsitive about people making fun of his ears, and who bowls a 37.

    I don’t think Obama has ever told people not to use his middle name, and the link of mine that you cited is an example of where he specifically stated that he sees using his middle name as a way to contrast himself favorably with the current administration’s mindset.

    Michelle Obama first brought it up as “the fear bomb” in February 2008. Sorry, Michelle, it’s way too late. Be not afraid. I’m just having fun.

    Dowd, again, in December 2007:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/opinion/02dowd.html

    The hush-hush on Hussein is a bit odd given that Mr. Inclusive is presenting himself as the American dream in human form, a multiethnic quilt whose journey is his qualification for higher office.

    Exactly. Besides, when it comes to naming etiquette, I can think of no better guide than MoDo. :–>

  3. 3 Orthodox Jew in UK gives away nearly $4million hours before he … on April 2nd, 2008 11:02 am

    [...] 1st, 2008 · No Comments Tony Abaya wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI vehemently disagree with Bizzy [...]

  4. 4 Loraine Ritchey on April 2nd, 2008 11:34 am

    Jill – as an aside – I lived and worked in Golders Green ( my first job with Howard Farrow, my mum was married and had her reception at the Golders Green Refectory and funnily enough it is where I met my first ‘Jewish” boyfriend ( I ended up having three but their mothers never really cared for me :) In fact the block of flats that my mum eventually lived in she was the only “Gentile” ….it was and is an amazing community in North London . My family doctor – Dr. Herman ( when I was young) was a survivor from the concentration camps and a wonderful wonderful man with great humanity .There was such sadness and loss in that community I think every family I ever met in Golders Green had lost family members to the Holocaust. Thanks for reminding me of another time and place as I write in Lorain

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