Dear friends,
It is with heavy hearts that we let you know that our Dad, Abraham Spivak, passed away Thursday, January 9th, after a short hospitalization. We are grateful that Lisa, Katharine, Joe, and I were with him when he peacefully passed, and that Brendan graciously cared for their young kids so that Lisa could be present.
When plans are made for a gathering in his honor, we will let you all know. If you feel so moved, you can leave a remembrance of Abraham using the comments feature at the bottom of this post.
Love,
Roanna, Katharine, Lisa, Joe and Brendan
left: Abraham’s 95th birthday; above: Abraham with Peter Filippelli
My deepest condolences to Abraham’s family for the loss of such a marvelous human being. Always smiling. Always a ray of sunshine. Always encouraging. And so much empathy for those around him. He will be missed.
Oh no!! Not Abraham!
My condolences 💐 to his family and everyone who was lucky enough to know him. Abraham was a really sweet man! Everyone liked him! I knew him during his time in the Sebastopol, CA group in the final Pre-pandemic years. More specifically, I think of him quite often as his birthday, June 6th, a.k.a. “D-day in WWII” ( I remember once I said that to him, “ahh- Dday, right?” And he said”…I suppose, yes, you’re right, Spencer.” 😅) – I recall on some time prior to his birthday, in 2019, being a young man in my early mid-20s at the time, we were having a conversation regarding the affects of when you share sexual relations between a man and woman, and what Bapak believed would happen, spiritually.
He then explained to me about – time when he was younger, he was “getting-it-on” so to speak, with a beautiful woman some years back while he was in NYC, he told me that she clearly “would get around” a lot but when she and him were about to as well, I guess she stopped and confessed that she, “felt that she didn’t know who she really was.” And he explained this because he was giving me an example of what happens when you carelessly sleep around, and how you end up taking a piece of those people with you, “their energy”. He also explained that his thought when she said that was, “well, yeah of course she would have trouble if she slept around with many people, you would have trouble knowing yourself too, to be honest…”
“So…you didn’t end up sleeping with this person then, I take it?” I asked. “Oh, heck no, man, of course I did! I had this beautiful woman in front of me and wanted to sleep with me. How could I say, ‘no’? But I was much younger back then”
I think of this conversation often and it has shaped my experiences ever since, and probably saved me from giving in to any desires which has prevented me from being less “self-aware”, to this day.
Thank you Abraham!
Your grace and life was a blessing to us all who knew you! Thank you for everything! May you be guided with God in this next chapter of your life!
Rest in peace and love, my friend! 🙏
Spencer.
Whenever he saw me, Abraham would proclaim “Hosanna!” With a big smile. He said he loved that name. “Hosanna”!
That even made me understand the power in a (my) name. It happens to be a word that needs to be said nowadays. It is a significant word . It actually means ‘save’.
Thank you, Brother Abraham, for the sweetness you brought to the life of our group.
I remember Abraham is always sunny, and full of smiles!
Have a wonderful “Other side” Abraham!
Paul Edwards
I had a great secretary until this handsome guy showed up. Yes, it was your dad. He married my secretary, Sandra. I lost a wonderful secretary but gained a wonderful brother. May his soul rest in peace. May he and Sandra sing songs together.
Appreciated grace surrounding us whenever we spoke at Subud gatherings. Abraham will be remembered well and missed.
God bless him 🙂 whom we remember as a truly sweet person 🙂
Link to photos of Abraham over many years!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/sqEbk8gmT7b24KiQ8
Abraham is wonderful sunny vibrations came through whenever I saw him. Such a fabulous smile with kind and uplifting spirit. He brought his energy to the world and to Subud.
May his memory be blessed!
My friend, Abraham Spivak died earlier this month in Santa Rosa, California. He was 95 years old. His early life was spent in an orphans home in New York. His parents were simply not able to care for him.
As a young man, with war looming, he joined the Merchant Marines and spent those years in service. Afterwards he returned to NYC and took up residence in Greenwich Village. He worked in the Village, had a girl friend, Elaine May, yes, that Elaine May and found Subud during its initial introduction to the United States. He always said that he never felt anything during the latihan but when it finished he had a deep and abiding peace inside, something he had never experienced before so he kept coming. His trial during this time was to be beset by the demonic entities who would attack him and do everything they are capable of to stop him from attending the latihan. He said he simply put his head down and did his best to ignore them. They were apparent to him visually and aurally. He said at first they scared him but eventually were simply an annoyance. His original family name for him, he thought, was Calvin, only finding out when he needed his birth certificate that it was Calmon, derived from his family’s Russian background. Perhaps that’s why he had more names from Bapak than anyone I personally know.
He trained as an accountant and practiced that skill most of his adult life. One of his “investments” was as a three way partnership in the purchase of the property that became known as Skymont. He said as an investment it was a complete bust but as a social endeavor it was interesting. He was involved in many aspects of Subud and its early phases, helping establish and run The Stamp Act. At the time of this venture we all saved our Greenstamps, pasted them in books and sent them to the National Organization where they were used to purchase a great many things for Bapak and Cilandak. He was both a National Treasurer and a National Helper over the years as well as a mainstay in all the California groups where he was a member. He was of good nature and pleasant to share companionship with. His marriage to Sandra and their children was a true example of finding your soul mate and living a good and fruitful life. Abraham made friends wherever he was, retaining friends from his early childhood into his time at the end of his life in Spring Lake Village. He loved politics, food, adventures, geneology, Sandra, Rohanna, Katherine, Lisa, his grandchildren and shared that aspect of his remarkable generosity with everyone who came in contact with him. I will miss him, sharing with him, laughing with him, doing latihan with him, but most of all, simply knowing that I cannot simply contact him and kibbits. There is so much more to say about him but I must stop now and find a kleenex to wipe my eyes. lucas hess