Rabbi Itkin ‘kindled light of soul in others’

The rabbi was walking to the synagogue from his Westdale home, holding the hands of his two tiny children and singing joyously all the way.

Some passing teenagers laughed mockingly. The rabbi persisted, bringing yet more joy to his song.

“That image is indelibly etched in my mind,” says Rabbi Daniel Green, recalling a childhood memory of the man whose infectious joy and generous spirit would be a major guiding light in his life.

“And that’s really an image of what he represented — just the joy of life,” said Green, rabbi at Adas Israel Synagogue.

Like many in Hamilton’s Jewish community, Green is still reeling from the news of the death last Friday of Rabbi Zalman Itkin.

Itkin died of a heart attack in his home on Westwood Avenue. He was 54. He is survived by his wife, Fajgi, six children and six grandchildren.

Green’s father, Rabbi Morton Green, helped Itkin’s family to arrange a funeral and burial before sunset last Friday in New York. It is Jewish custom to arrange a burial quickly, preferably within 24 hours.

The timing of his death and burial just prior to the start of the Sabbath at sundown on Friday was providential, said Rabbi Elisha Greenbaum, Itkin’s son-in-law. Jewish mystical literature talks about the week coming to its fulfilment and that a burial at this time is like the closing of a circle or a life coming to completion.

Instead of celebrating a daughter’s wedding yesterday, the family was holding Shiva (mourning). The wedding has been postponed until tomorrow.

“He was the quintessential lamplighter,” said Greenbaum. “His light didn’t just shine on those around him. He kindled the light of soul in others and so his light will shine far.”

Itkin was the Hamilton emissary of Chabad-Lubavitch, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect that focuses on the Creator, Creation and the importance and unique mission of each creature.

Itkin’s 26-year legacy in Steeltown will be rich and long. He nurtured the spirits of many McMaster University students who would visit Chabad House, a student centre just off campus that Itkin founded and ran.

He sat on the vaad hakashrut committee that designates kosher products. Before Passover every year, he ran a matzo bakery with young people. He also would oversee shofah-making for Yom Kippur.

He was best known outside of the Jewish community for his faithful lighting of a menorah at City Hall each year during Hanukkah.

While Itkin didn’t have a synagogue, he didn’t really need one, said Rabbi William Eisenstein.

“He was accepted, even by people who disagreed with him,” said Eisenstein. “He was just a wonderful, wonderful man and he was also a good friend.”

The family invites friends to send their memories of Itkin to chabadhamilton@gmail.com.