Avril Tabachnik (sister):
My early memories of my brother was of a large chubby boy, 5 years my senior who would only eat loaves of bread and granny smith apples. He suffered from attacks of asthma and the only thing that relaxed him was when I sat beside him and gently scratched his head. We would often go into the garden and play Eldred's favourite game - French cricket or tennis in the street. He also liked to pretend that he was the great spy , Eli Tabsky and I was his sidekick. And I will never forget the time he went to Shul for SimchatTorah with instructions from my mother to bring back a chocolate for his little sister and he came back and handed me a little slab of chocolate which upon opening proved to be silver paper filled with sand because he had eaten the chocolate on the way home. Thinking back now, I realize that Andrew must have inherited a lot of Eldred's genes because when he studied in Israel and would come to me on a Friday afternoon, he would sheepishly hand me an empty chocolate wrapper, claiming that he had been hungry on the bus and ate the chocolate!
Eldred was always a workaholic and would spend many hours holed up in his room studying. He would emerge now and then to play some tennis and to consume large quantities of bread, milk and apples. However he did try something new and daring once, when he and Jenny got engaged. He started to panic that he might be called upon to do a waltz at his wedding so he enlisted my help and we told Jenny who was then staying with us that he was taking me to a friend on his way to work and we would sneak off to ballroom dancing lessons. I spent most of my time there sitting and laughing while Eldred valiantly tried to learn to waltz and his poor teacher tried to keep her tiny feet from under his large size tens. Fortunately, he never had to put his skills to the test as there was no dancing at his wedding.
Once Eldred and Jenny got married and they settled in London of course I did not see them often. However I was always proud of his many achievements and he was a great source of pride to my parents. He also gave me the very great gift of producing two wonderful nephews and one niece to whom I have had the pleasure of becoming very close and who I dearly love. It also warmed my heart to see the closeness and love between him and Jenny who, through thick and thin, was always at his side and there for him. He was a very lucky man.
While drifting around the world and trying to find my niche, I always tried to spend some time in London and visited frequently. Once I settled in Israel, and Eldred became the President of the Jewish Board of Deputies he and Jenny came to Israel frequently and we always managed to at least have Saturday lunch together and occasionally they made the great trek down from the mountains of Jerusalem to cosmopolitan Tel Aviv where I was delighted to introduce them to my life.
We have had our differences over the years but when I needed help he and Jenny were there for me for which I will forever be grateful.
To my great delight, over the last 10 years our relationship has become much closer and we have spent some real quality time together in Israel, Portugal and London. After Eldred was not able to travel I tried to take every opportunity to visit them in London and was booked to travel there before Pesach. Unfortunately Corona intervened and I was not able to travel so to my great sorrow I was not able to say a personal goodbye.
I will always carry good memories of my brother. His achievements were many and his love of teasing and his sense of humour were legendary.
I will miss him.
Avril Tabachnik (sister):
My early memories of my brother was of a large chubby boy, 5 years my senior who would only eat loaves of bread and granny smith apples. He suffered from attacks of asthma and the only thing that relaxed him was when I sat beside him and gently scratched his head. We would often go into the garden and play Eldred's favourite game - French cricket or tennis in the street. He also liked to pretend that he was the great spy , Eli Tabsky and I was his sidekick. And I will never forget the time he went to Shul for SimchatTorah with instructions from my mother to bring back a chocolate for his little sister and he came back and handed me a little slab of chocolate which upon opening proved to be silver paper filled with sand because he had eaten the chocolate on the way home. Thinking back now, I realize that Andrew must have inherited a lot of Eldred's genes because when he studied in Israel and would come to me on a Friday afternoon, he would sheepishly hand me an empty chocolate wrapper, claiming that he had been hungry on the bus and ate the chocolate!
Eldred was always a workaholic and would spend many hours holed up in his room studying. He would emerge now and then to play some tennis and to consume large quantities of bread, milk and apples. However he did try something new and daring once, when he and Jenny got engaged. He started to panic that he might be called upon to do a waltz at his wedding so he enlisted my help and we told Jenny who was then staying with us that he was taking me to a friend on his way to work and we would sneak off to ballroom dancing lessons. I spent most of my time there sitting and laughing while Eldred valiantly tried to learn to waltz and his poor teacher tried to keep her tiny feet from under his large size tens. Fortunately, he never had to put his skills to the test as there was no dancing at his wedding.
Once Eldred and Jenny got married and they settled in London of course I did not see them often. However I was always proud of his many achievements and he was a great source of pride to my parents. He also gave me the very great gift of producing two wonderful nephews and one niece to whom I have had the pleasure of becoming very close and who I dearly love. It also warmed my heart to see the closeness and love between him and Jenny who, through thick and thin, was always at his side and there for him. He was a very lucky man.
While drifting around the world and trying to find my niche, I always tried to spend some time in London and visited frequently. Once I settled in Israel, and Eldred became the President of the Jewish Board of Deputies he and Jenny came to Israel frequently and we always managed to at least have Saturday lunch together and occasionally they made the great trek down from the mountains of Jerusalem to cosmopolitan Tel Aviv where I was delighted to introduce them to my life.
We have had our differences over the years but when I needed help he and Jenny were there for me for which I will forever be grateful.
To my great delight, over the last 10 years our relationship has become much closer and we have spent some real quality time together in Israel, Portugal and London. After Eldred was not able to travel I tried to take every opportunity to visit them in London and was booked to travel there before Pesach. Unfortunately Corona intervened and I was not able to travel so to my great sorrow I was not able to say a personal goodbye.
I will always carry good memories of my brother. His achievements were many and his love of teasing and his sense of humour were legendary.
I will miss him.
