A Woman of Valor

From left, clockwise: my Grandmother  Chava,
Aunt Shaindel, Aunt Edith, cousin Victor and
cousin Frimette

Today is Mother's Day and also the evening Havurah Negila is getting together for our monthly social. On tonight's agenda is a round table discussion of Women of Valor we have known personally or who have influenced us from afar.

I have chosen to talk about my Aunt Edith, my father's sister. 

When my grandfather brought his family from Poland to assume the position of Chief Rabbi of Toronto he left behind his oldest child, Gittel, who was already married to Ben Tzion Rabinowitz, also a Rabbi. When the Nazis invaded Poland Rabbi Rabinowitz was shot dead and Gittel was murdered at Auschwitz.  Three of their four daughters were sent to slave labor camps and the fourth, Rivka (rumored to be the prettiest) was led away never to be heard from again.

Survivors!

Aunt Edith (Yides) worked tirelessly to locate the three nieces (who somehow wound up in the Netherlands after the war). It was a struggle to get them Canadian visas (I believe this involved "greasing the wheels" in Ottawa) and to finally bring them home to their extended family in Toronto. Aunt Edith worked to teach them English, dressed them in nice clothes and introduced them to three nice Jewish boys who would become their devoted husbands and the fathers of ten children. All of the cousins were given a real start in their new lives thanks to Aunt Edith. From extremely humble beginnings, my aunt and her husband provided support to all our family  - not just to her own children and the three refugees.

So Aunt Edith is my Woman of Valor for this Mother's Day tribute. 

;-)