Obituaries Archives - Washington Jewish Week

Rabbi Lynne Landsberg, who championed the cause of inclusion as the co-founder and co-chair of the Jewish Disability Network and as senior adviser on disability rights at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, died Monday at the age of 66.

The cause was cancer, The News Leader of Staunton, Virginia, reported.

Landsberg was a pivotal figure in helping people with disabilities find a place within Jewish communities that intentionally or not had not been seen as welcoming. She founded and co-chaired the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ Committee on Disability Awareness and Inclusion and co-founded and co-chaired Hineinu: Jewish Community for People of All Abilities. Hineinu was a rare collaboration of the Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements, as well as Chabad.

She also served on the steering committee of the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition, a coalition of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other faith groups, according to the Religious Action Center.

The Jewish Disability Network, led by the Jewish Federations of North America and the RAC, runs an annual Jewish Disability Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill.

In a speech accepting an honor from the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition in 2015, she recalled the interfaith efforts that led to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

“A number of religious groups tirelessly advocated for the ADA,” she recalled. “However, after its passage, I was surprised to learn that due to pressure from other religious groups, whatever their reasons, houses of worship were, in fact, exempt from and therefore did not have to comply with significant portions of the ADA. Ultimately, because all of our religious groups, both pro and con, did not have the law looking over our shoulders, our congregations were all very slow to make necessary changes both physical and emotional.”

Landsberg would come to know firsthand the challenges facing those with disabilities: In 1999, a car accident left her with a traumatic brain injury. It was months before she could walk, talk, read or concentrate, and she required 24-hour nursing. Years of intensive rehabilitation followed.

During her recovery, she reflected on how a faith community helped her and could help others rebound from trauma.

“I believe the answer lies in three interventions, each informed by Judaism: directed prayer on my behalf, attentive visits, and practical support,” she wrote in a 2004 article for Reform Judaism magazine.

Raised on Long Island, Landsberg received her masters of theological studies from Harvard Divinity School. She graduated Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and was ordained in 1981.

She served as associate rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City and as rabbi of Temple House of Israel in Staunton, Virginia and Congregation Beth El in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Landsberg was associate director of the Religious Action Center from 1988-1996, where she focused on inter-religious affairs, black-Jewish relations and reproductive choice. She later served as regional director for the Union for Reform Judaism’s Mid Atlantic Region. She recently retired from the RAC, to which she had returned as a part-time senior adviser.

In 2009 she received an award from the Harvard Divinity School Alumni/ae Association given to a graduate who “exhibits a passionate and helpful interest in the lives of other people, an informed and realistic faithfulness, an embodiment of the idea that love is not so much a feeling as a way of acting, and a reliable sense of humor.”

“Rabbi Lynne Landsberg was a leader unlike any other,” said Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. “She was an unparalleled champion for people with disabilities, she united diverse groups within the Jewish community and across lines of faith to push for access and inclusion in religious communities and to make disability rights a priority for faith-based advocacy. Her personal courage and persistence have permanently changed the way the American Jewish community approaches issues of access and inclusion.”

She is survived by her husband, Dennis Ward, and a son, Jesse L. Ward.

–JTA News and Features

Rabbi Aaron Panken, a joyful leader who embodied the ‘best of the Reform movement’

Rabbi Aaron Panken, the president of Hebrew Union College, was killed May 5 piloting a small aircraft in the Hudson Valley area of New York state. He was 53.

Panken had led the Reform movement’s flagship seminary since 2014. Prior to serving as the chief executive officer of HUC’s four campuses — in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles and New York — the native New Yorker held senior positions at the school, including vice president for strategic initiatives, dean of the New York campus and dean of students. He was ordained in 1991.

Passenger Frank Reiss, a flight instructor, was injured in the crash, the cause of which is unclear, pending investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. Panken was a licensed pilot.

This week, friends and colleagues of Panken remembered him as a strong leader who was passionate about Israel and, above all, loved what he did as the leader of the Reform movement’s flagship seminary.

Rabbi Andrea Weiss, an associate professor of Bible at the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and its incoming provost, remembered the joy that Panken brought to his work. Weiss recalled how Panken would pop into his colleagues’ offices asking if they were having fun.

“He had this very serious position as president of a very large institution, and he approached it with such joy and with kind of a boyish enthusiasm. He really loved his work,” she said.

Jean Bloch Rosensaft, the school’s assistant vice president for communications and public affairs, said Panken embodied “the best of the Reform movement.”

Provost Michael Marmur said the school had yet to make succession plans but would have an announcement regarding the issue in the coming days.

Rosensaft said Panken was passionate about Israel, working to improve ties between American Jews and the Jewish state, and strengthen Reform Judaism there.

“This was the mission of his life, and he really lived it with every fiber of his being,” she said.

Panken worked to expand the HUC rabbinical program in Israel and its Jerusalem campus and recently ordained its 100th graduate.

“He was so full of pride and excitement about what these men and women are trying to achieve in Israel,” Marmur said.
Panken lived with his family in Scarsdale, N.Y., and was a member of the Westchester Reform Temple, where he had previously served as a rabbinic intern.

He is survived by his wife, Lisa Messinger; his children, Eli and Samantha; his parents, Beverly and Peter; and his sister, Rabbi Melinda Panken of Congregation Shaari Emeth in Manalapan, N.J.
—JTA News and Features

Handbag designer, artist husband die within hours of each other

Handbag designer Judith Leiber died hours after the death of her husband, abstract painter Gerson Leiber.

Both Leibers died at home April 28 in New York of heart attacks. She was 97 and he was 96.

The couple’s deaths were announced to The New York Times by their spokesman, Jeffrey Sussman, who was also their biographer. The couple did not have children.

Sussman told The Times that Gerson Leiber, who had congestive heart failure, told his wife the night before they died, “Sweetie, it’s time for both of us to go.”

Judith Leiber was known for her small crystal-covered handbags called minaudieres, many of which took the forms of small animals, flowers or other objects. The bags often were decorated with gems or semi-precious stones and were gold-plated. Singers and Hollywood celebrities, as well as several first ladies, have carried her bags, which are part of several museum collections.

Gerson Leiber, known as Gus, was an artist who created abstract landscapes, prints and sculptures. His work has been featured in several prominent U.S. museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Judith Leiber, a Budapest native, learned the stages of handbag manufacture in an artisan guild. She used that knowledge to escape being sent to the Nazi concentration camps, and instead the Nazis put her to work sewing military uniforms.
Gerson Leiber was born in Brooklyn and grew up in northwest Pennsylvania, where his father was a junk dealer. He was an Army Signal Corps sergeant stationed in postwar Budapest when he met Judith on a city street. They married in 1946 and settled in New York, where he studied in art school.
—JTA News and Features

Leonard Saul Goodman
Leonard Saul Goodman, of Washington, died April 24 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 85.
Goodman grew up in the Pittsburgh area and received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Penn State University. He later earned a law degree from Harvard University, and chose to specialize in the administrative law field of ratemaking, or insurance pricing.

In 1954, Goodman married Barbara Lock, and they moved to Washington five years later. His first job was in the rates division of the former Civil Aeronautics Board. He then went to work for the Interstate Commerce Commission, where he worked in the general counsel’s office and also as special projects counsel on issues related to railroad rate structure. He later served under contract to the ICC, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Postal Rate Commission, Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

Goodman wrote a two-volume treatise on the methods of ratemaking, as well as several articles on rate-related issues. He received a Young Federal Lawyer Award from the Federal Bar Association in 1967 for his work on transportation law, and a meritorious service citation from the ICC in 1973.

Goodman was a longtime member of Ohev Sholom – The National Synagogue, and served as its president for five years.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara, who died in 2014. He is survived by children, Chana Benjamin and Chaim (Esther) Goodman, as well as five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Gerda C. Berne
Gerda C. Berne, of Potomac, died May 8. She was the beloved wife of the late Ellis J. Berne; devoted mother of Ellen A. Berne, Edie M. Morton and Evelyn S. Berne; loving sister of Heinz Kahlbrock and Margit K. Edelson. Also survived by her granddaughters, Sarah-Charlotte Morton, Rebecca Griggs and Leigha Griggs. Contributions may be made to National Stroke Association. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Vladya Mina Nahman Levine
Vladya Mina Nahman Levine, of Potomac, died May 11 at age 83. She was the beloved wife of the late Col. Dr. Seymour Levine; dear mother of Ariane (Steven) Promisel, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Muriel McCarthy and Natacha (Larry) Myers; and grandmother of Kameron, Roshan, Eli and Chloe. Donations may be made to The Wounded Warrior Project. Services entrusted to Sagel, Bloomfield, Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Bernard D. Lloyd
Bernard D. Lloyd, of Silver Spring, died May 11. He was the beloved husband of Dorothy J. Lloyd; devoted father of Alfred (Clarissa Harris) Lloyd and Lee (Leslie Stein) Lloyd; and dear grandfather of Talia and Soren Lloyd. He is also survived by many loving relatives and friends. Contributions may be made to Shaare Torah or to The Alzheimer’s Association. Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home.

Morton B. Margulies
Morton (Mort) Margulies, of Silver Spring, passed away on May 8, surrounded by his adored family. Mort was a retired chief judge of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Survivors include his loving wife of 58 years, Sandra; children, Robert (Deborah), Todd (Joan) and Betsy; grandchildren, Eric, Rachel and Ross; niece Tamara (Rick); and nephew Bruce (Marlee). Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Warren Ratner
Warren Ratner, 76, peacefully passed away on May 8. He was born May 2, 1942, in Washington. His parents, Louis and Jean Ratner, established a family hair salon business in 1936, which has since become the Hair Cuttery chain. Warren was a licensed hair dresser for more than 50 years. He was an integral part of the family business, including as senior vice president, in which capacity he helped steer the company’s expansion. A word enthusiast, Warren had a passion for collecting quotes. He published a book, “Word Droppings.”

Warren is survived by his brother, Dennis Ratner (Julie); his son, Gary Ratner (Ellen Krieger); his grandchildren, Heather, Moriah and Liana Ratner; his sister-in-law, Ann Ratner; his nieces, Kelly Ratner Mistretta (Stephen) and Lauren Ratner Bujosa (Franco); his dear friend, Susan Clark; and his canine companion, Asia. The family is grateful for the compassion of his caregiver and daughter-in-law, Ellen Krieger.
Donations be made to The Weizmann Institute of Science. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Sholom M. Shefferman
Sholom Marvin Shefferman, 91, a mechanical engineer who co-founded a Washington engineering consulting firm, died May 10 after a brief illness.

He was born Aug. 10, 1926, in Washington. He enlisted in the Navy and then followed his boyhood dream of becoming an engineer by enrolling at Cornell University, graduating with a mechanical engineering degree in 1946.

In 1951, Sholom founded, with Art Bigelson, Shefferman and Bigelson, an international engineering consulting firm, which at one point maintained an office in Tehran. The firm provided the mechanical and technical engineering for Tysons II, the renovation of the Treasury building, the Holocaust Museum, the Capital Centre and construction of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Shefferman and Bigelson routinely defied the segregated norms of 1950s Washington by hiring African American graduates of Howard University’s engineering school.

Sholom retired in 1994. He contributed to the Washington DC Jewish Community Center and the Technion, along with his wife of 49 years, Adele, who died in 1997. In 1999, Sholom married Theda Banker Shefferman, with whom he continued to support charities, including Arena Stage. The Technion presented him with its man of the year award in 2012.

He is survived by his wife, Theda Banker Shefferman; children, Laraine Barclay, Wendy (Avner) Skolnik and Brian Shefferman (Lisa Newman); stepchildren, Larry (Amy) Banker, and Scott Banker; six grandchildren and three step-grandchildren. Donations may be made to JSSA, 6123 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD 20852. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Gary Tepper
Gary Tepper, of Rockville, died May 1. He was the beloved husband of Judy Fox-Tepper; and devoted father of Alex Tepper and his partner, Arielle Felshon, and Rachel (Jon) Paley. Donations can be made to the Anti-Addition Fund in memory of Scott Sternberg at Temple Beth Ami, Rockville. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

BBYO mentor Mitch Liebeskind dies at 35

Mitch Liebeskind, a BBYO professional and member of Oseh Shalom in Laurel, died unexpectedly at 35 on May 1. His death came four days before his planned wedding to Sara Feldman.
In an interview with the Baltimore Jewish Times, Liebeskind’s mother, Diane, said the week of her son’s death had been “the worst week of my life.”

“He had a kind, loving soul,” she said. “He was funny and warm and loving, just very kind.”
Lauren Golfer, a lifelong friend of Liebskind’s who was to be in the wedding party, said his death was an “unspeakable loss at a horrible time.”

“A whole group of us were excited to come into town for a wedding and all of a sudden we’re going to a funeral,” she said.
Liebskind’s work with BBYO included chaperoning several international trips for the March of the Living, an annual educational program that brings individuals from around the world to Poland and Israel to study the history of the Holocaust.

“He gave his time to the kids,” said Jason Budman, a friend of Liebskind’s for nearly two decades. “It’s an interesting quality to have for a man to have at that early age, to be very selfless in that regard.”

Longtime friend Joshua Schuman said common interests he and Liebeskind shared were sports, politics and spicy Asian food, but that he could make connections with people around an array of topics including fashion, sneakers, pastries and hip-hop music.

Contributions can be made in Liebeskind’s name at rememberingmitch.bbyo.org/#donate.

-Connor Graham

Connor Graham is a reporter for the Baltimore Jewish Times.

Millie Annie Bahn
Millie Bahn, of Silver Spring, died May 19. She was 99. Bahn was the beloved wife of the late Abraham Bahn; devoted mother of Cindy (Irnie) Oser and Phyllis (Paul) Rabinowitz; cherished grandmother of Lisa (Jon) Kaplan, Scott Oser, Kim Oser, Allison (Rick) Stein and Stacy Taylor; adored great-grandmother of Lexi, Josh, Haley, Maddie, Andrew, Adam, Jaymie, Corey, Stephen, Joshua and Brianna; great-great-grandmother of Aidan. Contributions can be made to a charity of choice.

Patricia Gail Eisner
Patricia Gail Eisner, of Bethesda, died May 18 of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. She is survived by her husband of 40 years, Bart, and her daughter, Blaine Eisner (Sasha Kushner). Contributions can be made to the ALS Association. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Sherman Karp
Sherman Karp, of Potomac, died May 16. He was the beloved husband of Joan Karp; beloved father of Jennifer Karp and Samuel Karp (Risa Larson); and grandfather of Iona Karp. Contributions can be made to MIT Scholarship Fund 2868000, in memory of Dr. Sherman Karp, 600 Memorial Dr., W98-526, Cambridge, MA 02139.

Paul B. Siegel
Paul Siegel, of Towson, died May 17. He was the loving brother of Dana (Chris) Siegel Petersen; devoted son of Edwin Siegel and the late Lynne Gail Siegel; adored grandson of Shirley Siegelbaum; and beloved uncle of Sawyer Petersen and Hunter Petersen. Contributions can be made to Sturge Weber Foundation, sturge-weber.org. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

LGBT activist Constance “Connie” Kurtz, whose lawsuit against the New York City Board of Education led eventually to domestic partner benefits for all New York City employees in 1994, has died.

Kurtz died May 27 in the West Palm Beach, Fla., home that she shared with her life partner, Ruthie Berman. She was 81.
In 2017, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) reintroduced the LGBT Elder Americans Act, which he renamed the Ruth and Connie Act in honor of Kurtz and Berman, in recognition of the battle they fought for LGBT rights for nearly 30 years.

Kurtz, a Brooklyn native, moved with her then-husband and two children to Israel in 1970, and lived there for four years. When she returned to the United States, she reconnected with Berman, her longtime friend. They fell in love, divorced their respective husbands and became a couple.

Kurtz, a bookkeeper and eating disorder therapist, and Berman, a guidance counselor and physical education teacher at Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn, along with two other couples, sued the New York City Board of Education for domestic partner benefits in 1988, eventually winning such rights for all New York City employees six years later. The couple went on “The Phil Donahue Show,” where in 1988 they came out.

The couple started branches of Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG, in Florida and New York, and in 2000 they began serving as co-chairs of the New York State NOW Lesbian Rights Task Force. They founded The Answer is Loving Counseling Center and worked there for more than 20 years. In 2016, they received the SAGE Pioneer Award presented by Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders, the country’s largest and oldest organization for LGBT seniors.

Kurtz and Berman were married in a Jewish ceremony in 2000, when it was still illegal for lesbians to marry in a civil wedding. They were legally married on July 26, 2011, two days after marriage for same-sex couples became legal in New York State. Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in Manhattan, officiated at both ceremonies.

The couple were featured in a 2002 documentary about their lives, “Ruthie & Connie: Every Room in the House.”
Kurtz and Berman retired to South Florida, where they have been active in Democratic, LGBT, feminist and #BlackLivesMatter politics.

Kurtz began to focus on art in 1996, including painting, collage and quilting.

“Connie was a force of nature,” Kleinbaum said in a statement. “Everyone who encountered her — even for the first time and even briefly — felt her passion, her love, her fierceness and her humor. Connie and her love Ruthie changed the world, and never lost the love of life, of art and of all of her people. I am sending my love to Ruthie and all who are in grief over this terrible loss. A great light has gone out in our world. May her memory forever bless us and may our lives be forever a blessing to her memory.”

Kurtz is survived by Berman; a sister, Sally Silverman; a daughter, Eileen Ben Or, and a son, Moishe Kurtz, who live with their families in Israel; 14 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.
—JTA News and Features

Lynn R. Golden
Lynn R. Golden, of Rockville, died May 20. She was the beloved partner of Bob Blase; devoted stepmother of Amy (Chris) McGrath and Julie (Dave) Kleb; loving sister of Rodney Golden and Lois Golden; cherished grandmother of Katie, Meghan, Ally, Bridget, Sarah and Parker. Also survived by her nephews Michael Golden and Ken Golden, and their families. Contributions can be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation at wish.org/Donate. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Martin L. Okun
Martin L. Okun, of Washington, died May 25. He was 68. Okun was born Jan. 15, 1950 in Washington to Florence and Sol Okun. He spent his career as an orthodontist and enjoyed activities that included boating, Redskins games and Madonna concerts. He is survived by his wife, Tracee; children, Alyson (Eric) Okun Small and Jared (Jennifer) Okun; sister, Mary Gorden; grandchildren, Olivia, Lola, Elle and Harper. Contributions can be made to the Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Alan L. Weiser
Alan L. Weiser, of Silver Spring, died May 21. He was the beloved husband of the late Pauline Weiser; devoted father of Wendy (PJ) Ulzheimer and Barry (Ina) Weiser; loving grandfather of Jaime. Contributions can be made to the American Cancer Society. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Ruth Freedman
Ruth Freedman, of Bethesda, died June 8. She was the beloved wife of the late Gilbert Freedman; devoted mother of Stephen (Jo Ann) Freedman, Faye (Jason) Cohen and Harry (Renie) Freedman. She is also survived by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Susan Grunewald
Susan Grunewald, of Baltimore and Vineland, N.J., died June 2. Grunewald was a corporate bookkeeper in both cities until her retirement in 1996. She was predeceased by her husband of 61 years, Fred. Grunewald is survived by sons Jeffrey (Barbara) and Robert (Nancy); grandsons Matthew, Michael, Thomas, Alexander and Craig; sister Joan Margolies; and nieces Lindy, Sherri and Linda. Contributions can be made to Hadassah (hadassah.org), Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) or B’nai Shalom of Olney. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Ethel Joan Lobel
Ethel Joan Lobel, of Rockville, died June 10 after a brief illness. She was 99. Lobel was the devoted and cherished mother of Phil and Ron Lobel; treasured grandmother of Rachel, Michael, Maya and Zach; and great-grandmother of Aaron. Contributions can be made to the American Heart Association (heart.org) or the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org). Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

David Pellish
David Pellish, of Rockville, died June 2. He was the devoted father of Madeline (Mike Teller) Pellish and Stuart (Carol) Pellish; loving brother of Lillian (Joseph) Rosen; cherished grandfather of Zachary (Katie) Pellish and Aaron Pellish. Contributions can be made to Charles E. Smith Life Communities.

Donald J. Rosenblum
Donald J. Rosenblum, of Rockville, died June 5. Rosenblum grew up in the Washington area, attending Northwood High School in Silver Spring and later Towson University. Rosenblum was a writer/editor in the Department of Veterans Affairs for 32 years, until retiring in 2006. He spent retirement volunteering and traveling throughout five continents with his wife of 35 years, Lisa Rosenblum.
Rosenblum was also the loving brother of Bruce (Jeri); cherished uncle of Daniel, David and Erica; and great-uncle of Abbi. Contributions can be made to the National Parkinson Foundation or a charity of choice. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Adele Slomowitz
Adele Diane Slomowitz, of North Bethesda, died June 3. She was 90. Slomowitz was born in Glen Rock, N.J., and later moved to Paterson. She studied at the Latin American Institute in New York City, where she graduated in 1946. She then worked as a bilingual secretary at MGM International in New York.
In 1955, she married Gilbert Slomowitz. They had two children and the family moved to Potomac in 1965, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 1976 and Rosslyn in 1983. Slomowitz volunteered 800 hours at Arlington Hospital before moving to North Bethesda in 1993. Slomowitz was predeceased by her husband, Gilbert, who died in 1988. She is survived by children Nancy and Richard Slomowitz. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Frederic D. Weinfeld
Frederic D. Weinfeld, of Annapolis, died May 24. He was 95. Weinfeld was born in Boston on Feb. 25, 1923, and earned his undergraduate degree from Boston University. He later earned a doctorate from Harvard University. Weinfeld served in the Army during World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He later moved to Bethesda, where he worked as a medical researcher at the National Institutes of Health. In 1987, Weinfeld retired and moved to Annapolis. Weinfeld was a member of Congregation Kneseth Israel in Annapolis, Jewish War Veterans and other professional and philanthropic organizations.
Weinfeld is survived by his wife, Irene Kohn Weinfeld; stepchildren, Jeff Gurman (Yaira) and Tammy Lawrence; four step-grandchildren and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Contributions can be made to Friends of the Jewish Chapel at the Naval Academy, 326 First St. #22, Annapolis, MD 21403.

Estelle Liebow Schultz
Estelle Liebow Schultz, of Rockville, died June 14. She was 100. Schultz was born in New York City and spent her childhood in Jersey City, N.J. She earned her undergraduate degree from Montclair State Teachers College (now Montclair State University) and became a high school English teacher in New Jersey. After marrying Henry Schultz in 1941, the two moved to California, where she earned a master’s degree from California State University, Long Beach. Schultz also earned a doctorate in education from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Schultz then went to work in the Compton, Calif., Unified School District. During her 39-year career there, she held a number of positions including assistant principal, principal, director of curriculum and assistant superintendent. After her retirement, she continued there to help mentor new teachers as a support director for Teach for America.

Schultz moved to Silver Spring in 1996, where she lived in the Bedford Court independent living community. There she co-edited the community newsletter, founded a literary magazine and participated in arts and crafts classes. She was also active in Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women.

Schultz later moved to Rockville to live with her daughter, Roberta Benor, and son-in-law, David Benor. During the 2016 presidential campaign, she was one of several women voters in their 90s and 100s listed on the website iwaited96years.com, who were alive prior to women’s suffrage in 1920 and had voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Schultz is survived by sister Ruth Hyman; daughter Roberta Benor (David), of Rockville; son Stephen Schultz (Tina Blaine), of Alameda, Calif.; grandchildren Sarah Benor (Mark) of Los Angeles, Miriam Benor of Santa Monica, Calif., and Aaron Benor of Rutherford, N.J.; and great-grandchildren Aliza, Dalia, Ariella, Ezra and Jonah. She was predeceased by her husband of 63 years, Henry Schultz. Contributions can be made to a charity of choice. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Ellen Strauss
Ellen Strauss, of Silver Spring, Harrison, N.Y., and Germany died June 1. She was 87. Strauss was the beloved wife of the late Martin Strauss; devoted mother of Gary (Ivy) Strauss and Joanne (Len) Sperling; loving grandmother of Beck and Randi Strauss and Laura Sperling. Contributions can be made to a charity of choice.

Charles Krauthammer, conservative columnist who fiercely defended Israel, is dead at 68

Charles Krauthammer, a fierce defender of Israel and one of the most widely read conservative columnists of his generation, died on June 21.

The Pulitzer Prize winner wrote earlier this month that he had an aggressive form of cancer and had weeks to live. The letter appeared on the websites of both of his employers, Fox News Channel and The Washington Post. He was 68.
Krauthammer said he thought he had beaten the disease.

“There was no sign of it as recently as a month ago, which means it is aggressive and spreading rapidly,” he wrote. “My doctors tell me their best estimate is that I have only a few weeks left to live. This is the final verdict. My fight is over.”

Krauthammer was outspoken for decades in his support of Israel, and was a lacerating critic of the Obama administration. His rejection of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was influential in galvanizing Jewish organizational opposition to the deal. He regularly made himself available for Jewish events.

“Dr. Krauthammer said his politics were shaped by growing up in the post-Holocaust years with Jewish parents who had escaped the Nazis in Europe,” The Washington Post wrote.

He grew up attuned to the “tragic element in history,” he once told a C-SPAN interviewer, according to the Post. “It tempers your optimism and your idealism. … You don’t expect that much out of human nature. And you are prepared for the worst.”
In an essay in The Weekly Standard in 1998, he wrote about Israel’s vulnerability and his attachment to the Jewish state.

“Israel too is a small country. This is not to say that extinction is its fate. Only that it can be,” he wrote. “Moreover, in its vulnerability to extinction, Israel is not just any small country. It is the only small country — the only country, period — whose neighbors publicly declare its very existence an affront to law, morality, and religion and make its extinction an explicit, paramount national goal. Nor is the goal merely declarative. Iran, Libya, and Iraq conduct foreign policies designed for the killing of Israelis and the destruction of their state. They choose their allies (Hamas, Hezbollah) and develop their weapons (suicide bombs, poison gas, anthrax, nuclear missiles) accordingly. Countries as far away as Malaysia will not allow a representative of Israel on their soil nor even permit the showing of ‘Schindler’s List’ lest it engender sympathy for Zion.”
Krauthammer returned to that theme in 2015, lamenting what he called Arab recalcitrance in foiling chances for peace.

“Peace awaits three things. Eventual Palestinian acceptance of a Jewish state. A Palestinian leader willing to sign a deal based on that premise. A modicum of regional stability that allows Israel to risk the potentially fatal withdrawals such a deal would entail,” he wrote.

“I believe such a day will come. But there is zero chance it comes now or even soon.”

Krauthammer also was among a small but unyielding core of conservatives who opposed Donald Trump, even as he closed in on the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and then the presidency. Krauthammer cautioned against “Trump derangement syndrome” — criticizing the president even when his policies were consistent with conservative doctrine — and denounced Trump’s unfiltered rhetoric, which he called “vainglorious.” (Trump called Krauthammer an “overrated clown.”) He said Trump’s failure to unequivocally condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis whose protests in Charlottesville, Va., culminated in a deadly attack on a counterprotester was a “moral disgrace.”

Krauthammer, a New York native who was raised in Montreal, was a first-year medical student at Harvard University when a diving accident put him in a wheelchair for life. He became a psychiatrist and first emerged in the political sphere as a speechwriter for Vice President Walter Mondale during the Carter administration. Like many hawkish Jewish Democrats, he was soon attracted to the hard-line Cold War postures of President Ronald Reagan.
He won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his Washington Post columns in 1987, and the National Magazine Award for his work at The New Republic in 1984.

He opposed the Oslo Accords, primarily distrusting the renunciation of terrorism by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat — a view that seemed vindicated when Arafat embraced the second intifada. Krauthammer also was an outspoken advocate of the Iraq War, scrambling to defend his advocacy when the war went south.
Krauthammer in his note to readers said he had no regrets.

“It was a wonderful life — full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living,” he said. “I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended.”
He is survived by his wife, Robyn, and his son, Daniel, a syndicated columnist like his father.
—JTA News and Features

Arnold Howard Mays
Arnold Howard Mays, of Washington, died on June 18. He was the beloved husband of Judith Mays; devoted father of Rachel (Matthew) Joseph and David Mays; and cherished grandfather of Naomi and Ben Joseph. Contributions may be made to ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation (conquer.org). Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Gerald Fischman
Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Sun Media Group

The lasting image of Gerald Fischman for Larry Harris is a shy but studious ninth-grader who wore cardigan sweaters and carried a brown briefcase during his years at Northwood High School in the 1970s.

“Gerald was the one who got straight A’s,” recalled Harris, of Germantown.

Fischman, 61, was one of five journalists at the Capital Gazette who were shot and killed on June 28 in their Annapolis newsroom. Jarrod Ramos, of Laurel, was charged in the killings.

For 26 years, Fischman was the voice of the Annapolis daily, “writing scathing, insightful and always exacting editorials about the community,” The Baltimore Sun wrote. He didn’t grouse about “having to write an editorial about Christmas every year, even though he was Jewish.”

Also killed in the shooting were Rob Hiaasen, 59, an editor and columnist; Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent; sports writer John McNamara, 56; and Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant.

Fischman grew up in Silver Spring, on Caddington Avenue near Forest Knolls Elementary School, which he attended. He graduated from Northwood in 1974 and earned a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland in 1979.

Harris said he was shocked when he got word of the shooting last week. He said he hadn’t seen Fischman since high school, but remembered him fondly. Fischman was an editor at Northwood’s school newspaper, and quickly made a name for himself with his writing ability, Harris said. While quiet, he was never shy when it came to voicing his opinion about current events, particularly during Watergate.

“His passion was the world around him and the political environment,” Harris said.

Fischman also played violin in the school orchestra, and was “very precise,” about his playing, Harris said.

Harris said he tried to befriend Fischman, whose reserved personality sometimes isolated him socially. Fischman was bullied, Harris said.

“I always tried to reach out to him because I knew what a struggle it was to get picked on in school,” Harris said. “He was one of the good guys. He never complained.

“He never went to any of the teachers or the principal. He just kept to himself. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t reach out the last several years.”

Another classmate, Larry Shor, attended elementary school with Fischman. Shor, who hosts a weekly radio show of Jewish music, called Fischman “a very smart guy” who often kept to himself.

“[He was] a really really nice, sweet guy,” Shor said. “Never would hurt a fly.”

Former Capital Gazette reporter Joshua Stewart described Fischman as “kind of a mysterious guy” who became famous for the sticky notes he left on the desks of his colleagues asking them to fact check his editorials.

According to the Sun, Fischman married Saran Erdenebat, an opera singer from Mongolia, later in life. When Stewart and another reporter asked how they had met, Fischman’s reply was succinct.

“I typed ‘Mongolian opera singer’ into a dating site,” he deadpanned, according to The Sun.

A week before Fischman’s death, he and other members of the Capital Gazette’s editorial board interviewed candidates for the Anne Arundel County Board of Education to determine the paper’s endorsements in the race. Dana Schallheim, one of two winning candidates, said Fischman only asked a few questions but seemed genuinely interested in the candidates’ responses.

“He just sat there and looked at us and took very diligent notes,” she said. “He seemed like he cared deeply about what we were saying.”

Schallheim said she was devastated at the news about the shooting, and called the five who were killed “institutions.”

“You can’t replace experience like that,” she said.

“You can’t replace their experience in reporting truth.”

Fischman’s legacy, Harris said, will be of a person “who knew so much about the world” and let others know through his carefully worded writing.

“He used his wordsmith prowess to express what he saw in the world.”

dschere@midatlanticmedia.com

Claude Lanzmann, shown in 2014. Wikimedia Commons

Claude Lanzmann, one of the world’s foremost makers of documentary films about the Holocaust, has died.

Lanzmann, a French Jew who directed the canonical 1985 film “Shoah,” died on Thursday at the age of 92 at his home in Paris, Le Monde reported.

Although he is best known for the 9-hour-long documentary bearing the Hebrew-language name of the Holocaust, his many projects “have changed the history of film making forever,” a Le Monde author wrote in an obituary for Lanzmann.

His works about the Holocaust were extensive and innovative in how they were among the first to tackle for a wide audience aspects of the genocide that had been scarcely discussed for their sensitivity, including the role and level of knowledge of locals in Eastern Europe about the mass murder of Jews in their countries. He also dealt with the sensitive and divisive subject of Jews working in the service of the Nazis in the framework of the annihilation.

Lanzmann, who in 2011 received the French Legion of Honor, the country’s highest distinction of merit, had two children, one of whom, Felix, died last year of cancer at the age of 23. Lanzmann was deeply affected by Felix’s death, Le Monde wrote.

Parallel to his film making career, Lanzmann was also an author and frequent contributor of essays to mainstream publications in France and around the world. In 2012, he published a biography titled “The Patagonian Hare,” which covers a range of subjects in which Lanzmann had been involved, including human rights violations in North Korea and the fate of Holocaust survivors who had been maimed in medical experiments.

One of Lanzmann’s most recent and profound cinematic works was released in 2013. A documentary titled “The Last of the Unjust,” it is based on interviews that Lanzmann conducted in 1975 with Benjamin Murmelstein, the only surviving president of the Jewish Council in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Shunned after the war as a collaborator, Murmelstein was imprisoned and then acquitted by the Czech authorities. Yet the perception of guilt over what was then largely a taboo remained, and analyzed openly in Lanzmann’s intimate interviews, conducted over the course of a week during which the two develop what looks like a friendship.

“Claude Lanzmann was single-handedly responsible for keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive in the hearts and minds of so many around the world,” Natan Sharansky, outgoing chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel. “His magnum opus, “Shoah,” captured the horrors of that period through the personal testimonies of survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators alike and was the first time many were confronted with the reality of the Holocaust as told by those who were there. His personal dedication to commemorating the Shoah was unparalleled, and he traveled around the world, even in his later years, to ensure the memory of the victims was never forgotten. For that, we owe him a great debt of gratitude. May his memory be a blessing.”

–JTA News & Features

Barbara B. Fagan
Barbara B. Fagan, of Rockville, died June 26. She worked as an administrator, property manager, realtor and entrepreneur. Although Fagan was a longtime Washingtonian, she had a second home in New Haven, Conn. Fagan is survived by her sons Bruce, Matthew and Adam Fagan; daughters-in-law Jan and Terri; and grandchildren Aaron, Michael, Lauren, Leah, Melissa, Annie, Sarah and Hannah. She was predeceased by her husband, Martin R. Fagan. Contributions may be made to the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Zvia Margolis
Zvia Margolis, of Rockville, died June 3. As a child, she came to Mandatory Palestine, which restricted Jewish immigration. Intercepted by the British authorities, she and her infant sister, Frieda, were sent to the internment camp at Akko, with their mother, Rina. Following their escape, Zvia grew up in Jerusalem, later serving with distinction in the Israeli Air Force. She later worked at a Kupat Holim dental clinic in Jerusalem.

Margolis immigrated to the United States in 1960, and married her husband of 42 years, Stuart, later that year. The couple settled in New York City and then moved to Rockville in 1974. Margolis was a member of B’nai Israel Congregation for four decades.

Margolis is survived by her children, Avi (Clara) and Ben (Amy) Margolis; and grandchildren Yoav, Zev, Ariel, Tsvi, Zackariah, Gabriella and Nataniel Margolis. She was predeceased by her husband.
Contributions may be made to B’nai Israel Congregation, 6301 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD 20852.

Marsha Siegel Raskin
Marsha Siegel Raskin, of Silver Spring, died of pancreatic cancer on May 23. She was 74. Raskin was born in the Bronx, N.Y., in 1944 and moved to Silver Spring in 1965. She was a founding member of the Ohr Kodesh Early Childhood Center and worked there for many years. Raskin then worked at Rosemary Hills Primary School as a paraeducator, retiring after 28 years.

She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Leonard (Lenny) Raskin; daughters Sheryl Dismuke (Mark) and Jacqueline (Jackie) Raskin-Burns (Adam); son Philip (Amy) Raskin; grandchildren Halle and Lexie Burns, Henry Dismuke and Brooke Raskin; brother Ira (Marilyn) Siegel; and many loving cousins and friends.
Contributions can be made to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network or Ohr Kodesh Congregation.

Charlotte Teich
Charlotte Teich, of Washington and Tamarac, Fla., died June 25. She was the beloved wife of the late Sol Teich; loving mother of Donna (Ronald) Teich Oser; cherished grandmother of Sean (Tamara) Oser and Marcie (L. Scott) Wertlieb; and great-grandmother of Courtney and Jessica Oser and Zoe and Sela Wertlieb. Contributions may be made to the charity of choice. Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home.

Max Fuchs, who led Jewish service in Germany during WWII, dies at 96

Max Fuchs, an American soldier who helped lead a historic Jewish religious service in Germany during World War II, has died.
Fuchs, an Army rifleman who led the 1944 Shabbat service in Aachen alongside Army chaplain Rabbi Sidney Lefkowitz, for some 50 Jewish American soldiers, died July 3, according to The New York Times. It was the first Jewish service broadcast from Germany since the rise of Hitler more than a decade earlier, and was shown throughout the United States and in Germany.

“The emotion was tremendous,” Fuchs said of the service in an interview for the American Jewish Committee in 2009. “The soldiers had heard of all the atrocities. Most of them had families that perished in the Holocaust. We had so many of my family.”

The Army division had no cantor, so Fuchs agreed to fill the role.

“Since I was the only one who could do it, I tried my best,” Fuchs told The Times.

Fuchs, a native of Poland, moved to New York at age 12 with his family. After the war he studied cantorial music and served as the cantor of the Bayside Jewish Center in Queens, and also worked as a diamond cutter in Manhattan, The Times reported.
Fighting in the war left Fuchs with nightmares, and he rarely spoke about his experience with his family, though he did hang a photograph in his home of himself leading the iconic service.
—JTA News and Features

Lionel Felsen
Lionel Felsen, of Fairfax Station and Delray Beach, Fla., died June 22. He was 81. Felsen was a longtime dentist who was active in Northern Virginia’s Jewish community. He and his wife, Sheila, were members of Congregation Olam Tikvah in Fairfax, and were also involved in the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, Chabad and Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.
Felsen, is survived by his wife of 60 years, Sheila Felsen; children David (Debbie) Felsen, Daniel (Beth) Felsen and Deborah (Scott) Gould; grandchildren Briana Felsen, Sammy Felsen, Sara Felsen, Benjamin Felsen, Noah Felsen, Jacob Gould and Jenna Gould; and siblings Joan Felsen and Stanley Felsen. Contributions can be made to FIDF at lonnyfelsenfidf.com.

Ruth Fine
Ruth Fine, of Silver Spring, died July 5. She was the beloved wife of the late George Fine; devoted mother of Maryetta (the late Larry) Suls and Marc (Susan) Fine; dear grandmother of Edward and Lauren Suls, Todd (Ellyn) Fine, Stephanie (Lee) Brody and Shari (Chris) Hudson. Contributions may be made to a charity of choice. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Jane Josephs
Jane Josephs, of Bethesda, died June 30. She was the devoted wife of the late Melvin Josephs; loving mother of Abby (Jack) Donnelly and Jessica Josephs; cherished grandmother of Joshua (Katie) Donnelly and Eion Donnelly; adored great-grandmother of Nora Jane Donnelly; loving sister of Jolly Raiss. Contributions can be made to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase YMCA or the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Shirley Kaufmann
Shirley Kaufmann, of Bethesda, died July 2. She was the beloved wife of the late Harold Kaufmann; devoted mother of Linda (Ian) Kramer, Jim (Mary Thrasher) Kaufmann and Debbie (Stephen Paderofsky) Kaufmann; loving grandmother of Allison (Eric) Stearns, Marc (Sally) Kramer, Jeniffer Kaufmann and Alex (Matt) Eckhout; and great-grandmother of Emily, Abigail, Jessica and Hannah. Contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Hospice Caring. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Steven A. Winkelman
Steven A. Winkelman, of Washington, died July 5. He was 89. Winkelman was born in Philadelphia and raised in Washington. He attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and later earned a law degree from Georgetown University. Winkelman practiced law in the District of Columbia and Maryland for more than 50 years in the field of modern estate planning. He served as the president of the D.C. Bar and was a fellow at the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He also taught at Georgetown Law School for more than 30 years.
Winkelman is survived by his wife of 64 years, Anne Winkelman; children Susan Hock (Alan), Nancy Winkelman, John Winkelman and Michael Winkelman (Donna); sister Ann Brown (Don); and six grandchildren. Contributions may be made to Camphill Village Kimberton Hills in memory of Steve Winkelman, proud grandfather of Sonia Lieberman, 1601 Pughtown Road, Phoenixville, PA 19460.

Richard Siegel, educator who co-edited ‘The Jewish Catalog,’ is dead at 70

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz
Photo Leslie Cagan via Facebook/JTA

Richard Siegel, an educator who advocated for Jewish culture and arts and co-edited the seminal “Jewish Catalog” series of guides to “do-it-yourself” Judaism, died July 12 in Los Angeles. He was 70 and had been battling cancer for two years, according to a friend and colleague, Barry Holtz, a professor of Jewish education at The Jewish Theological Seminary.
Siegel was the director emeritus of the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, which trains communal professionals for work in Jewish organizations.

For 28 years he worked at the National Foundation for Jewish Culture (renamed the Foundation for Jewish Culture), and served as its executive director from 1978 to 2006. According to HUC, he created the Jewish Endowment for the Arts and Humanities to provide funding for artists, scholars and cultural institutions, and initiated the Fund for Jewish Documentary Filmmaking, the Fund for New Play Commissions in Jewish Theater and the 6-Points Fellowships in the Arts.

In 1973, along with Michael Strassfeld and Sharon Strassfeld — fellow members of Havurat Shalom, a lay-led congregation in Somerville, Mass. — he published what became known as “The First Jewish Catalog.” Its subtitle was “A Do-It-Yourself Kit,” and it offered instructions on everything from making a seder to crafting a tallit to protesting for Soviet Jewry. Its target audience was young Jews who wanted to return to the traditions of their grandparents but weren’t exactly sure how.
Inspired by the “The Whole Earth Catalog,” a source of “tools and ideas” for the hippie generation, Siegel and the Strassfelds found contributors who, like them, boasted excellent Jewish and even rabbinic educations.

The book became an instant best-seller for the Jewish Publication Society. It and two subsequent volumes were credited with empowering young Jews who felt alienated from synagogue life and popularizing an ethos of pluralism and gender egalitarianism. Critics objected to the very elements that its fans considered its strengths: that it leaned too heavily on the ethos of the 1960s counterculture and gave too little respect to the major Jewish denominations and institutions.

“We did have a legitimate critique of American Jewish life, and we were offering some new ideas for its reinvigoration,” Siegel recalled in 2015 in an address to HUC’s graduates. “To be clear, we weren’t just pointing out the Jewish community’s faults and admonishing it to change its priorities. As activists, we were working to make the change happen, to ‘be the change we wanted to see,’ to use a contemporary aphorism.”

As his generation of young activists themselves became part of the Jewish establishment, Siegel turned to promoting Jewish culture and training professionals for work in Jewish institutions.

In his 2015 speech, he said, “Now more than ever, Jewish organizations, whether startups or legacy institutions, need business-savvy, Jewishly educated and visionary professional leaders to help them address both the enormous challenges and significant opportunities facing the Jewish world and the broader society.”

In recent years he worked with his wife, Rabbi Laura Geller, on a forthcoming book titled “Good at Getting Older: A Practical Catalog Grounded in Jewish Wisdom,” to be published by Behrman House.

His other books included “The Jewish Almanac” (1981) and “The Writer in the Jewish Community: An Israel-North America Dialogue” (1993).

Siegel also was one of the founding members of Minyan Maat, a lay-led congregation that meets at Ansche Chesed, an egalitarian, Conservative synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

“Richard Siegel was a transformative force in the Jewish world through his commitment to strengthening professional education, enhancing Jewish culture and advancing contemporary Jewish identity formation,” the Zelikow School said in a statement announcing his death.

Raised in Pittsburgh, Siegel received a master’s degree in contemporary Jewish studies (now the Hornstein Program) at Brandeis University in 1972 and another master’s in Jewish history from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1974. His master’s thesis at Brandeis was subsequently developed into “The Jewish Catalog.”

He was the Hillel director, its first, at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1974 to 1978, where he founded the Long Island Jewish Arts Festival.

He is survived by his wife, the senior rabbi emerita of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, and their children, Andy, Ruth, Josh and Elana.

—JTA News and Features

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, activist for racial equality, dies at 73

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz. Photo Leslie Cagan via Facebook/JTA

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, a writer and progressive activist who was the founding director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, has died.

Kaye/Kantrowitz died July 9 from Parkinson’s disease, her partner, Leslie Cagan, wrote on Facebook. She was 73.
The essayist and poet, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, said her Jewish upbringing helped motivate her activism. Kaye/Kantrowitz published essays and poems on issues including anti-Semitism, the intersection of Judaism, gender and race, and relations between Jews and African Americans. She was active in the LGBTQ community and wrote about her identity as a lesbian Jew. As the founding director of JFREJ in 1990, she fought against racism and economic injustice.

“She was a brilliant feminist poet, essayist, and lesbian activist who fought tirelessly against racism & antisemitism,” JFREJ wrote in a Facebook post on July 10. “She sparked our collective, radical imagination and opened our minds to an expanse of possibilities.”

She was born Melanie Kaye and later added Kantrowitz to honor her Jewish roots. Her parents had anglicized their last name from Kantrowitz before she was born.
In a public Facebook post, Cagan said Kaye/Kantrowitz had fought Parkinson’s disease for years, but more recently the disease had started to affect her mind in addition to her body. Cagan said that despite the passing of Kaye/Kantrowitz, she was “filled with joy knowing how many people she touched.”

“As a friend, as a co-worker, as a teacher, as a writer — an incredible writer — as a sister and comrade and co-conspirator in the struggle for justice and peace, Melanie’s presence was often soft but always strong,” Cagan wrote. “Her moral compass was always set in the right direction, and she always had the courage to speak out, to take action, and to bring others along with her.”

—JTA News & Features

Wayne A. Edisis
Wayne A. Edisis, of Washington, died July 4. He was the beloved husband of Adrienne Taptich Edisis; devoted father of Nathaniel and Aaron Edisis; loving brother of Robyn Edisis. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Ciss Kolker
Ciss Kolker, of Washington, died July 11. Kolker attended Beaver College (Arcadia University today), outside of Philadelphia and later attended George Washington University, where she was presented her diploma by President Harry Truman. She spent her career as a party consultant in greater Washington. Kolker is survived by her beloved husband of 73 years, Bernie Kolker; sons Gary Kolker (Nancy) and Jeff Kolker (Pamela); daughter Tracy Kolker Ochsman (Bruce); grandchildren Tom, Kelly, Courtney, Samantha, Jade, Paris (Ben ), January (Andy), Kate, Steven, Chase and Lion. She was predeceased by her son Steve Kolker and brothers David and Leonard Rapoport. Contributions may be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org/Donate).

Robert A. Jacobs
Robert A. Jacobs, of Annapolis, died July 10. He was the beloved husband of Lenora Jacobs; devoted father of Verna (Joel) Tiegen, Stephen (Nicki) Jacobs and Vivian (Ken) Koroknay. Also survived by grandchildren Leah, Anne, Sharon, Brian and Drew; and great-grandchildren Luca, Elisa and Cameron. Jacobs was predeceased by his brother, Lester Jacobs. Contributions may be made to Friends of The Jewish Chapel (fojcusna.org) or Temple Bat Yam, 11036 Worcester Hwy, Berlin, MD 21811.
Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Hundreds in Georgia mourn Jewish soldier killed in Afghanistan

Hundreds of mourners filled a Savannah, Ga., synagogue to remember a Jewish soldier killed in action in Afghanistan on July 12.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Andrew Celiz, 32, an Army Ranger and native of Summerville, Ga., was wounded by enemy small-arms fire while helping to support a medical evacuation landing zone during a counterterrorism operation, Army officials said. He died at a medical treatment facility.

His funeral took place July 18 at Congregation Mickve Israel in historic Savannah, the Post and Courier reported. Flags were lowered at half-staff throughout the state in his honor.

Friends from Summerville High School and The Citadel remembered him as “smart, caring and upbeat,” the paper reported.

“I’ve never seen a man love his wife and his child as much as he loved them,” a friend said. Celiz and his wife, Katie, began dating in high school.

The Savannah Jewish Educational Alliance and Savannah Jewish Federation mourned Celiz in a statement on Facebook.

“A husband, father, and leader, Chris was known as a man who ‘led from the front’; He was the first one in, worried about the welfare of his troops,” they wrote. “He died as he lived … as a hero.”

Celiz deployed from 2008 to 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and from 2011 to 2012 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, according to the U.S. Defense Department. He was on his fifth deployment when he was killed.

Celiz was posthumously awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. n

—JTA News and Features

Diana Aronson
Diana “Dee” Aronson, of Silver Spring, died July 16. She was the beloved wife of Joel Aronson; devoted mother of Chuck Sussman, Jeffrey (Eunice) Aronson, Andrea (Mark) Lozouski and Stephanie (Carlos) Loayza; loving sister of Alexandra (Christian Thompson) Aronson. Also survived by her grandchildren Alex, Samantha, Wyatt, Sebastian, Santana and Cassie. Contributions may be made to petconnect.com. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Sidney Arthur
Sidney Arthur of Bethesda and Aurora, Ohio, died July 12. He was 90. Arthur was an Eagle Scout and a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ann Arthur; children, Amy (Eric) Fingerhut and Julie (Jon) Garcia; grandchildren, Isabella, Paloma, Sam and Charlie; and nieces, Laurie Butler and Janet
Levinson. Contributions can be made to the Jewish War Veterans at jwv.org. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Leesa Rose Fine
Leesa Fine, of Bethesda, died July 18. She was the beloved wife of Milan Kubic; loving mother of Benjamin Kubic (Elizabeth Hoffman); dear sister of David (Roseann) Fine and the late Avrom Fine; and cherished daughter of the late Isadore and Judith Fine. Leesa was a devoted biblical Hebrew teacher whose legacy will live on with her many students, family and friends. Contributions may be made to Doctors Without Borders or National Public Radio. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Sydell Beverly Kopf
Sydell Beverly Kopf, of Rockville, died July 16. She was the beloved wife of the late Solomon Wolfe Kopf; devoted mother of Randi Kopf Rothenberg and Lisa Krizman; proud grandmother of Mitchell Rothenberg and Jeffrey Krizman; and thrilled great-grandmother of Holden Wolfe Rothenberg. Contributions may be made to a charity of choice. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Sheldon Irwin Matzkin
Sheldon Irwin Matzkin, of Bethesda, died July 17. He was the beloved husband of Eleanor R. Matzkin; devoted father of the late Thomas Matzkin, Richard Matzkin and Jonathan (Karen) Matzkin. Also survived by his grandchildren VitaMarie Matzkin and Paulina Matzkin, and step-grandchildren Matt Falconer and Alec Falconer. Contributions may be made to a charity of choice. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Phyllis Brickman
Phyllis Brickman, of Gaithersburg’s Asbury Methodist Village, died July 21. She was 90. Brickman was the loving daughter of the late Leonard and Nettie (nee Drower) Weissman; wife of the late Harold Brickman; devoted mother of Howard (Wendy) Brickman and Lynn (the late Robert) Hemphill; sister of Harold (Rita) Weissman; beloved grandmother of Laura Hemphill; and cherished aunt of Roberta Rich, Hollis Rich, Cheryl Karelis, Kim Brickman and their families.

Stephen Greenhouse
Stephen Greenhouse, of Bethesda, died July 28. Greenhouse was the beloved husband of Robyn Greenhouse; loving father of Ryan, Tyler and Dylan Greenhouse; cherished son of Charles and Linda Greenhouse; and devoted brother of Audrey (Jon) Friedlander and David (Debbie) Greenhouse. Contributions can be made to Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation (crohnscolitisfoundation.org).
Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Terry Ledley
Terry Ledley, of Laurel, died July 25. She was 91. Ledley was the beloved wife of the late Robert Ledley; devoted mother of Fred (Tamara) Ledley and Gary (Deborah) Ledley; and cherished grandmother of Miriam Ledley, Johanna Ledley, Jenna Ledley and Matthew Ledley.
Contributions may be made to the National Park Foundation at nationalparks.org/tribute, or to 1110 Vermont Ave NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20005.
Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Jerrold Mark Michael
Jerrold Mark Michael, of Washington, died July 25. He was 90.

Michael was born Aug. 3, 1927, in Kingston, N.Y., the youngest of five children, to Joseph and Esther Michael. He and his family moved to Washington when he was 11, and in 1945 he graduated from Anacostia High School. Michael joined the Navy at age 17 where, he was trained as a corpsman to support the Marines in the planned invasion of Japan during World War II
After serving in Florida for two years, Michael used the GI Bill to train as a civil engineer at George Washington University. He met his wife, Lynn Simon, in 1948 and they married on March 17, 1951 after he earned his master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University. Michael also became an officer in the United States Public Health Service.

Michael was assigned to his first USPHS post in Phoenix and then Atlanta at the Centers for Disease Control before moving back to Washington in 1959, where he worked in the Indian Health Service, the Environmental Protection Service (later to become the EPA) and the Bureau of Medical Services. He became a rear admiral in 1964 at age 37.

Michael retired from the USPHS in 1971 and moved with his family to Honolulu, where he became a professor of public health at the University of Hawaii, and dean of the School of Public Health for 20 years. During that time, he developed a network of public health schools in the Pacific Rim, earned two honorary degrees, had an endowed chair position created in his name at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and received the Order of the Elephant honor from the king of Thailand.

Upon retiring from the University of Hawaii, Michael returned to Washington in November 1995 to serve as a professor of global health at George Washington University. There he helped develop a new school of public health, and trained doctoral students into his 80s, among other accomplishments.

Michael is survived by his wife of 67 years, Lynn Y. Michael; sons Scott (Mary) and Nelson (Madeline) Michael; grandchildren Joseph (Stacey), Karen (Ian), Joshua and Claire Michael; and great-grandchildren Dale Michael and Sophia Michael.
Contributions can be made to the RADM Jerrold Michael Global Health Fellowship Program of the Koop Living Legacy Fund (phscof.org/koop-living-legacy-fund.html).

Phyllis Miller Peikin
Phyllis Miller Peikin, of San Mateo, Calif., and North Bethesda, died July 21. Peikin was the beloved wife of the late Daniel Peikin and devoted mother of Robert Peikin. Contributions may be made to National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association.
Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Charlotte Rae, who starred as Mrs. Garrett on ‘The Facts of Life,’ dies at 92

Charlotte Rae. Flickr.

Actress Charlotte Rae, who won acclaim playing the housemother Edna Garrett on the sitcom “The Facts of Life,” has died. She was 92.

Rae, who was nominated for Emmy and Tony awards, died Aug. 5 at her home in Los Angeles. She was diagnosed last year with bone cancer; she had survived pancreatic cancer.

Rae first appeared as Mrs. Garrett in a recurring role as a housekeeper on the popular sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes,” and then for seven years on its spinoff, “The Facts of Life,” beginning in 1979. Her Emmy nomination was for the show.

Her career also featured appearances on more than 50 television shows.

Rae worked in theater before her TV career took off, garnering two Tony nominations — in 1966 as best featured actress in a musical in “Pickwick,” and in 1969 for best actress in a play for “Morning, Noon and Night.”

Her last role in a feature film was alongside Meryl Streep in the 2015 movie “Rikki and the Flash.” She also appeared in films such as Woody Allen’s “Bananas” in 1971, “Hair” in 1979 and the Adam Sandler comedy “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” in 2008.

Rae was born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky in Milwaukee, Wis., to Russian-Jewish immigrants. Her mother, Esther, was a childhood friend of the future Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, also a Milwaukee native. Rae reportedly dropped her Jewish-sounding surname on the advice of an unnamed radio personality.

She released her autobiography, “The Facts of My Life,” in 2015, co-written by her son Larry Strauss.
Rae was married for 25 years to composer John Strauss, but divorced in 1976 when he came out as bisexual. Her son Andrew, who was diagnosed with autism, died in his mid-40s of a heart attack in 1999.

She is survived by her son, Larry; three grandchildren; and a sister, Miriam Guten.

—JTA News and Features

Moshe Mizrahi, only Israeli director of Oscar-winning film, dies at 86

JERUSALEM — Israeli filmmaker Moshe Mizrahi, the only Israeli director of an Academy Award-winning film, was buried in Tel Aviv.

Moshe Mizrahi. Photo by Yael Klupman/Wikimedia Commons

Mizrahi died Friday in Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv He was 86.

He directed the 1977 Oscar winner “Madame Rosa,” which was filmed in France and starred Simone Signoret. The film, which won for best foreign language film on behalf of France, is the story of a former prostitute in Paris who survived Auschwitz.
Mizrahi was nominated for Oscars for two other films he directed in the 1970s, “I Love You Rosa” and “The House on Chelouche Street.”

The Egypt native immigrated to prestate Israel in 1946 and studied film in France in the 1950s. He worked for most of his career in France before returning to Israel, where he later taught film studies at Tel Aviv University.

In 2001, Mizrahi was awarded a lifetime achievement prize from the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.

—JTA News and Features

Mignon Conn
Mignon Conn, of Silver Spring, died July 31. She was the beloved wife of the late Leonard Conn; devoted mother of Steven Conn and Jeffrey (Kathleen) Conn; cherished grandmother of Sarah and Emily Conn. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Anita Weinstein
Anita Weinstein, of Bethesda, died Aug. 4. She was the loving wife of 45 years of the late Louis R. Weinstein; devoted mother of Mark (Michele) Weinstein and Susan (Jay) Magenheim; cherished grandmother of Courtney (Raph) Posner, Adam (Riana) Studner, Jason (Shayne) Weinstein, Ryan (Cydney) Studner and Samantha Magenheim; and great-grandmother of Chase, Felix, Henry and Jade. Contributions may be made to JSSA Hospice. Arrangements by Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Fanny Aizenberg, 101

Fanny Aizenberg, of Silver Spring, died Aug. 10. She was 101.

Fanny Aizenberg was a Holocaust survivor.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Aizenberg was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1916, and moved to Brussels as a child. She earned a college degree in art and design just before the beginning of World War II, and began working as a designer creating clothing for the Royal House of Belgium. Aizenberg married her husband Jacques Aizenberg in May 1938. Their daughter, Josiane, was born in March 1939.

Following Germany’s invasion of Belgium in May 1940, Jews were shunned from Belgian society. Aizenberg became involved in the Belgian resistance movement by hiding refugees in her attic. She arranged a hiding place for Josiane. Aizenberg and her mother spent time in multiple hiding places until they were discovered and arrested. They were beaten by the Gestapo (secret police) and taken to the Mechelen transit camp. After 10 days all of the prisoners in Mechelen were deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz. Of the 110 who were packed into a single train car along with Aizenberg, 30 survived the three-day journey.

Aizenberg and her mother were permanently separated after arriving in Auschwitz. During one of the selections, Aizenberg was chosen for medical experiments. She found encouragement from a group of six women who helped her to endure beatings, forced labor in a grenade factory and the many other horrors of Auschwitz.

On Jan. 17, 1945, Auschwitz was evacuated by the Nazis, and Aizenberg was forced on a death march. In April of that year, she and the other prisoners were liberated by the Russians near the Elbe River. The Russians took the prisoners to a makeshift hospital where they were fed and cared for. Ten days after her liberation a delegation from the Red Cross brought Fanny back to Belgium where she was reunited both with her husband and daughter.

Aizenberg worked at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for more than 20 years, serving in multiple roles, some of which involved telling her personal story. She often told museum visitors that they had to visit the exhibition before speaking with her so they would have good questions to ask.

Aizenberg is survived by her daughter, Josie Traum, and son-in-law, Freddie Taum, as well as three grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
—U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Miriam G. Basen
Miriam G. Basen, of Potomac, died Aug. 10. She was the beloved wife of the late George Basen and devoted mother of Barry (Michelle) Basen and Marsha (Basen) Berman. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Irving Kabik
Irving Kabik, of Olney, died Aug. 12. He was the beloved husband of the late Janet Kabik; devoted father of Ann (Michael) McCartin and Brett (Hope) Kabik; and loving grandfather of Katie McCartin, Courtney McCartin, Jillian Kabik and Jessica Kabik. Contributions may be made to Tikvat Israel Congregation or Montgomery Hospice. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Janet Dolores Kay
Janet Dolores Kay, of Rockville, died Aug. 4. She was the beloved wife of the late David H. Kay; devoted mother of Rebecca H. (Matthew) Salzman and Michael A. (Ivonne) Kay; loving sister of Edna Ketchum; and cherished grandmother of Brandon Kay and Dylan Salzman. Contributions can be made to The National Parkinson Disease Foundation at parkinson.org. Arrangements entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Ronald Glancz. Photo courtesy of Venable LLC.

There was just one synagogue in Saginaw, Mich., where Ronald Glancz grew up in the 1940s and ’50s. And he talked about it all his life.

“He always told me how, as a young boy, one of the biggest points of pride was that he had a key to the synagogue, and what an honor it was for him,” said Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, who had known Glancz for 15 years. It was a passion for the Jewish community that would last a lifetime, according to friends and associates.

A fixture of the greater Washington Jewish community, Glancz died Aug. 14 from cancer. He was 75.

An attorney, Glancz was an expert on financial regulation, working for the U.S. government and in the private sector until he retired in 2016. But in the Jewish community here and nationwide, he was known for his commitment to Israel and support of Jewish causes and people with disabilities.

A past president of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Glancz most recently sat on the board of RespectAbility, a nonprofit that advocates for disability rights. In the past, he’d served on boards for the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and University of Michigan Hillel. He was also a founding member of TzedekDC, a nonprofit that provides legal services to low-income Washingtonians.

“For Ron, being active in the Jewish community was not some sort of corporate mission statement,” Halber said. “It was something that coursed through his veins.”

A loyal Wolverine, Glancz completed his undergraduate degree at University of Michigan before earning his J.D. from its law school in 1968. He married his wife, Margie, soon after.

The same year, they moved to Washington, where Glancz went into civil service, working at the Department of Justice, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation before taking a partnership at Venable LLP, where he stayed for 25 years.

Vivian Bass met the Glanczes 40 years ago when both of their sons attended summer camp at the then-Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington. Bass, now CEO emerita of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes, saw Ronald and Margie’s son, Justin, sporting a Michigan T-shirt and, as an alumna herself, sought out his parents.

According to Bass, that began a close friendship and working relationship. Justin Glancz has an intellectual disability and has lived in a Jewish Foundation for Group Homes home for more than 20 years, which led his father to take up the cause in his philanthropic work. Glancz’s daughter, Rachel, lives in California with her husband and three sons.

Glancz joined the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes board and went on to serve as president while Bass was CEO. The two later served together on the board of RespectAbility.
In a 2008 article on the JCRC website, Glancz talked about the experience of parenting a child with disabilities.

“It’s funny how a situation like that, which is challenging for a child with special needs, can also be rewarding in terms of meeting people, getting more active in the Jewish community and doing worthwhile things in your life,” he said. “Justin’s been an inspiration.”

In her eulogy for Glancz, delivered at his funeral Aug. 16 at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, where Glancz was a member for 34 years, Bass reflected on how he went out of the way to get to know the staff at the group homes and learn about their backgrounds.

“It resonated preciously to me how deeply compassionate and genuinely caring he was regarding the entire staff, particularly the diverse direct care staff and their families,” she said. “He studied about their countries of origin — in Africa and the islands and more — so he could converse with greater familiarity and depth about their experiences before coming to the U.S.”

In his professional life and charitable pursuits, Glancz developed a reputation for being a mentor.

Maryland state Del. Ariana Kelly (D-District 16) remembers meeting him soon after her election, and said they quickly developed a friendship.

“Whenever I’d see him or if I needed to call him for advice, he was always open. He always took time,” Kelly said. “And he would often tell me to keep being persistent, particularly working on issues that really mattered but weren’t as high profile. He was really strategic in a thoughtful way, always guided by his morals.”

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, the CEO of RespectAbility, said Glancz was not only a great help to her personally, but also in the way he and Margie served as models for her and her husband. The Mizrahis have a child with multiple disabilities.

“As I am dyslexic, math is not my forte,” Mizrahi said. “Hence, having one of the leading experts in banking and finance as our treasurer was like a godsend. … Because of the work Ron and others have done with the Foundation for Jewish Group Homes, a caring parent of an adult child with disabilities can know that things will be OK for their child. In creating a better world for his son, Ron helped create a better future for all adults with disabilities.”

People who knew him also described Glancz as fiercely supportive of Israel. Halber said that much of Glancz’s work at the Federation and the JCRC was dedicated to strengthening ties between the Washington-area Jewish community and the Jewish state.

Halber remembered a time when Glancz was serving as JCRC president and was tasked with introducing the Israeli ambassador at an event.

After everything had wrapped up, Halber found Glancz near the front of the room, staring at the podium, behind which the Israeli flag and the American flag stood side by side.

“I watched him for about 20 seconds,” Halber said. “I put my arm around his shoulder and I said, ‘What’s the matter?’ He said, ‘I was just thinking how proud my parents would be of me introducing the Israeli ambassador. How they wouldn’t believe it.’”

Glancz is survived by his wife, Margie, son, Justin, and daughter, Rachel Shader, as well as son-in-law Josh Shader and three grandchildren: Alex, Max and Drew Shader.

jforetek@midatlanticmedia.com

Uri Avnery in 1965, when he was a member of Knesset.
Israel National Photo Collection

JERUSALEM — Uri Avnery, a longtime peace activist and one of the first Israelis to advocate for the establishment of a Palestinian state, has died.

Avnery was among the first Israelis to meet with Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat. He was hospitalized earlier this month following a stroke and died Monday in Tel Aviv at age 94.

The founder of the far-left Gush Shalom movement, Avnery was long the face of Israel’s far left after being on the far right during Israel’s fight for independence.

“Uri Avnery was a courageous journalist and a rare and groundbreaking man,” former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Twitter. “He stood up for his positions despite attacks and he planted the ideas of peace and moderation in the hearts of Israel.”

On the right, former Likud minister Gideon Sa’ar said Avnery “was as far from myself and my positions as east is from west.

His words and actions often angered me. But in nascent Israel he was a model of fearless opposition, in times when it was difficult to oppose the Mapai (precursor to Labor) regime, which hounded him. And there is no democracy without opposition.”

It was his meeting with Arafat in Beirut in 1982, during the First Lebanon War, that was Avnery’s most enduring legacy. The controversial move led to high-profile calls that Avnery be tried for treason. He would later serve as a human shield for Arafat during the 2003 siege of the Muqata, the presidential compound, in Ramallah.

Avnery spent much of his career as a writer and journalist, publishing books both controversial and popular, and editing the weekly newsmagazine Haolam Hazeh (This World) from 1950 to 1990.

Starting in the 1960s, Avnery became more of a political activist and was elected to the Knesset in 1969.

Born in September 1923 in Germany as Helmut Ostermann, Avnery was brought to pre-state Israel by his parents in 1933 at the age of 10. Initially on the far right of the political spectrum, Avnery joined the Irgun as a teenager, distributing propaganda for the Revisionist militant group.

He later told Haaretz that he regretted his affiliation with the group, saying it made him culpable for its attacks against Arabs that “killed dozens of women and children.”

At first he supported the idea of a binational state and expressed disappointment with the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan that led to the establishment of the State of Israel, saying he “couldn’t accept the partition of the country.”

Despite his reservations Avnery fought in the 1948 War of Independence as part of a commando unit. Following his wartime experiences he dropped his support for a one-state solution, instead backing a two-state paradigm nearly half a century before the signing of the Oslo Accords.

President Reuven Rivlin said Avnery “adopted the challenge of his special status as an eternal opposition.”

“We had fierce differences, but they paled in the face of the ambition to build a strong and free society here,” Rivlin wrote.
Avnery’s wife, Rachel, died in 2011. They had no children.

Avnery “was part Edward Murrow, part Che Guevara, part William Randolph Hearst and part Larry Flynt,” Haaretz columnist Chemi Shalev wrote Monday in an appreciation. “His core credo was anti-establishmentarianism. He fought the system when no one else dared. He battled David Ben Gurion and authoritarian Mapai rule in the first years of Israel’s existence with the same vigor that he later combatted the nationalistic drift of Menachem Begin, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud. He raged against the machine, no matter what.”

Journalist Anshel Pfeffer wrote of Avnery in Haaretz: “While his own political career as a Knesset member was intermittent and he was too radical, too outspoken, too selfish, to become one of the revered leaders of the Israeli left, he did more than anyone else to make the two-state solution the accepted formula for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

—JTA News and Features

Thelma Barmack
Thelma Sally Barmack died on Aug. 13. Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, on June 17, 1920, she was a member and past queen of Samla Temple 51 in Washington and an events photographer there. She was dedicated to helping children through Shriners Hospitals for Children. Thelma was a concert pianist and loved to sing and play the violin.

Thelma was a member of B’nai Israel Congregation. She was predeceased by her loving husband, Samuel Barmack. She is survived by her son, Jay (Holly) Barmack and daughter, Michelle (Tim) Smith. She is also survived by grandchildren Jessica Goldie Serano Barmack, Kyle Smith, Wesley Smith and Joshua Smith, as well as great-grandchildren Aubrey Smith, Bradley Smith, Simone Serano and Lidia Serano.
Donations in her name may be made to the Almas Transportation Fund, Almas Temple, at 1315 K St. NW, Washington, DC 20005.

Joan P. Berman
Joan P. Berman, of Gaithersburg, and formerly of Louisville, Kentucky, died on Aug. 16. She was the beloved wife of the late Lee Harris Berman; devoted mother of the late Holly R. Fink, Joel (Jane Strauss) Fink, Julie S. (David) Davis, Sally R. (the late Morris) Murek and Jack I. (Nan) Berman. She was the loving bubbie of Laura and Jordan Murek.

Contributions may be made to the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, General Education Fund, wlcj.org. Arrangements entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Sidney Coplon
Sidney Coplon, of Wheaton, died on Aug. 23. He was 95. A veteran of World War II, Sidney was a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering. He spent most of his career at the Naval Yard, Vitro and the U.S. Postal Service.

He was the caring husband of the late Doris Coplon; father of Steve Coplon (Donna), Dee (Robert) Weiss and Arlene (Robert) Permisohn. He was grandfather to Kara Permisohn, Kelly McLaughlin, Kristy Permisohn, Kevin (Angie) Permisohn, Andrew (Stacie) Coplon, Lindsey (Will) Sims, Josh Coplon, Jennifer Weiss and David Weiss; and great-grandfather to Conor McLaughlin, Ciaran McLaughlin, Eric Permisohn, Brooke Permisohn, Hailey Permisohn and Willie Sims and several nieces and nephews. Service entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Anne K. Dobbs
Anne K. Dobbs died on Aug. 24. She was the beloved wife of the late Lester Dobbs, cherished mother of Bruce (Jane) Dobbs, loving grandmother of Logan Dobbs and devoted sister of Lillian Pilzer. She was one of the Kaufman triplets, the first recorded triplets in Washington. She was a counselor at SCORE in the Washington area for many years. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Diane S. Goldstein
Diane S. Goldstein, of Washington, died Aug. 24. She was the daughter of the late Samuel and Lena Goldstein. She is survived by siblings Dr. Elliot R. Goldstein, Norma T. Goldstein and Dr. Lester T. Goldstein. She was auntie to nieces Donna Colletta, Cheryl Litman, the late Michelle Benaim, Tamara Sickels and Ilana Kramer; and nephews to Noam Yalon and the late Avi Yalon. She had 27 grand-nieces and grand-nephews. She also leaves behind many friends, including beloved young friend Ethan. Arrangements entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Geraldine Misner
Geraldine Misner, of Rockville, died Aug. 24. She was the beloved wife of Ken Misner, caring mother of Jonathan (Margie) Shore, Wendy Shore, James (Elissa) Misner and Faye Misner. Geri was predeceased by her brother, Alan. She is also survived by adoring grandchildren Jessica, David, Matthew and Joel. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date, with inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery. Contributions may be made to JSSA, 6123 Montrose Rd, Rockville, MD 20852. Funeral services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Stella Goldblum Zanoff
Stella Goldblum Zanoff, of Bethesda, died Aug. 16. She was the beloved wife of the late Herbert M. Zanoff; devoted mother of William (Elizabeth) Zanoff and Frederick (Kathleen) Zanoff; cherished grandmother of Cara (Scott) France, Shari (Pilo) Valenciano, Lena (Ray) Zukowski, Maury (Karen) Zanoff, Joshua Zanoff, Jon (Maria) Zanoff and the late Matthew Zanoff. Also survived by 10 loving great-grandchildren. Contributions may be made to JSSA Hospice, jssa.org/hospice. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.

Lynne Landsberg, rabbi who sought a place for those with disabilities, dies at 66

Obituaries for May 10, 2018

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Obituaries for May 24, 2018

Activist Connie Kurtz, who won equal rights for gay New Yorkers, dies at 81

Obituaries for June 14, 2018

Obituaries for June 21, 2018

Obituaries for June 28, 2018

Fischman recalled as humble, quiet, methodical

Claude Lanzmann, master documentary maker on the Holocaust, dies at 92

Obituaries for July 5, 2018

Obituaries for July 12, 2018

Obituaries for July 19, 2018

Obituaries for July 26, 2018

Obituaries for Aug. 2, 2018

Obituaries for Aug. 9, 2018

Obituaries for Aug. 16, 2018

Ronald Glancz, advocate for disabled community, dies at 75

Peace activist Uri Avnery, longtime advocate of a Palestinian state, dies at 94

Obituaries | Aug. 30, 2018