SHAMS: FOREVER LOVED IN ETERNAL LIGHT

Shams [z”l] passed on September 14, 2025, after taking a sudden turn for the worse. He had begun struggling to walk and climb, sometimes almost falling, and alongside his chronic kidney disease and congestive heart failure, we learned he also had aggressive cancer. That afternoon at the vet hospital, he slipped away peacefully in my arms—purring, smiling, nuzzling and giving headbutts—while my roommate and I surrounded him with kisses, skritches, and told him how much we loved him.

Shams was more than a cat to me. He was my companion through some of the hardest years of my life, my anchor, my little guardian sun. His presence got me through sobriety, through nights I thought I wouldn’t survive, through grief and loneliness. He carried me, and he let me carry him. Even in his final moments, he was radiant with love. He is with me still, in spirit.

In Jewish tradition, when we mourn, our prayers also offer comfort to G-d. We believe each soul carries a spark of Divine light, and when a life ends, that light diminishes in the world. I believe this is true not only for people, but also for animals—because anything that can love has a soul. Shams carried his own spark, and his light continues to shine. One day, in the afterlife and in the World to Come, I believe we will be reunited.

May the One who created the light of the sun and placed it in the soul of this gentle being now cradle him in eternal peace. May his memory be a blessing, and may his spirit rest in love. May Shams’s neshama, his precious soul, be bound up in the bond of life. And may the love he gave freely continue to live in me, guiding me until the day we are reunited. 

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, דַּיָּן הָאֱמֶת

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-Olam, Dayan Ha-Emet

Blessed are You, Eternal our G-d, Sovereign of the universe, the true Judge.

אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים, שׁוֹכֵן בַּמְּרוֹמִים,

הַמְצֵא מְנוּחָה נְכוֹנָה תַּחַת כַּנְפֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה,

בְּמַעֲלוֹת קְדוֹשִׁים וּטְהוֹרִים,

כְּזוֹהַר הָרָקִיעַ מַזְהִירִים,

לְנִשְׁמַת שָׁמס שֶׁהָלַךְ לְעוֹלָמוֹ.

בַּעֲבוּר שֶׁנָּתַן צְדָקָה וְאַהֲבָה בְּחַיָּיו,

לָכֵן בַּעַל הָרַחֲמִים יַסְתִּירֵהוּ בְּסֵתֶר כְּנָפָיו לְעוֹלָמִים,

וְיִצְרוֹר בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים אֶת נִשְׁמָתוֹ,

יְיָ הוּא נַחֲלָתוֹ, וְיָנוּחַ בְּשָׁלוֹם עַל מִשְׁכָּבוֹ.

וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן.

El Malei Rachamim, G-d full of compassion, dwelling on high,

grant perfect rest beneath the sheltering wings of Your Presence,

among the holy and pure, whose radiance is like the brilliance of the heavens,

to the soul of Shams, who has gone to his eternal home.

For in his life he gave love and gentleness.

May the Master of mercy shelter him in the shadow of wings forever,

and bind his soul in the bond of eternal life.

The Eternal is his inheritance.

May he rest in peace upon his place,

and let us say: Amein.

Art tributes to Shams:

• Have You Ever Seen the Rain

• Stay Gold

• Tears in Heaven

• Ecdysis