Pirkei

Imahot
For
Nili
A Celebration of
her
Female Family Tree
Ima, Yonah, Abba, Doni, Raanan, Grandma and Grandpa
proudly salute Nili!

2
 Forward
This book is dedicated
to, who else, my granddaughter Nili Chava Kilimnick
On the occasion of her bat mitzvah.

Nili, it seems like only yesterday that your mother celebrated her bat
mitzvah in the Riverdale Jewish Center under Rabbi Avner Weiss. And now
you will be celebrating this rite of passage in Congregation Beth Sholom in
Rochester, NY, under your Zaydie Rabbi Shaya Kilimnick and your uncle
Rabbi Avi Kilimnick.

Your Bubbe Rebbetzin Nechi Kilimnick has also prepared you for this
milestone by teaching one of the richest sources of wisdom in our tradition,
Pirkei Avot. This portion of the Talmud is filled with wonderful sayings and
teachings of Jewish beliefs and values.

But as you will see in the pages that follow, your own personal family
tree is filled with generation upon generation of remarkable, dedicated,
indomitable women.

These wise mothers and grandmothers are not only great role models for
you; they have also imparted many great lessons which deserve a book of
their own. Besides, you told me you wanted my project for you to focus on
your shorishim, your roots. Hence, Pirkei Imahot for Nili.

I will leave you with some lines from a song by John Forster and Tom Chapin
that reflect the theme of your bat mitzvah and this little book which I have
prepared for you:

Before the days of Jell-O, lived a prehistoric fellow,

Who loved a maid and courted her beneath the banyan tree.
And they had lots of children. and their children all had children.
And they kept on having children until one of them had me!

Were a family and were a tree.

Our roots go deep down in history
From my great-great-granddaddy reaching up to me,
Were a green and growing family tree.

Grandpa Val Karan

August 2017

3

In the Torah, beginning with Sarah
our mother and the mother of the
Jewish people, we have been blessed
with fabulous foremothers who
have nurtured us over the centuries.
Rabbinic tradition emphasizes the
merit and important work of our
female ancestors. It even teaches
that when Moses received the Torah,
Miriam also received it and passed it
to the daughters of Zelaphchad, who
passed it to Devora who gave it to
Hanna and so on through the ages.
President Rivlin and your 2nd Great Aunt Florence
4
Nili, you are the daughter of a Levite
father and a Bat Kohen mother, so
your ancestry goes back thousands
of years. This booklet will highlight
the lives and good deeds of your
female Imahot dating back hundreds
of years. That is when the first direct
relation can be found in the 15th
century, namely, your 11th Great
Grandmother. You will see that
through these remarkable women,
many heroic and distinguished in
their own rights, you are related to
some of the most illustrious leaders
and teachers of modern Jewish
history, from rabbis such as the
Maharil, the ReMa, and the Chofetz
Chaim to the current President of
Israel Reuven Rivlin.
 Sources and Context
Luckily, preparing this booklet
was made easier by the amazing
website Geni which, as you see
above, shows your family tree for
four generations. There are also a
number of people on both sides of
the family who are interested in
family history and genealogy and
who provided valuable information.
Special kudos should go to Danny
Barr and Tina Freiman as well as to
your Zaydie and Bubbe Shaya and
Nechi Kilimnick, all valuable founts
of knowledge about ancestors.
When we begin to look at the lives
of the generations that came before
us, we should be grateful that we
live in a time of so many modern
appliances and conveniences. They
are so common to us that we easily
take them for granted; we can
travel near and far by car or plane,
5
wehave houses that keep us warm in
winter and cool in summer, we have
hot and cold water whenever we
need it, and preparing meals is easy
with modern stores and microwave
ovens. But this was not the case for
the majority of the women who are
featured in this booklet.
We are going to be looking back
at our ancestors who dressed like
characters in Fiddler on the Roof,
a popular play and movie which
conjures up a picture of an idyllic
world marked by milkmen and
water carriers, bustling market
places, and cozy wooden homes.
Yet we also have to remember that,
for our ancestors, life was full of
unrelenting hardships, extreme
poverty and overt anti-Semitism.
 The Real Wonder Women

What was life like for roles of homemaker, mother, wife,

Nilis Imahot? daughter, breadwinner, supporter
and caretaker, often of aging parents,
The quintessential Jewish woman
while managing to raise generations
of the past dealt with the more
of G-d-fearing and religious Jewish
practical aspects of life. The men
sons and daughters.
in the family were scholars or
merchants or travelers to distant What were living quarters like
places. Their wives had to assume for Nilis Imahot?
the responsibilities of daily life,
Living quarters were often very
for their husbands often had little
plain and people often had to sleep
experience with paying taxes,
on wooden boards. There was no
tending the vegetables, or shoveling
plumbing. For water, there was
snow, for example. Shop keeping
a barrel filled by a water carrier
became one of the most widespread
with water drawn from a river
occupations for women, especially
or well. There were no modern
for wives of Torah scholars. Against
appliances like washing machines
this backdrop, the wife was always
and dryers, and the laundry was
in motion. She was up by 3 AM and
washed by hand in rain or in the
went to bed long after her children.
river. There were no bathrooms or
Rashi teaches us that women can
showers and people had to use an
simultaneously tend the vegetables,
outhouse. Houses had a big oven
spin flax, and take care of silkworms.
reaching almost to the ceiling which
With remarkable inner strength,
was used for cooking, baking, and
tenacity, and faith, the Jewish
eating. There were often fireplaces
woman occupied her various

Chofetz Chaim in front of his home

6
to give extra heat. Kerosene lamps In short, its good to want to know
were used for lighting although on about your ancestors, what influence
Shabbat and holiday the women they had on the next generation, and
would light candles. what their accomplishments were.
So, Miss Bat Mitzvah girl, lets begin
Life in those days was also often with your earliest known direct
mobile and migratory. We will read ancestors.
about your ancestors who had to
uproot themselves, cross oceans and
continents to reach the New World
and a new life. A number of your
relatives managed to travel across
land from towns in Europe to what
was then Palestine. We dont know
quite how they managed to do that,
but thats part of the wonder of these
ladies who constitute your pedigree!
Is it any wonder that their offspring
often tended to be exuberant high
achievers like you yourself?

1455 Guttenberg Bible printed, start of mass-produced books;

first printed Hebrew books soon followed.

1492 Columbus sails to New World; Jews expelled from Spain.

7
 Your 11th Great Grandmother

MALKA LIFSHITZ LURIA

lived from 1446 to 1480, in France. She was the mother of Dreizel Niriam
Zeisel Schrentzel. She would be the great grandmother of the ReMa.

Grave of Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin in Worms, Germany

It was also during this time span that another ancestor and famous rabbi
lived in Germany. He was Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin who is best known
as MAHARIL (1365-1427) the Hebrew acronym for Our Teacher, the Rabbi,
Yaakov Levi. We dont know the name of his wife, but we do know that he
showed so much respect for her that he habitually addressed his wife in the
formal third person. He was also apparently inconsolable when his wife died
one year prior to his own death.

Like many of the great scholars of the past, he credited his own achievement
and those of other great men not only to their diligent study but to the love
of Torah and to the self-sacrifice that was exhibited by their mothers and
wives.

8
 Your 10th Great Grandmothers

This was a period of blood libels, anti-Jewish riots and pogroms

in such places as Cracow, Poland, and other cities. It was also the
beginning of the infamous Inquisition which targeted non-believers,
especially Jews.

DREIZEL ZEISEL LURIA GITTEL AUERBACH

SCHRENTZEL ISSERLES
was the mother of Dinah Malka lived from 1466 to 1552, was the
Isserles and the grandmother of the grandmother of the ReMa. She lived
ReMa. She lived in Ukraine. in Poland which is pictured above.

9
 Your 9th Great Grandmothers
DINAH MALKA
SCHRENTZEL ISSERLES
lived from 1485 to 1552. She was
the mother of the ReMa along with
seven other children. She lived in
Cracow, Poland.
10
KENDEL ISSERLES
KATZ
was born in 1530 in Belarus. from
Cracow Poland she was the
mother of Rabbi Yehoshua Valk
Hakohen who was married to Beila
Falk. She was the sister of the famous
rabbi known as The ReMa (Moshe
ben Israel Isserles who lived from
1520-1572) who was considered the
Maimonides of PolishJewry.
The ReMa was the author of many
important works on Jewish law and
philosophy, and he became famous
as a codifier, whose decision was the
last word in Jewish law.
 Your 8th Great Grandmothers

DREIZA RIVELES RIVLIN

mother of Hillel Rivlin.

BEILA FALK
lived from 1573 to 1631 a learned daughter of Yisrael Edels, one of the
leaders of the Jewish community in Lww, Poland. She married a descendant
of the Epstein family who was himself a great rabbi (he wrote Sefer Meirat
Einayim the .) After his death, she left her family in Lemberg and went
to spend the rest of her life in Israel. There she lived such an exemplary life
of piety, good deeds and asceticism that her religious practices were cited by
several Poskim.

Beila Falk introduced two new rules regarding the lighting of candles on
holidays; several prominent rabbis, including Yeezkel Segal-Landau,
ayim Yosef David Azulay, and the atam Sofer, endorsed her opinion as
halakhah. She was buried in the Kidron Valley at the foot of Har HaZaytim
right next to the grave of the prophet Zechariah. Wow, what zichus!

Your Mother visited the gravesite of Beila Falk as you can see above.

11
 Your 7th Great Grandmother

TZIPPORAH BICHWER RIVLIN

lived from 1760 to1836 the wife of Hillel Rivlin who led a group of
pioneers immigrating to Jerusalem in 1809. They traveled from the shtetl of
Shklov in a province of Belarus (shown by the dot on the map) to what was
then Palestine, a distance of 2400 miles!

The Rivlin family has researched its roots back to Vienna in 1550. It boasts
among its ranks the Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna), Yosef Yoel Rivlin,
the author of the first Hebrew edition Koran, the first female mayor of Israel,
several actresses, and Israels President Reuven Rivlin. In 2009, some 5,000
Rivlin relatives, including your mother, gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate
the 200th anniversary of the familys immigration to Israel which was
encouraged by the Vilna Gaon.

In addition to cholera epidemics, the early pioneers to the land of

Israel had to deal with natural disasters. In 1837, the city of Safed
in the Upper Galilee suffered a devastating earthquake that killed
thousands of people and caused almost total destruction.

12
Your 4th, 5th & 6th Great Grandmothers

DOBRASHA KAGAN
lived from 1819 to 1893 mother of the Chofetz Chaim. Her husband
died when her son Yisroel Meir was ten years old. Dobrasha then moved
the family to Vilnius in order to continue her sons education. She later re-
married and moved to Radu. When he was 17, the future Chofetz Chaim
married Frieda Halevi Epstein (see following page) the daughter of his
stepfather, and settled in Radu.

MASHA FEIVEL SACHS EIDELE BICHOWSKY EPSTEIN

wife of Shneor Zalman Sachs and
daughter in law of Tema Beila
Epstein Sachs (your grandmas
second great aunt). Masha was the
wife of your grandmas first cousin
twice removed, and she was the
mother of Rav Mendel Zaks who
married the youngest daughter of
the Chofetz Chaim.
(born in 1790) the wife of Ephraim
Yitzchak Epstein and the mother of
Shneur Shlomo Zalman Epstein and
one of the early known members of
the Epstein clan. She was the great
grandmother in-law of Chana Bass
Epstein (p.16).

The Epstein family in Israel 19th-20th Centuries

13
 Your 3rd Great Grandmothers
TAMARA MULLIN
lived from 1857 to1918 mother of Bubbe Pauline Wernick
FEIGA HACOHEN EPSTEIN
wife of Joseph Epstein who was
beloved by her daughter-in-law
Chana Bass Epstein. Feiga took
in Chana when she was engaged
to Ben Tzion and taught her
everything when they lived in
Jerusalem. Chanas daughter Joan
looks like Feiga. She died in 1918.
14
FREIDA HALEVI
EPSTEIN KAGAN
1st wife of the Chofetz Chaim, the
daughter of Rabbi Shimon HaLevi
and Gittel Epstein Maradin, who
was a very righteous woman and
opened a grocery store so that her
husband could sit and study Torah
at rest. If it were not for this small
town [Radin], and for the deeds of
my wife, who knows if I came to
the Torah and was not swept away
by the troubles of life like all my
contemporaries?
 Your 2nd Great Grandmothers
challah, kneading and braiding with
artful hands as the house filled with
the smell of yeast and cinnamon. I
wish you could have felt her gaze on
you, full of wonder and love, making
you feel protected and cherished, as
her children and grandchildren felt
throughout her life. The fact that all
of her daughters grew up to be such
BUBBE FANNY NOSOFSKY strong, independent women is a
was your Grandfather Vals maternal testament to Bubbe Fannys resolute
grandmother. He has written of her but gentle nature.
that she would be his unanimous
first ballot choice for grandmother GITTEL KAGAN
Hall of Fame because she was the lived from 1865 to 1949 was
kindness and most patient person the oldest daughter of the Chofetz
he ever met. Little is known of her Chaim: Gittel married Rav Aharon
background other than she raised Hakohen, who wrote several sefarim.
three daughters and worked side- They travelled to Eretz Yisrael in
by-side with her husband on their about 1926, which may be why they
farm in Canada. They were among are not mentioned in the will of
the young Jewish settlers who the Chofetz Chaim which was just
came to Western Canada at the discovered many years after the
beginning of the 20th century with great rabbi passed away; apparently
few possessions and hardly any there were no practical points to be
farming experience. If you think that spelled out for a daughter who was
winters are brutal in Rochester, they not living nearby.
were even worse in Saskatchewan,
Canada more than 100 years ago
without heat and running water.
But Bubbe Fanny could bake and
cook and sew, and she always did so
with love and a warm smile. I wish
you could have watched her bake

15
 Your 2nd Great Grandmother
TEMA GITTEL
CHASMAN COHEN
lived from 1890 to1969 nothing
is known about her parents other
than the fact that she had a niece,
an artist, living in Haifa whom
your Grandpa Val met years ago.
Bubbe Gittel was born in Vilkomir,
Lithuania. She was married very
young; she had Grandpa Vals father
when she was only 15 years of age.
She lived in a dirt floor home in
Vilnius for five years taking care
of five children while her husband
came to America to save money and
to build a new life for his family.
Then she joined him and they settled
in Madison, Wisconsin.
16
Bubbe Gittel was a diminutive
woman who in many ways did not
seem to adjust to non-shtetl ways.
She had lost one child in transit from
Russia and all her other children
Grandpa Vals two uncles and aunt
moved to Chicago or to the West
coast. She carried on with her lot in
life to tend their apartment house
and to care for her ailing husband to
his dying day.
No one ever heard her complain
or rail against G-d except when
Grandpa Vals father died and
she could not accept the passing
of her oldest child. No one can
recall much joy or delight in her
life even though she did live to
attend Grandpa Vals wedding. She
remains etched in his memory as a
tiny, rustic, unself-conscious, tender,
gentle matriarch who was a symbol
of self-sacrifice for the sake of
family. In other circumstances, she
might have been an artist, writer or
a professional person. She would say
to You, If you have dreams and you
have talent, redeem them; I never got
a chance to do that.
 Your 2nd Great Grandmother
the War in 1920 Chana and her
husband left to settle in Chicago
where the Goldsmiths then lived.
She learned that her aunts only
two children had, alas, died in the
terrible flu epidemic in 1918.

Despite all the trials and tribulations

of her life, Chana was a very kind,
very quiet, and very religious
woman. She knew Tehilim by heart
CHANA BASS EPSTEIN and recited them daily. She only
spoke Yiddish and lived her later
lived from 1888 to 1955 was born
years with Grandma Annettes
in Pyora or Pajuris in Lithuania.
family in Chicago. From Joan, Rabbi
Her father died when she was
Jacob, and Florence, Chana has been
5 years old. When she was 15, she
blessed with many descendants,
left with her paternal Aunt Ida
most of whom are observant
Goldsmith and Uncle Reuven to
Jews. She wanted every one of her
settle in Jerusalem. A year later she
children and grandchildren to fulfill
was married to Ben Tzion Epstein.
their potential.
For the first 8 years of her marriage
she did not have children. When she
did finally become pregnant and
was approaching her due date, she
received the awful news that her
mother had died; Chana collapsed
and gave birth to her first born
Yocheved (BUBBE JOAN). This
was followed by another daughter
Rachel who sadly died of starvation
during the British siege of Jerusalem
in World War I when no food was
allowed into the city. Rachel is
buried on Har HaZaytim. After

17
 Your 2nd Great Grandmother

BUBBE PAULIE (PAULINE) where Great Grandfather Zaydie

WERNICK Wernick was born. She had five
children; however, two died when
Her Hebrew name was Paya bas
they were very young. She was a
Binyamin Yitzchak and Tamar
direct decedent of the MAHARIL of
Mullin. She was born in Luben
the 14 century (Rabbi Yaakov ben
Poland and later when her parents
Moshe Levi Moelin), who was the
came to the USA she grew up in
Rabbi of Mainz, Germany (where
Hazelton, Pennsylvania. She was
he is buried) (see p. 9).
very family oriented and close to
her siblings. She was known as a Later on in life she and her family
very elegant and a refined young moved to Brownsville, Brooklyn
woman. and Bubbe Nechi was able to visit
with them frequently. She was very
She devoted her life to Klal Yisroel.
friendly and enjoyed her children
She married Great Zaydie Dovid and
and grandchildren.
served in many towns where he was
the Chazzan, Shochet and Mohel.
One of the towns was Newburgh,NY

18
 Your 2nd Great Grandmother

EVA KILIMNICK She was a midwife in Russia and

Grandpa Harrys mother whose
Hebrew name was Chava bas
Zahnvill. Her maiden name was
Kotchka.
She was born in Russia and died
December 24, 1944 at the age of 64.
She had a hard life. Her husband died
quite young having been injured in
the Russo-Japanese war. She had to
raise two young boys by herself with
very little income and lived at a time
when there were pogroms and it was
dangerous for Jews. She was strong
and courageous to make all the
arrangements to come to America.
loving to her children.
When she arrived in the USA things
were very difficult for her. Later
on Grandpa Harry who was a
successful business man supported
her and took care of all her needs.
She was a religious woman who
made sure to keep Shabbos and a
Kosher home and instill within her
sons a strong Jewish identity and
love of family.

19
 Your 2nd Great Grandmother
BUBBE FAIGEL SIMNOWITZ
( - 1967) Her Hebrew name was
Faigel bas Reb Yosef and Riva Leah.
Her maiden name was Punumunsky.
She was born in Szczuczyn Poland.
Her uncle was the Dayan of
Suvolk. At a very young age she
was introduced to the service of
Hachnasas Orchim by observing her
mother as she took care of many
Yeshiva students in town.
She was a very strong and
determined young woman. At the
age of 14she traveled to America by
herself. She then returned to Europe
for a short period of time and then
crossed the Atlantic once again to
settle in America. She was a very
religious and pious woman and
20
dedicated her life to Yiddishkeit and
Mitzvoth.
She concerned herself with the
care of the poor by collecting
money for them and providing
them with Challahs every Shabbos.
She dovened and recited Tehilim
every day and was the first in
shul every Shabbos. She married
Yosef Simnowitz who was a Torah
teacher for children. He would teach
while she supported the family by
operating a grocery store. She had a
very strong work ethic.
Bubbe Nechi grew up with her in
the same house and learned many
beautiful middot from her. She was
also devoted to her daughter and
son-in-law, Zaydie Sidney and her
grandchildren. Her grandchildren
and great grandchildren became
Talmidai Chachamim and Rabbis
who married into the families of the
most distinguished Torah Scholars
of our generation.
 Your 2nd Great Grandmother
SHIFRA TOBA GERSTEN
Grandma Chavas mother was
Saidy Gersten. Her Hebrew name
was Shifra Tova bas Hersh Mendel.
Her maiden name was Alweiss and
her mothers maiden name was
(Dina) Kirschenbaum. She came
from a large family and there were
many siblings and cousins. She
married Max Gersten and they had
6children all born in Poland. (Two
infants died very young). She was
very kind, generous and loving. She
was also very well read and learned
in Chumash and Medrash.
She always taught Zaydie Torah and
insights into Torah and Halakhah.
As a very young courageous girl of
15 years old, she traveled across the
Atlantic Ocean by herself to visit
her cousins in Toronto, Canada.
21
During her youth she experienced
much anti-Semitism and later lost
much of her family to the Holocaust.
(Zaydie was named after her brother
Shaya who was killed by the
Nazis.) She watched and protected
her family by herself in a hostile
area in Poland for two years while
her husband was able to establish
residency in America and earn
sufficient funds to bring the family
over in 1912.
When she arrived in the USA, she
had a grocery store and sent her
son Sidney to Yeshiva Chaim Berlin
in Brownsville and also supported
him and her oldest daughter Ann in
college.
She was a grandmother of 10 and
loved to be with them. This loving
and caring grandmother died
January 1, 1968, the 7th night of
Chanukah.
 Your Great Grandmother
BUBBE RIVI
(LENA) WERNICK
Her Hebrew name was Riva Leah
bas Reb Yosef and Faigel Simnowitz.
She was born inBrooklyn, NY. After
High School she continued with
a college education. She married
Sidney (Chaim Zaydel) Wernick and
lived in Brownsville Brooklyn near
her inlaws.
Three weeks after her marriage, her
father died and she arranged for
her mother to move in with her.
She proved by deed how important
family was. She was very close to her
three siblings, nieces and nephews.
She was very devoted to her children
and grandchildren. She made sure
to send all her children to Yeshivot
to receive a higher Jewish education.
Her influence motivated all her
22
children to achieve higher degrees
of scholarship and awards.
Yiddishkeit, Jewish People and
Jewish Life were most important
to her. She was very friendly and
greeted everyone with a smile.
Many felt comfortable with her
seeking her advice and guidance.
Her kindness and giving were
reflected by her home which was
always welcoming to everyone for
meals and Shabbat. Every Friday
she purchased additional challahs
to distribute to her neighbors who
were less observant and provided
them with a spirit of Shabbos and
respect for Torah observance.
She and her mother collected
tzadaka to save the many in her
family from the Holocaust and
to host them in her home. Several
survivors would come to her
unexpectedly needing food, lodging
and assistance and she was there for
them.
 Your Great Grandmother
EVELYN KILIMNICK
(GRANDMA CHAVA)
Her Hebrew name was Chava bas
Menachem Mendel and Shifra
Toba. She was the second to the
youngest in her family and was very
gifted. She had a wonderful memory
for poems and songs which she
recited to her children. She had two
daughters, Deena and Joyce, and
one son, Shaya your grandfather.
She was a remarkable daughter
who visited her parents everyday
and treated them with the greatest
of love and respect. She was a most
devoted, caring wife who loved her
husband. She was a great loving
mother who was supportive of her
children and provided them with
good parenting and guidance. She
was very smart, talented and had a
remarkable voice. She was also very
attractive and dressed beautifully
like a model. She always kept
Kosher even though most of her
friends didnt. She made sure to send
her son to Yeshiva (the same school
where Bubbe Nechi went) and
not to Public School where all her
friends sent their children. She was
very courageous in life having had
two open heart surgeries and still
always looking strong and healthy.
In her senior years she became an
entertainer in Florida where she
lived. Her stage name was Evelyn
K and she was quite popular in
Broward and Dade county Florida.
Above all she loved her family, all
her 10 grandchildren and her great
grandchildren. She also died on the
same Hebrew day as her mother, the
7th night of Chanukah in 2002. You
are named after her.
23
 Your Great Grandmother

BUBBE JOAN EPSTEIN and hat. Whenever she came to her

KAGAN GLASSER childrens homes, she liked to cook
and clean up. Her food was soft
did not have an easy life. She was
and well cooked: if al dente pasta is
born in Jerusalem but emigrated
hard and literally for the tooth, her
with her family to America when
pasta was soft and for the gums! She
she was very young. She grew up
is the inspiration for your mothers
in Chicago during the height of the
matzo balls and you love them with
depression. Despite the difficulties
a touch of sweetness reminiscent of
she encountered, she was always
Bubbe Joan. Yonah is named after
cheerful, expounding silly phrases
her.
such as Be happy, snappy, wappy!
She loved people and loved to be
out in the world in a nice outfit

24
 Your Great Grandmother
BUBBE ROSE ANN NOSOFSKY
KARAN SCHNEIDER
Grandpa Vals mother was raised
in Saskatchewan, Canada, in a
place called Edenbridge. This was a
settlement founded by Lithuanian
Jews fleeing pogroms. Her
Hebrew name was Chana Rasha
bas Avrohom. She was the oldest
of three daughters, all of whom
attended a one room schoolhouse
Rose Ann to about eighth grade
and all of whom helped their father
and mother manage a large farm
without heat or running water.
Rose Ann was a stunning wisp of
a woman, barely 5 feet tall. She
married Herman in 1941, and
your Grandfather Val was born
the following year during World
War II. Your Grandfather has
described his mother as the most
powerful person he ever knew.
She had natural leadership skills
25
and easily overshadowed his quiet,
more creative father. She had a
sweet disposition and could easily
connect with and befriend people in
a positive way. He has no doubt that
she wouldve been a Fortune 500
CEO in another era or if she were
a man. But as a devoted housewife,
Grandpa Vals mother dedicated
herself to the needs of her husband,
her two sons, her parents, her in-
laws, her Hadassah group, home pets,
and occasionally an elderly border.
For many years, she worked in the
food shop that she managed from
9 to 9; yet she always found time
to make spectacular meals for her
family in the back room.
Your Great-Uncle Orv remembers
that when his mother swallowed a
chicken bone and she was walking
to the hospital struggling to speak,
she was more concerned whether he
had something to eat. Many of the
recipes for foods prepared by this
great grandmother and her family
including vegetarian chopped liver
which is a favorite in your family
are memorialized in the cookbook
by Bubbe Roses sister Sari. Bubbe
Rose believed in always trying to
better oneself and to taking the
high road. She used to say, Two
wrongs dont make a right.
 Your Grandmother
BUBBE NECHIE
WERNICK KILIMNICK
Your Paternal Grandmother grew
up in Brooklyn. She went to Crown
Heights Yeshiva for elementary
school. She then attended Central
High School before going to Stern
College and even completing a year
of medical school before settling on
a career in nursing.
She married Zaydie Shaya and
soon after they moved to Little
Rock, Arkansas. While in Little
Rock, Bubbe and Zaydie had four
of their five children. Bubbe also got
a nursing degree while living there.
After seven years, they moved to
Rochester, New York. Bubbe worked
as a nurse for many years including
at Hillel school and summer camps.
26
While working, she was also the
Rebbetzin and was busy with many
aspects of Jewish life in Rochester.
Bubbe has taught in the local high
school for girls and has volunteered
with the Chevra Kadisha and the
mikvah; she was Mevaker Cholim at
local hospitals and homes. Bubbe has
also occupied herself learning with
young girls for their bat mitzvot, as
well as being on school committees
and countless other activities. She
continues her chesed to this day.
She is a very loving, very tznias
and selfless woman who is a
very good cook and a very good
shopper. She likes to say it is
what it is and she also likes to say:
Al Taam Val Reyach Ein
Lehitvakeach meaning there is
no absolute judgment of personal
preferences. Each person has his/her
subjective taste and preferences.
 Your Grandmother
Grandma always taught her
students and her own children as
well to believe in themselves. With
hard work and effort, you can
achieve great success, she always
says. This also means looking your
best and speaking clearly and with
proper volume.

She at all times is the great E-NUN-

CI-ATOR and someone who is not
afraid to speak her mind and tell
it like it is. The State of Israel and
your Grandma were born around
the same time. Dont they both look
pretty good for their ages?

ANNETTE KAGAN KARAN

Your Maternal Grandmother
Annette was born in Chicago and
given the Hebrew name Henna.
She has an older sister Myra. She
attended the Jewish day school in
Chicago and then went to Stern
college where she met and married
your Grandpa Val. She went on to
earn two masters degrees and have
a sterling career as a public school
teacher for nearly 40 years.

27
 Your Mother
went to Ramaz High School before
attending the BA/MD program of
Brooklyn College and Downstate
Medical School.

She balances a career as a wife, a

mother, an attending physician, a
program director, a researcher, an
entrepreneur, a community leader,
and much more because she is, well,
simply amazing. To you, she is and
always will be Ima or Mommy,
the worlds greatest cook, story
teller, and motivator.

SUZANNE BETH (SUZIE)

KARAN KILIMNICK
(Bat Tzion Tzirul Bat Zev Yitzchak)
There is no one in your or any other
family that is more universally loved
and respected than your Ima. She
grew up In Riverdale and attended
SAR through eighth grade.

She celebrated her Bat Mitzvah

the first on either side of her
family on March13, 1983 in the
Riverdale Jewish Center. She then

28

What a wonderful treasure trove of
people who make up your family!
The women in these pages have
shaped your identity as a women
and a Jew. According to some,
knowing where one comes from is
a mitzvah in the Torah. The portion
Hazinu (Deuteronomy 32:7) is cited
which tells us, Remember the days
of yore, understand the years of
generations after generations. Ask
your father and he will relate it to
you, and your elders, and they will
tell you.
the quest for a better life or, as Beila
Falk and then the Rivlins showed, to
live in the Holy Land. Many of your
ancestors had a quest for knowledge
and undertook fields of study in
Torah, in medicine which were
not generally pursued by women.
Some struck out on their own
in business and other leadership
activities. There was even a
smattering of artists and musicians.
Is the list exhaustive and complete?
No, there are gaps that future family
history lovers maybe even you
can uncover more details.
With the lives of the women we have
discovered to guide you, this can
serve as an heirloom to last for years
and years.

The women featured in your

extended family tree were striking
role models, often breathtakingly
beautiful, all willing to make great
personal sacrifices for the welfare
of their husbands and children. We
have encountered women who left
their homelands and families of
origin to follow their husbands in

29
 Pirkei Imahot
In general, womens obligations and responsibilities are different from
mens, but no less important.

What can you learn about how to carry out these obligations and
responsibilities from all the great women who have come before you in your
family tree?

Never forget to be devoted to your children and families

Include your siblings in your life affairs
Look and act your best
In G-d youll trust as you live a pious life
Knowledge and learning are lifelong pursuits
Invest time in your talents and passions
Love who you are and be proud of yourself
Indulge in recipes which are easy and even taste gourmet
Make each Shabbat a special and illuminating experience
Notably and normally show vitality and grit
Impart information clearly, articulately, and with conviction
Cherish Israel and Jews everywhere
Keep yourself strong, shrewd, capable and always busy

30
 Nili Chava Kilimnick
Acharon acharon chaviv! Your first
name is an acrostic of the Hebrew
words NETZACH YISRAEL LO
YISHAKER which means THE
EVERLASTING OF ISRAEL WILL
NOT DECEIVE.
As our Bat Mitzvah girl, you are the
culmination of all the heroic female
ancestors that have preceded you.
Happily, already you are a stoic,
confident young woman who shrugs
off difficulties and likes to go with
the flow. You are said to have her
Dads sense of humor. You are an
The End.
31
organized individual who is product
oriented and likes to have a job to
do. You have shown yourself to be
particularly adept at leadership
skills (as in color war). All in all, you
are a gracious, excellent all around
student who was in garden and
drama clubs and participated in
Better Together with Jewish Seniors.
Boy, do you love your Imas matzo
balls; you could live on them all
three meals a day! The Gemara
Brochot says that the departed are
aware of what happens in this world,
especially our good deeds. Without
a doubt, your maternal ancestors
have good reason to be pleased with
and proud of your character which,
we hope and pray, will continue to
shine brightly and steadfastly.