Oh my, this is a shock. I guess I’d completely forgotten that Rav Shimon was niftar. He was a cousin of mine, and I was rather close to him at one point in my life. I vaguely remember now my brother breaking the news to me when Rav Shimon was niftar, but I guess it was too painful for me to remember. I wasn’t able to attend his levaya, or else I guess I would have remembered more clearly.

I remember how Rav Shimon spoke. Even from far away you could tell who was winning or losing the agrument. (Not that I recall him ever losing one, mind you. He was good.) Even when giving mussar, even when he was angry, he made you laugh. That was an incredible gift that he had. I think any one of the talmidim in Chaim Berlin in the Beis Medrash would remember that about him.