Obituaries
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Love And Laughter
Steve Raphael
Special to the Jewish News
oyce Esther Rube had a spe-
cial gift of love and laughter
— gifts she shared by making
others around her feel special.
"At least 25 people said to me in
the last few days, 'She was my best
friend,"' said daughter-in-law Jennifer
Rube. "She made every person in her
presence feel like the most important
person in the world. At the funeral, I
couldn't decide which was more poi-
gnant — the laughter or the crying
because they were both so real."
Son Saul Rube, added, "Everyone
who knew her liked her. She was
extremely warm and loving; the kind of
person that everybody felt was their
best friend."
Mrs. Rube, known as Esther, died
Feb. 6, 2007, in Boca Raton, Fla., of a
heart attack. She was 68 years old.
"I absolutely adored her," said
Congregation Shaarey Zedek Rabbi
Joseph Krakoff, adding she had "a
fabulous and wicked sense of humor.
"She always had me laughing, smil-
j
ing ... she always had something funny
to say about a situation. She didn't
take herself too seriously."
For 33 years, from 1966 to 1999,
Esther worked side-by-side with her
husband, Cantor Sidney Rube, at the
Southfield-based synagogue. "He may
have been technically the employee,
but they were a 100 percent team,"
said Jennifer. "He was the mohel [rit-
ual circumcises] and she was his nurse
... she put the parents at ease."
Esther was born in Dallas, and her
family was in the clothing business.
"My dad said he picked the only
Jewish girl in Texas who wasn't in oil,"
Saul said.
Cantor Rube died in February 2002,
also at age 68. In 1999, nearly 2,000
people turned out for his retirement
party; and, though the audience loved
the cantor, it was Esther who received
the standing ovation, Jennifer said.
Esther "basically ran" Shaarey
Zedek's Clover Hill Park Cemetery in
Birmingham, remaining at each burial
until was complete. At her funeral last
week, the cemetery's gravediggers
told Saul how much they loved his
mother.
Esther was active with the congre-
gation's sisterhood and played a huge
role in producing the synagogue's
series of cookbooks.
She was executive secretary of
Yeshivat Akiva day school, now in
Southfield, for 15 years
and was a member of
Amit, an organization
that provides educa-
tional opportunities for
underprivileged chil-
dren in Israel.
Esther brought such
joy to everyone, Rabbi
Krakoff said, and it was
not unusual for her to
walk through a crowd
Esther Rube
of people and see it
split down the middle
as if she were Moses parting the sea.
Many people knew her through her
doll and magazine collections. She was
a "pack rat," said the rabbi, noting
Esther owned thousands of dolls and
every Women's Day magazine since
1975.
She also loved movies, her favorite
being King Kong, She found great
humor in horror movies, such as
Poltergeist and The Shining, the rabbi
said.
More than that, Esther "had incred-
ible, incredible values; she was a role
model in so many ways," he added.
"Her honesty and sincerity
were beyond measure. She
was so incredibly gracious,
thoughtful and insightful."
Mrs. Rube is survived by
her sons and daughters-in-
law, Dr. David and Sondra
Rube of Hewlett, N.Y., Saul
and Jennifer Rube of Oak
Park, Charles Rube of
Boca Raton, Fla.; grand-
children, Yaakov Chaim,
Moshe Zecharya, Yosef Levi,
Shmuel Yitzchok, Yocheved
Aviva Vita.
She was the beloved wife of the late
Cantor Sidney Rube.
Interment was at Clover Hill Park
Cemetery. Contributions may be
made to a charity of one's choice.
Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial
Chapel. I I
the community; and, although modest
and often anonymous, he was a true
philanthropist.
Sid played a strategic role in the
merger of synagogues Beth Aaron and
Ahavas Achim and spearheaded the
building of the new synagogue Beth
Achim and served as its president.
He also served on the boards of the
Detroit Builders Association and the
Bricklayers Pension Fund and received
numerous awards for his contributions.
For several terms, Sidney was the
president of the Detroit chapter of the
Zionist Organization of America, served
as ZOA national president and was a
longtime honorable chair of the national
and regional boards. He was honored
with its Brandeis Award.
In his many trips to Israel he met
one-on-one with Israeli leaders includ-
ing David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir,
Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir and
Benjamin Netanyahu. He represented
the ZOA in discussions on U.S.-Israel
relations with Thomas Pickering, the
U.S. representative to the U.N.
In a letter from the ZOA, Sid was
described as "an ardent and courageous
Zionist who loved Israel, the Jewish
people and every inch of Jewish land
with all of his heart and soul. He was
truly a giant among men, a gracious,
kind and wise individual without peer."
Sidney is survived by his loving and
devoted wife of 66 years, Lillian; loving
daughter, Barbara (Dr. Martin) Scharf;
loving brother, Allan (Mary) Silverman;
loving grandchildren, Lindsay, Katie, and
Bradley Gordon, Rachel (Todd) Gold,
Brandon, Ben6 Lederer, Tammy (Bill)
Christen, and Russell (Jen) Gordon;
sisters in-law, Barbara Ginsburg, Marion
Silverman, Irene Silverman; many niec-
es and nephews.
He was the son of the late Louis and
the late Lena Silverman; brother of the
late Morley and the late Benny; father
of the late Marcy Lederer and the late
Dr. Lee Silverman; in-law of the late
Ida and the late Iry Rosenberg, the late
Sonny Ginsburg; son-in-law of the late
Sylvia Silverman and the late Michael
Gordon.
Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel. 11
Soldier And Leader
A
Silverman followed the path of George
merica, Israel, and Detroit
Patton to meet the Russian army at
have lost a leader, philanthro-
the Elbe River. At one point, his life
pist and international spokes-
was saved by Orval Faubus, a man who
person with the passing of Sidney
became governor of Arkansas and who
Silverman on Feb. 7, 2007. Some knew
wrote about his personal friendship
him as Major Silverman of the 35th
with Sidney in his autobiography. The
Division Infantry; others knew him as
long-lasting friendship he developed
a father, brother, grandfather, uncle or
with Harry Truman led to his
just plain Sid. No matter
being invited to serve as a
which hat he wore, Sid
keynote speaker at the dedi-
was held in the highest
cation of the Truman Library
regard and treated with
in Independence, Mo.
the utmost respect.
Major Silverman's medals
Born in Winnipeg,
included
two Purple Hearts
Canada, Sid came to
and
a
Bronze
Star with oak
Detroit in 1939 a lonely
leaf
cluster.
He
continued
18-year-old in pursuit of
his
relationships
with his
the American dream. His
military
comrades
serving
first place of employ-
as
the
national
president
of
ment was at the Copco
Sidney Silver man
the
35th
Infantry
Division
Steel Company. It is there
Association.
where he met secretary
After
the
war,
he began work in the
Lillian Ginsburg, who quickly became
construction business and became vice
his wife. Soon after, in 1941, he enlisted
president of Practical Home Builders.
as a private in the U.S. Army. In no time,
He went on to build thousands of dwell-
this young Canadian transformed into
ings and apartments in the Detroit area.
an American army officer.
He was a firm believer in giving back to
Landing in France on D-Day, Capt.
lfflooffl,""1 ,
96
February 15 . 2007