A “Professional Jew”–Happy 100 Years

A “Professional Jew”
By Rabbi Don Levy

The other day, I had the privilege of sitting down with Ruth Resnik, a member of our community who recently celebrated her 100^th birthday.  No, I didn’t crash the party – this, despite that I love parties!  But I have to tell you, it was worth venturing out of the house in the worst heat wave in memory in Ashkelon to meet this very special lady.

Ruth was born in Canada and grew up in a small town in Ontario, north of Toronto where she and her family – she was one of three sisters – were the only Jews in town.  Despite this – or perhaps, because of it? – Ruth went on, in adulthood, to become a ‘professional Jew’:  making a career in seeing to the needs of other Jews in the Toronto area, both in chaplaincy and in social services directed specifically to Holocaust survivors’ second generation.

When I asked her when the notion of making Aliyah to Israel came into her mind, she told me that it was in early adulthood – before she was married.  Fortunately, her husband held such a notion as well.  Despite this, they came to live in Israel only when they retired.  Mind you, this was over 30 years ago!  They settled first in Netanya.  Why Netanya?  A strong Anglo community, a lovely city, located on the seafront…they were retired – they could live anywhere they wanted!

Over time, all three of their children – two sons and a daughter – also came to live in Israel and spread out to the corners of the land.

Sometime after her husband’s passing, Ruth sold her apartment in Netanya and moved in with her daughter, Julia and her husband Rob, who lived in the German Colony in Jerusalem.  Three years ago, they moved to Ashkelon.

So, what’s Ruth’s connection to our congregation, Netzach Yisrael?

During the years that she lived in Toronto, Ruth belonged to Beth Tzedec, the flagship Conservative congregation in the city.  When she settled in Netanya, she belonged to the Masorti congregation, Beit Yisrael, in that city.  Nowadays, she doesn’t get out of the house much.  But her daughter, Julia, having been raised in Beth Tzedec, is a member of our congregation.  When sitting with her and her mother for this article

, I teased her that, if this heat wave ever ends, I’ll twist her arm to attend more often!

There are so many interesting stories behind the members of our community!  This is one of them.  We are so fortunate to have Ruth and Julia here, as part of our diverse community.