"

MEMORIES OF JANE "

From Anne Klausner
I cant remember when exactly I first met Jane. Im sure it was at one of our Heatid
meetings but I thought she was someone else! But within a very short time we had
become firm friends, although I dont recall a specific meeting or time when we hit it
off. It was something that just evolved over a short period.
Jane was an enormous help and gave me huge moral support when Dovi was little and
we had all those problems with his development. On the one hand she had the
experience from Guyli, and on the other she had her deep knowledge from work.
As Dovi progressed and got better I would feel guilty at having moaned and
complained so much to Jane when she had such a bigger packelach to deal with.
But Jane refused to allow me any guilt. Her attitude was always that each persons
troubles are difficult for them, no matter what the objective difficulty was. To this day
I cant really express my appreciation for her listening ear, her patience and her
always-ready shoulder to cry on. And Jane took such pleasure too in Dovis progress.
I think its hard for people outside her circle to understand this generosity of spirit.
Another example of Janes generosity: Before I got pregnant with Vered she even used
her professional connections to organize a meeting with some top geneticists, who
both advised me and calmed me down about any possible future problems. Jane also
made it her business to give me the good results of my amnio as soon as she got them,
without waiting for them to wend their way through the system, so that I could
proceed with a calm attitude.
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However my main memories of my time with Jane are laughter. We seemed to laugh
at everything. Any little thing could set us off into gales of laughter, but if someone
asked what we were laughing about we couldnt even explain!
Jane was my gym partner for years and if she couldnt come to a session the lesson
suddenly seemed boring and dull. We would schmooze our way round the hall as we
did the warm-up session; we would compare notes from work, moaning about bosses
and colleagues, and Jane, ever-discreet, would only use nicknames, never real names,
for the people who irritated or annoyed her. To this day I dont know the real names of
those particular work mates.
We would also make up nicknames for our gym colleagues whose antics amused or
exasperated us. So we had Teachers Pet the woman who stood right in front of
the teacher and did the exercises always with an extra jump or extra effort; there was
the flirt, the one who looked like Tamar the ozeret; and others.
The biggest and best fun was when we used to do water aerobics together, back in the
days when Odelia was our teacher. Odelia was so graceful and made the exercises
look so easy. And the two of us would struggle to be as graceful as Odelia, when
inevitably one or the other of us or both! would end up losing our footing and

splashing most inelegantly back into the water. There were times when I nearly
choked from swallowing water because I was laughing so hard. Once Odelia left the
lessons werent nearly as much fun any more, and when the next teacher left as well
we stopped going to water aerobics. I do miss those times, but when I recall them I
still smile, if not laugh out loud at the memories.
Instead of those sessions we would go swimming together in the summer months.
Jane was a much keener swimmer than me. She would go even in the winter, and
would go very early in the mornings. Im a lazy old thing, so I would only go in the
summer, and never early in the mornings! I just loved my swimming time with Jane,
as much as our gym lessons. We would stand in the shallow end and just talk and talk,
about everything and anything: work, health, family, friends, Emunah, politics. There
wasnt a subject we didnt touch on. Eventually we would start actually swimming. I
was a stronger swimmer than Jane but she had better style. The only thing I could do
that Jane couldnt was tread water. Right to the end I tried to teach her to tread water
but Jane was convinced she would sink. Much laughter was involved in my futile
lessons, as well as the obvious splutterings and splashing.
*******************
Our time in Emunah was always a lot of fun, especially when it came to our Purim
project. We all have our designated jobs, but Jane often felt she wasnt pulling her
weight because she didnt have the physical strength to do the running around, the
shopping and shlepping. However Jane didnt realize how much help she did give us.
She did all the dirty work that I hated doing: calling up people to remind them to
order, calling people who hadnt paid, persuading members to order, etc. Im not just
paying an empty compliment when I say she was an enormous help. I hope I managed
to make her realize that she really was doing an important job. She never let her
illness prevent her from taking part, literally almost to the last day. She has left a
gaping hole in our group and in our lives.
Of course it wasnt all serious stuff. One year we had ordered cookies from a friend of
mine in Mevasseret Zion. I was delegated to fetch the cookies, and Jane elected to
come with me. We had a grand time in the car, yakking and laughing as usual. Being
geographically challenged (I can get lost in a car park) I was following my newly
acquired GPS (this was in pre-Waze days). Jane had her strong doubts about the
gadget but I was convinced of its usefulness. Well, the GPS took us of route 1, onto
the bridge and into Mevasseret. And then off the bridge and back to route 1. And then
back on the bridge and back off it. Round and round and round, for at least hour.
Eventually I gave in to Janes pleas and I stopped the car just inside Mevasseret and
called the cookie factory. We were just 100 yards away! Im not sure who laughed
harder, Jane or me. My cookie-baker friend was rather surprised to find two
hysterically laughing women enter his bakery!
There was another incident when we had our Emunah Mishloach Manot packing day
at Janes house. We had decided to be good citizens and ordered the bags from Sderot
to give some much needed parnassa to the border town. But the bags didnt turn up!
Jane and I had more or less decided to drive to Sderot when the bags were located in
a warehouse in Petach Tikva! Once more hysterical laughter at the absurdity of the
situation.

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Besides gym and Emunah we were also of course shul-mates. Jane was always a
good girl and wouldnt talk during tefila. But that was fine, even though Im a
chatterbox myself. I just enjoyed sitting next to her or near her, hearing Guyli singing
at the top of her voice, and of course enjoying all the gossip in the courtyard after the
tefila was finished!
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Janes generosity of spirit that I mentioned before also expressed itself in the joy she
took in other peoples families. She declared herself an honorary auntie to my children
and grandchildren, and would shlep along with me to deepest darkest Shomron,
despite her misgivings at the perilous journey, to visit my married children and play
with my grandchildren. She would also pop round to see the children if they were
visiting me here in Petach Tikva. She would bring them presents and gifts as if they
were her own grandchildren, and loved to play with them and admire their progress.
In return my children and grandchildren paid her back with their love. The older ones
still remember her and talk about her.
Jane even allowed herself to be taken to Zvis house under construction. She braved
walking the planks of which I took a great picture! - across the building rubble to
go into his house and stood on the balcony and admired the incredible view. If only
she could be here now to see the finished house and Zvis family firmly ensconced
within it. She was highly amused to see that his house is exactly opposite her doctor!
Hows that for coincidence?
Of course Jane loved her nieces and great-nieces and nephews with all her soul. She
would send me photos, tell me stories, and kvell with pride at their achievements. The
family was blessed to have had such a devoted aunt.
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And how could I forget cats? We all know how Jane was mad about cats. The term
crazy cat lady was invented for Jane! I still think Soo Fee was psychopathic if not
schizophrenic but Jane wouldnt hear a bad word about her precious pet.
When it came to my own Joey, Jane was a font of knowledge and a not-so-amateur vet
and cat catcher. The first couple of times that we had to take Joey to the vet, Jane
came round to help catch her. We probably had a better workout running round the flat
chasing Joey than we ever got at the gym! Once we had caught Joey we would
collapse in gales of helpless laughter at the absurdity of it all.
But poor Joey developed a phobia of Jane after Jane caught her and cut her nails when
she was still a kitten. Joey is so calm and stolid nowadays, its hard to remember that
she was such a skittish little thing. Jane thought it hilarious that Joey would escape
through the slats of the trissim, or get herself stuck under the washing lines. She
would reassure me that Joey would grow out of her adventurousness, but I had a hard
time believing it. We would compare notes on the local vet (we preferred the lady
vet), share Pesach cat food, and I was honoured to be Soo Fees carer while Jane
and Chaim went on holiday.

Talking of holidays, Jane loved the sea and loved Venice, Im not sure in what order.
She fell in love with Venice on her first trip and Im so glad she got to go back with
Chaim before her last illness. She even hissed at me in jealousy when I told her I
was going to Venice with Henry and some friends! Of course she was being funny but
I was so happy when her turn arrived too.
Most people who travel to Venice come back with pictures of canals, gondolas,
palaces or courtyards. Jane came back with pictures of cats, cats and cats!
The same when she went to Greece and the islands. Cats and plenty of them!
Jane was the person to whom I sent pictures of Joey, or pictures of funny cats from the
internet, or even a nice cat I saw in the street. Nowadays I see these pictures but
who shall I send them to?
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Im sure I shall think of a hundred more stories about Jane as soon as I finish here, but
I hope these little anecdotes will have given you a taste of Janes wonderful
personality, her incredible humour, her stoicness in the face of a terrible illness, her
faith in Hashem, her love of her fellow man, and above all her generous spirit which
enveloped and enriched us all.
She has left a gaping hole in my life and in all our lives. May her memory be for a
blessing for all of us.