Full text of Chemi Peres’s eulogy for his father, Shimon Peres

The full text of Chemi Peres’s eulogy for his father, Shimon Peres, at Peres’s funeral in Jerusalem, September 30, 2016:

We believe our father would have wanted us to say a few words in English to all of you who traveled from across the world to join us at this devastating moment, as we say goodbye and pay tribute to a special man who we all loved dearly.

He would have wanted us to thank you all for your friendship to him and to our people.

We believe that if he could he would have used this opportunity to remind us all that the role of leaders today is to serve their people and that there is no greater responsibility and no greater privilege than that.

He saw in all of you leaders, friends and partners in his quest for peace. We will treasure his memory and honor his legacy.

And on a personal note let me switch to Hebrew.

My dear beloved Father,

Today I am accompanying you on your last journey, to your eternal rest, in the National Cemetery on Mount Herzl, named for the visionary of the State.

In one of your many books, you accompanied Herzl on a wonderful imaginary journey to a new land. You were privileged to be one of Israel’s founding fathers. As indeed you were, your entire life. A visionary, a pioneer, a doer, who made his dreams come true.

You kept your promise to your beloved grandfather, when you bid him farewell on your first stop on the way to the Land of Israel. You never forgot what it means to a Jew. And I promise you that neither will I. No one can continue to pave your path instead of you, but many follow in your footsteps, each according to their own way and conviction. And I am one of them, as best I can.

I had the great privilege to be one of your three children, and the father of three of your grandchildren: Nadav, Guy and Yael. We are the children and grandchildren of you and the love of your life, our dear beloved mother, Sonia.

Your parting words to her when she left us are engraved on our hearts: “I fell in love with you on the first day we met, I’ll love you till my last day on earth.” Your love was the first and greatest gift you gave me, my wife Gila and our three children. I have carried the love you both instilled in me from the day I was born, as will my wife and children, forever.

In the last 10 years of your life, as President of the State of Israel and President of the Peres Center for Peace, our family grew closer than ever.

Our oldest son Nadav made sure that we made the most of every minute with you. He patiently taught you that the news can be recorded, so that we could spend more time together. We were so happy that you got to know and love his girlfriend Noam, who is from Ben Shemen, with whom you shared your love of books and your curiosity about the study of the brain.

You took special interest in Guy’s studies. He so resembles you in appearance and in his kind heart. So often, we saw the two of you deep in conversation about interests that only you two shared.

You beamed with joy when you gazed at our youngest daughter Yael, whom you lovingly called Yali. You loved to sing to her and took a passionate interest in her plans for the future.

I cherished the special relationship forged with Gila, who loved and cared for you so. We loved our Friday night meals, the weekends and holidays we spent together in our house overlooking Lake Kinneret, home to poets Rachel and Naomi Shemer, so close to Kibbutz Alumot, which you helped to found.

We will remember you wherever we go and in whatever we do. We will remember you in words, and in books. We will remember you in poems and songs. And in the pathways of the country that you helped build, and in the magnificent undertakings you established.

Whenever we see your friends and loved ones, we will see your face reflected, as in the many people in Israel and the world for whom you were a leader, mentor and inspiration. You were a role model, a loyal son to your people and your country, and you strove with unparalleled determination for security and peace.

You never spared your energy, and it never waned. You made the most of every moment in your life, up to very the end. We will remember you as one whose greatness stemmed from a deep passion to serve a great cause, and not out of a desire for power.

You leave behind a monumental and lasting legacy. I will never forget what I learned from you. The older I grew, the closer we became. And the closer I got, the more I saw your greatness. You were a giant.

In the last ten years of your life you were surrounded by boundless love, like never before. If only you could now see for a fleeting moment the pure love for you here, at this your last stop. How moved you would be, and thankful to all those who came from near and far.

You always preferred the possibilities offered by the imagination to clinging to memories of the past. The legacy you leave to us is the world of tomorrow.

I told you that I loved you. But I never knew how much. Only the pain of loss and sorrow of separation that surround us all here together have helped me understand.

Farewell my teacher and mentor. Farewell beloved father and grandfather. We will travel the path of light you left us.