It seems that life is sometimes full of sorrow, of loss. The challenge is sometimes given to us – to find the reason, to shape the memory. Last night, as I was disconnecting from the world, word came of a car ramming into a restaurant in Tel Aviv. Three people were killed. As quickly as the thought rushed through my brain that it might have been deliberate, different news sites were clarifying that it appeared to be an accident caused by a driver who had lost control of his car. Then, the news said he was unconscious even before the impact; now it says it is likely he had a heart attack.
Three people. One was Alan Weinkrantz.
I met Alan several years ago. He was looking to get back into the Israeli hi-tech scene, develop connections, make contacts. Alan was a natural networker, a champion of social media. He was someone who cared deeply about Israel reaching out and building bridges. He believed in Israel as a center of technological wonders.
He came and went, returned and left, stayed and left again knowing that Israel would be his next stop again and again. He was always searching for new companies, new ideas. But more than anything, I think, he was, quite simply, a generous person, a nice person. A mentsch.
At a conference that my company hosts every year, Alan spoke to a packed room. And then he did something that is very typical of him. He spent much of the rest of the time networking, talking, and even videotaping people to give them an opportunity to talk about themselves and their companies.
After I heard the news that Alan had been killed, I went looking for a video I had seen years ago – it says a lot about Israel; it says a lot about Alan.
Alan Weinkrantz – Baruch Dayan Emet.
