{"id":2823,"date":"2024-07-29T14:07:46","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T14:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlcjregion.org\/northeast\/?p=2823"},"modified":"2024-07-29T14:07:46","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T14:07:46","slug":"a-professional-jew-happy-100-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlcjregion.org\/northeast\/2024\/07\/a-professional-jew-happy-100-years\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u201cProfessional Jew\u201d–Happy 100 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A <\/strong>\u201c<\/strong>Professional Jew\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/span>By Rabbi Don Levy<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe other day, I had the privilege of sitting down with Ruth Resnik, a member of our community who recently celebrated her 100th<\/sup> birthday.  No, I didn\u2019t crash the party \u2013 this, despite that I love <\/em>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.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Ruth was born in Canada and grew up in a small town in Ontario, north of Toronto where she and her family \u2013 she was one of three sisters \u2013 were the only Jews in town.  Despite this \u2013 or perhaps, because <\/em>of it? \u2013 Ruth went on, in adulthood, to become a \u2018professional Jew\u2019:  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\u2019 second generation.<\/p>\n

<\/span>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 \u2013 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\u2026they were retired \u2013 they could live anywhere they wanted!<\/p>\n

<\/span>Over time, all three of their children \u2013 two sons and a daughter \u2013 also came to live in Israel and spread out to the corners of the land.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Sometime after her husband\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

<\/span>So, what\u2019s Ruth\u2019s connection to our congregation, Netzach Yisrael?<\/p>\n

<\/span>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\u2019t 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<\/span><\/p>\n

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, I teased her that, if this heat wave ever ends, I\u2019ll twist her arm to attend more often!<\/p>\n

<\/span>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.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A \u201cProfessional Jew\u201d 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 100th birthday.  No, I didn\u2019t crash the party \u2013 this, despite that I love parties!  But I have to tell you, it was worth venturing out Continue Reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t