Not Quite Haveil Havalim: An Incomplete Superman Sam Round-up

In Phyllis’s latest post, she said,

I can’t keep up with the messages and emails and texts.
I am overwhelmed with them.
I think it is in a good way.
I scroll through my Facebook feed, my email, my texts… and cry.
My friends, my sweet wonderful friends, who are doing what they do best.
Writing…sharing…posting….and of course, fundraising.
So many posts.
Articles….oh, so many articles.
(Would a good mother keep a scrapbook? A good blogger might have a list of links.)

A list of links… that’s something tangible that I can help with in a situation where I feel rather helpless. In the spirit of Haveil Havalim and in Sam’s memory, here are all the blog posts I could find. If I missed something, please link in the comments.

I’ve tried to put these into a few main categories. The first are from people as they learned that Sam had died, the second is more specifically about 36 Rabbis Shave for the Brave (which reached their first team goal of raising $180,000 yesterday), the third is from other parents of children with cancer (I think there are more posts out there) and the fourth includes poetry and d’varim Torah (sermons) inspired by Sam and the Sommer family.

There’s a lot of overlap and these could have been grouped differently. Also, I know that I missed posts, but this is the first 10 pages of Google results for a few different search terms. Please help if I missed something or messed something up…

Learning of Sam Sommer’s Death

• Sorrow, Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr
• Sometimes Heroes Fall, Joshua Wilner
• How to Help the Newly Bereaved, Sabrina
• In Memoriam, Rhythm Guitar Rabbi
• A Moment to Consider: The Life of Sam, Anita Silvert, JUF
• Community, Ima to Eight
• The Death of a Super Hero, Hadassah Sabo Milner
• Chicago End of Life Coalition, repost of Chicago Tribune
• In Honor of Superman Sam, Dancing with Fireflies
• Reaching Out Across the Abyss of Grief, Mayyim Hayyim
• Putting Things In Perspective, Shiloh Musings
• Superman Sam Rests in Peace, The Comic Book Shop
• Tribute to “Superman Sam,” Rachel Kohl Finegold
• Carrying on the Good Fight, Rachel
• The Ripple Effect, Laurence Furic
• The Superman Passes, Hadass Eviatar
• Updates
• Superman Sam & the Power of Social Media, Ken Gordon, Kveller
• Thank you for Sharing Sam, Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu
• You Are The Most Dishonest Blogger Ever, Jack Stein
• Sandy’s Hook and Superman Sam: Theodicy and Responsibility, Debbie Young-Somers
• Tears Today, Rabbi Eleanor Steinman
• Distance is Just a Test to See How Far Friendship can Travel, Rabbi David Levy
• Tears for a Life Too Short, Lexi Light
• As I sit here in California, Rabbi Laura Novak Winer
• Letter to Chicago, Jane the Writer
• Rabbi Jill Berkson Zimmerman’s Facebook page
• Superman Sam, Mrs. Belogski
• Update 12/27
• Thank You for Sharing: Going Public with the Private, Rabbi Charles Briskin
• How the Internet changes how we mourn, Esther Kustanowitz in Haaretz
• Update 1/9/13
• The Legacy of Superman Sam, Deborah Gallant

#36Rabbis, Shave for the Brave

• Why I’m Crocheting, Juliet Barr
• Why I’m Shaving My Head, Rabbi Debra Kassoff
• 36 Rabbis are Shaving Their Heads, Kveller
• I’m Shaving My Head, Rabbi Jason Rosenberg
• Shaving Heads, Sharing Hope, My Jewish Learning
• Not All Superheros Wear Capes, Rabbi Emma Gottlieb
• As 8-year-old succumbs to cancer, rabbis pledge head-shaving tribute, Arizona Jewish Post
• A Prayer for Superman Sam, Rabbi Ruth Adar
• Heart Broken, Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr
• Turtles, Superheroes and Saving Lives, Jean
• The Hat Project – Hats for #36Rabbis
• Superman Sam and Shave for the Brave, Martha Abelson Photography
• Updates 12/27
• Why I joined 36 Rabbis Shave for the Brave, Rabbi Jeremy Winacker
• Ask Me Why I’m Shaving My Head, Rabbi Yair Robinson
• Updates 1/3/14
• A Renewed Appreciation of Bald Rabbis, Margie Bogdanow
• Changing My Profile Picture Doesn’t Mean I Forget, Rabbi Heidi Cohen
• Shave for the Brave: My Pledge, Rabbi Ruth Adar

From other parents of children with cancer

• Our Fellow Travelers, Jane Roper
• We Need Superman, Allison Shoemaker
• Obligations and Fragile and Broken, Abbi Perets

D’var Torah, Prayers and Poetry about or inspired by Sam Sommer

• Temple Beth Sholom, Rabbi Cohen’s Erev Rosh Hashanah 5774 sermon : Relational Judaism
• Questions, Not Answers. Kol Isha.
• Wish for Recovery, Rabbi Heidi Cohen on Beyond Injury
• On The Journey to My Child’s Passing, Alden Solovy
• Wrestling with God, Rabbi David Kaufman
• Lessons Learned from Superman Sam, The West Pathfinder
• Goodbye Superman Sam, from a pissed off God. Rabbi Michael Adam Latz
• Prayer for a Shattered Heart, Rabbi Michael Adam Latz
• A Lesson in Mourning, Rabbi Sharff
• A Poem for the Winter Solstice, The Velveteen Rabbi
• Updates
• Superman Sam, Darcy Coussens
• Vayeshev Sermon, Rabbi Robyn Fryer Bodzin
• Update 12/27
• Shemot D’var, Special, Rabbi Jason Rosenberg

Updates

Mainstream Media

• Times of Israel
• Chicago Tribune
• Chicago Tribune, front page
• Today.com
• Learning about life while experiencing death, Times of Israel

Reflections from Sam’s Funeral

• Not the natural order of things: A light gone out. Sammy Sommer, Z”L. In One Erlich
• Hearing, Remembering, Knowing, Rabbi Rabbi R
  –>Yair Robinson

Videos

• Chazak from NFTY
• Superman Sam by Ivy Cohen

I know this list is incomplete, so please help me by adding links that you’ve seen in the comments below. I’ve tried to make sure that I included the correct honorifics for writers, but raise your hand if I made you into a rabbi and you aren’t one or if I accidentally removed your ordination.

You can also leave your link in this Google Form.