On March 8, Phyllis Helene (May) Shipper, of Montgomery Village, passed away peacefully with her family by her side. A lifelong resident of Montgomery County and graduate of Wheaton High School, Phyllis spent her career working in medical offices throughout the region. Phyllis is survived by her husband, Barry Shipper; her devoted sister, Ileen Albeck; brother, Steven May; and a host of nieces, nephews and loving friends. Arrangements by Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.
On March 3, John Jay Jaffe, a car dealer in the DC Metro area and resident of Bethesda, Annapolis and Boca Raton, Fla., passed away suddenly from a heart attack. He was 74. John is survived by his wife of 55 years, Barbara Barry Jaffe; his three children, Cheryl (Curt) Damico of Purcellville, Va., Suzanne (James) Hanagan of Orange, Va., and Jerry (Rachel) Jaffe of Ellicott City; his five grandchildren, Star Whittaker, Jessica (Phil Mcguire) Whittaker, Samantha Whittaker, Victoria Jaffe and Cameron Jaffe; his brother, Michael (Jacqueline) Jaffe, sister, Diane (Jaime) Fernandes-Bacas; brother-in-law, Le (Lan) Barry; and numerous nieces and nephews.
John was born in Long Beach, Calif., on April 27, 1948, and relocated to the Washington area when he was 14. He began working at Manhattan Imported Cars at 17 years of age and continued working there as a salesman, general manager and eventually owner of multiple area car dealerships over a span of 45 years.
John supported many local charities, including Children’s Hospital (childrensnational.org), Boys and Girls Club of Anne Arundel County (bgcaa.org), Lombardi Cancer Center (lombardifoundation.org) as well as St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org). Donations may be made to any of these organizations. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.
On March 9, Carol Goldberg, of Bethesda, died peacefully at home. Carol grew up in Hanover, Pa., and graduated from the University of Maryland in College Park. After graduation, Carol travelled to Germany to join her husband, Jerry, who had just started his career in the military. Later, Carol and Jerry founded an equipment rental company in the Washington area.
Carol is predeceased by her loving husband of 63 years, Gerald; her children, Eric (Becca) Goldberg and Lynn (Brian) Abrams; and her grandchildren, Lucy Goldberg, Gabriel Goldberg, Henry Goldberg, Orli Abrams, Talya Abrams and Adina Abrams. Donations may be made to Jewish Social Services Agency (jssa.org).
On Feb. 19, Shirley R. Gershen, of Rockville, passed away at age 90. Shirley R. Gershen is survived by her husband, Bernard Gershen; sister, Leah Prawda; son, Howard Gershen (Donna Shakin); daughter, Janet Gershen-Siegel (Jay Siegel); and her grandson, Adam Gershen. She is also survived by many loving nieces, a nephew, grand-nieces, a grand-nephew, cousins and innumerable friends. She was predeceased by her parents, Louis Rothman and Celia (née Benson) Rothman, and her brother, Adolph Rothman. Contributions may be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (https://giving.mskcc.org/give) or the Suffolk Y JCC Senior Adult program (https://syjcc.org/ways-to-give/).
On March 2, Lewis Aaron Chabot, of Gaithersburg, passed away from a brief illness. He was 61. Lewis was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Aspen Hill. He attended Peary High School and graduated from University of Maryland with a bachelor of science degree in accounting. He became a CPA and worked for several accounting firms, including Grossberg Company and Calibre CPA Group. He was a tax manager and specialized in partnership, trust and UBIT returns.
Lewis served as an elections chief judge in Montgomery County, as treasurer for Friends of the Aspen Hill Library and treasurer of Services for the Visually Impaired, where he also volunteered to prepare tax returns and to read to the blind. Lewis also donated blood to the American Red Cross.
Lewis is preceded in death by his father, Herbert, and his cats, Cricket, Sippy and Sammy. He is survived by his mother, Aleen; two brothers, identical twin brother Donald (Nicki Sideris), and Elliot (Chris Swan); sister, Nancy Jo (Parker); nephews, Jules and Niko; and niece, Sophie Donations can be made to Nature Conservatory, American Red Cross and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of America.
On March 15, Rose Soodak, of Silver Spring, died. Beloved wife of the late Robert Soodak; daughter of the late Dorothy and Archie Lent; sister of Howard Lent (Estelle); mother of Arlene Soodak Cohen (Neil) of Rockville and Joel Soodak (Teresa) of Silver Spring. Grandmother of the late Sander B. Cohen, Jessica Melhorn (Mike) and Ethan Soodak (Stephanie). Contributions may be made to Sander Cohen Scholarship Foundation (firstrespondersr.us/donate/) or send to 9710 Traville Gateway Dr. #183, Rockville, MD 20850. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.
n Feb. 11, Darryl Harvey Runett, of Potomac, passed away. Survived by his wife of 51 years, Edythe Goodman Runett; children, Robert (Jen Chaney) and Karin; grandchild, Luke Chaney-Runett; sisters, Marsha Laird (Tom) and Allene Davis; and many relatives.
Born to Harry and Lena Runett on Sept. 26, 1938, in St. Louis, Mo., he served in the Army and attended Washington University in St. Louis.
He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1966 to begin a lifelong career with the federal government (FAA and DOT). He married Edythe on Aug. 21, 1971. He retired in 1995. Donations can be made to the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, or Fisher House Foundation in Rockville.
On March 12, Muriel Marcus, of Burke, died at age 79. Muriel graduated from Chelsea High School, received her B.A. degree at Lesley College in Boston and M.A. degree in education from Northeastern University in Boston. She taught elementary education for 30 years in Cambridge, Mass., Alexandria, Va., and Prince William County.
She is survived by her loving husband of 49 years, Allen Marcus of Burke; brother, Saul Rosenthal of Boston; and daughters, Suzanne Marcus of Silver Spring (spouse Jay Millikan) and Laura Marcus-Plant of Richmond, Va. (spouse Steven Plant). She is also survived by her three grandchildren, Sam Millikan, Annie Millikan and Jack Plant, who brought her great joy in the last years of her life.
On March 14, Rhona Klioze, of Silver Spring. Daughter of the late Bertha and Samuel Kaplan; beloved wife of the late Gerald Klioze; devoted mother of Marcia Klioze, Joyce Klioze and Michelle (John) Karl; loving sister of the late Geraldine Kaplan; cherished grandmother of Chad Watkins, Joshua (Becca) Karl, Hayley Karl and Bradley Karl; and great-grandmother of Brody, Dylan and MacKenzie Watkins and Cecilia Karl. Also survived by her brother-in-law, Earl Klioze, and his family. Contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Society (diabetes.org).
On March 14, Minna Jackter Kahn, of Bethesda. Devoted mother of Penny Kahn (Michael Oesterling) and Patti Kahn. Dear sister of the late Susan Columbus. Loving aunt of Elizabeth (Dale) Hemmerdinger and Jody (Terry) Moran. Contributions may be made to the Hillwood Museum or to The Bronx High School of Science. Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home.
On March 13, Ruth Horlick, of Silver Spring, died at age 101. Beloved wife of 75 years of the late Max Horlick. Devoted mother of Jeffrey (Faith) Horlick, Jill (Thomas) Sampson and Robert (Joseph Florence) Horlick. Loving grandmother of Johanna (Timothy) Jones and Aaron (Michelle) and Joshua (Beth) Sampson. Dear great-grandmother of Leo Jones and Isabelle, Ailey, Nolan, Charlotte and Jude Sampson. Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home.
On March 12, Jerold Coffee, of Rockville. Beloved husband of the late Ann Coffee. Devoted father of Norman (Stacy) Coffee. Dear brother of Esther (Stephen) Jacobs, Louis (Joan) Coffee and the late Harold (Amalia) Coffee. Loving grandfather of Jacob Coffee. Jerold was an employee of the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Department of Transportation. He was a staunch supporter of Israel.
Rabbi William Rudolph in 2017. Photo by Justin Katz
Rabbi William Rudolph, who spent the first part of his career with the Hillel organization and the second part as a pulpit rabbi, including two decades at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, died on Monday. He was 79 and had pancreatic cancer.
A fixture at the Conservative synagogue on Old Georgetown Road for decades, Rudolph was known as much for his quick wit as for his love of Judaism and Israel.
“His passions were Israel and big-tent community engagement and Jewish learning,” said Rabbi Greg Harris, who knew Rudolph for 21 years, beginning when Harris became assistant rabbi at Congregation Beth El. When Rudolph retired in 2015, Harris succeeded him as senior rabbi.
Rudolph possessed a dry sense of humor, making funny comments so quickly and gently that they almost slipped by.
“He’s a funny guy. He could deliver a one liner from the bimah, during kiddush, during difficult times and during joyful times,” said Jill Rider, synagogue president. “His delivery was wry and dry.”
Ryder has known Rudolph all her life. He officiated over her baby naming when he was Hillel rabbi at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
“Bill was just a great guy. He was really the center of what made Beth El, Beth El — welcoming and inclusive,” she said.
Rudolph loved riding his bicycle, going to the beach and visiting his grandchildren. He was learned and closely followed both American and Israeli politics. He loved watching the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team, reading detective mysteries and listening to Jewish music.
“He took moral stances about politics,” Harris said. “It wasn’t political. It was about ethics and morals. He wasn’t afraid to call someone out when they weren’t being moral, whether it was someone in the news or in the Bible.”
Harris will most remember Rudolph’s humility. “He was humble about his accomplishments. He wanted to put other people first.” Harris added, “For me personally, he was a tremendous mentor and friend.”
Rabbi Michael Balinsky was Rudolph’s assistant rabbi at the University of Michigan in the late 1970s. “The main professional lesson I learned from Bill was to know when to be the center of attention and when to stand back.”
When Rudolph retired in 2015, at the age of 70, more than 600 congregants gathered to honor him and rename the synagogue’s central hallway after him.
During a video created for his retirement celebration, Rudolph said, “I think it is really fun to be Jewish, and I try to convey that. Not fun in the sense it’s all partying and having a good time, but in the sense that it makes my life so much richer than it would be otherwise.”
Rider recalled, “There was such a joy surrounding him. Even after retirement, “He didn’t really go anywhere. He and [his wife] Gail remained a part of the congregation.”
She added, “Everyone felt close to Bill. He cared, and he paid attention, and he would circle back with people. He was quiet in many ways, but his presence was just very big.”
“It’s a really big loss,” she said.
First came Hillel
A native of Philadelphia, William David Rudolph graduated from Temple University with a degree in psychology. He spent the summer on a kibbutz in Israel and then attended Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, the Reform movement’s seminary.
He enrolled in the University of Michigan, where he finished coursework but not his dissertation in biblical studies, and served as a rabbi to students through Hillel, first at Michigan State University and then at the University of Michigan.
Balinsky, now the retired executive vice president of the Chicago Board of Rabbis, was a newly ordained Orthodox rabbi. He remembers his Reform boss at Hillel with pleasure. Rudolph’s humor and good-natured ribbing are vivid more than 40 years later.
“Bill had just come into the Hillel building from jogging and I asked him how far he had gone,” said Balinsky, whose daughter is Maharat Ruth Balinsky Friedman of Ohev Sholom — the National Synagogue in the District.
“He said, ‘six miles’ and I made a sound like I wasn’t very impressed.
“He said, ‘Balinsky, when you run six miles, I’ll put on tefillin for 10 years.’”
Balinsky said he lost the weight and when he could run six miles, he let his boss know.
Did Rudolph put on tefillin after that?
“Well, he did become a Conservative rabbi,” Balinsky said.
The Washington years
Rudolph led Hillel in Ann Arbor for four years. His life in Washington began when he became national director of personnel at Hillel’s headquarters in Washington. Altogether, Rudolph worked at Hillel for 23 years.
Congregation Beth El’s newsletter Scroll takes up the story in its June 2015 issue:
“In 1983, recently divorced, needing something else to do and a little extra cash, he became assistant rabbi of Congregation Beth El. He had heard about the position from Rabbi Sam Fishman, a Beth El congregant who also worked at Hillel. He started after Yom Kippur and worked about 10 hours a week.”
He became a full-time rabbi in 1996 and was named senior rabbi in 2001. By the time of his Beth El period, he had left the Reform movement and become a Conservative Jew. He had come to believe that Conservative Judaism “makes the most sense” — because it preserves tradition while adapting to change as necessary, he told WJW in 2017.
At Beth El, he established the early morning Shabbat Minyan, Senior Caucus, Family Camp and Megillah Madness.
He was an enthusiast of the Latke-Hamantash Debate that he brought to Beth El. The debate originated at the University of Chicago in 1946, and its facetious pedantry over which holiday food is superior matched his sense of humor.
He wrote a weekly online column called It’s Wednesday. When he retired, he changed it to It’s Still Wednesday. He continued to write until about six weeks before he died.
In 2015, he officiated at the first Jewish wedding in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in 19 years. He had been asked by a congregant if he would help her African cousin’s fiancée convert to Judaism. That began a series of lessons and a friendship through Skype to a woman whose family members were farmers in Zimbabwe.
He was active with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and served numerous terms on its board, planning and allocations committee, rabbinic cabinet and missions committee. He was co-chair of the Community Division and the Affinity Division of the annual campaign.
On March 9, Hubert (Hank) Schlosberg, of Chevy Chase, passed away at age 91 after a short illness. He is predeceased by his loving wife of 60 years, Charlotte; and survived by his sons, Jeffrey (Arlyn) and Marc (Doreen); grandchildren, Jared and Alandra; and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Joanne Hirsch of Schaumburg, Ill., and his devoted companion of recent years, Janice Ackerman.
A native Washingtonian, Hank graduated from Syracuse University in 1953, then earned a J.D. in 1956 from the Georgetown University Law Center. From 1956-58, he served as a JAG officer with the Strategic Air Command, Air Force, at Pease AF Base in Dover, N.H. He subsequently maintained a private law practice for 60 years, specializing as a trial lawyer in personal injury, defamation and other legal issues. Hank served on multiple boards in Washington, D.C., including Arena Stage, the D.C. Jewish Community Center’s Theater J, and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington. Donations may be made to the Georgetown University Law Center, Washington Performing Arts Charlotte Schlosberg Vocal Scholarship Program, Capital Jewish Museum, Theater J or Arena Stage.
On March 22, Kitty Ann Ruben, of Columbia. Beloved wife of the late Irwin Ruben. Devoted mother of Steven (Kathy) Ruben, Suzanne (Darren) Popkin and David (Stefanie) Ruben. Loving grandmother of Stephanie (Natalie Austin), Trevor (Tori) and Cody (Kayla) Ruben, Robin (Joe) Murray, Shayna (boyfriend, Matt Falzo) and Josh (fiancee, Kasey Rosen) Popkin, Melissa (Ted) Sandler, Corey (fiancee, Avery Levine) and Noah (girlfriend, Rebecca Weiser) Contributions may be made to the ASPCA (secure.aspca.org). Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home.
On March 22, Sydell A. Kammerman Rappaport, of Silver Spring. Beloved wife of the late Donald C. Rappaport. Devoted mother of Laura and Marc (Doreen) Rappaport. Loving grandmother of Tanya and Rosa Fink and Mallory and Devon Rappaport. Contributions may be made to SHIP, Maryland State Health Insurance Assistance Program or to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home.
On March 15, Brian Lebowitz, of Chevy Chase, passed away at age 72. Devoted husband (Lise Goldman) and father (Samantha Goldman). Also survived by his mother, Elaine Lebowitz (his father, Leon Lebowitz, predeceased), sister, Amy Greenspan (Donny), and her children and grandchildren.
Expert in international tax law. B.A from Amherst; PhD. in economics from Yale; law degree from Stanford. Practiced for 19 years at Covington & Burling and clerked for the Hon. Thomas Gee of the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Law partner at Alston & Bird. Book collector and donor to libraries including the Lebowitz Collection of 20th Century Jewish-American Literature at the University of Colorado. Donations may be made to fahrbeyond.org.
On March 22, Gail Kutner, of Arlington, died at age 68. She was the daughter of the late Pauline and Harvey Lewis. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a master of social work degree and worked at AARP in Washington D.C.
At Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, where she had been a member since her marriage to Mark in 1981, she was co-chair of the caring committee and a charter member in 1985 of the Young Couples Club. She was also a founding board member of the Arlington Neighborhood Villages, and advocated for appropriate housing for the elderly at the Arlington Office on Aging.
Survived by her husband, Mark Kutner; her children, Mel Kutner (Melissa Eastlake) and Seth Kutner (Maddy); a beloved sister to Sherry Lewis (Peter Clark) and Karen Lewis; sister-in-law to Ann and Mike Greenstein; aunt to five nieces and nephews and a great-aunt; and grandmother to Barrett and Logan.
On March 20, Norman G. Knopf, of Chevy Chase. Beloved husband of Barbara Moffat Knopf. Devoted father of James (Jennifer), Molly and Ilana Knopf. Loving grandfather of Emily, Alyssa and Marcus Knopf. Dear brother of Elaine Berel. Born and raised in Newburgh, N.Y., he attended Cornell University and Columbia Law School. After a clerkship with the Second Circuit, he served as an attorney for the Justice Department. He represented governmental agencies, businesses, communities and individuals in a wide range of civil matters, including Civil Rights, antitrust and land use. Norman Knopf is a past president of the Brookdale Citizens Association and founder of the Citizens Coordinating Committee of Friendship Heights. Contributions may be made to Temple Sinai D.C. or Feeding America. Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home.
On March 24, Sara (nee Cohen) Katz, of Bethesda, passed away peacefully. She was 99. Beloved wife of the late Harold Golden Katz and mother of the late Dr. Gary Phillip Katz. Born in Buffalo, N.Y. on Dec. 11, 1923, to Bessie Dynofsky and Samuel Cohen. Raised in Washington, D.C., she graduated from Roosevelt High School and married her beloved Harold in 1948. She was a devoted mother to Steve Katz (Joyce), Suzi Mouallem (Marc) and the late Gary Katz; and cherished grandmother to Gabriel Mouallem.
The family is extremely grateful for the tender care and devotion she received over the years from Patience Darko and Esther Addo. They enabled our mother to complete her life with dignity, grace and peace.
Donations may be made to JSSA. Arrangements by Hines Rinaldi Funeral Home under Jewish Funeral practices of Greater Washington contract.
