Passover
'New Shoes
For Pesach'
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Contributing Writer
F
or Ruchie Weisberg of Southfield,
the weeks leading up to Passover
involve not only the typical pre-
holiday cleaning, cooking and shopping,
but — for a unique and touching reason
— they also bring serious thoughts of some-
thing most take for granted.
Ruchie Weisberg thinks of shoes.
As she prepares for the holiday, which
begins the evening of Monday, April 14, she
reflects on her late mother, who, as a young
girl, could not afford hoped-for and much-
needed footwear before Passover. Inspired
by this memory, Weisberg founded the
Y'shoe-ah Foundation to help Jewish com-
munity members in need receive shoes for
the holiday.
"Last year, a few weeks before Pesach, I
decided to do something that would be a
zichus (merit) for my mother's neshamah
(soul); Weisberg said of her mom, Chana
Rosenberg, who died in 2011.
Her mother's story of how extreme disap-
pointment at not receiving her long-awaited
new shoes was overridden by a positive,
religious outlook stayed with Weisberg for
nearly 60 years.
In addition to collecting funds for the
purchase of shoes for the needy, Weisberg
has written a book, Kaddish For My Mother
(soon to be published), to further honor her
mother's memory, with all proceeds donated
to the foundation.
In a key chapter, "New Shoes For
Pesach:' Weisberg retells the story she had
heard many times since she was a child.
It describes Passover preparations in her
mother's small village in Czechoslovakia,
and the excitement of being told that with
the holiday would come new shoes. With
nine siblings, Weisberg said new shoes were
a rarity. Weisberg's grandmother traveled to
Prague to buy clothes and shoes for the fam-
ily for Passover.
"This year was my mother's turn; her year
to get new shoes:' Weisberg wrote in her
book "She fantasized about how they would
look, what color, what style:' Her current
pair, she wrote, were "worn through until the
soles of the shoes were almost transparent:'
Her grandmother returned with necessary
items for some of her mother's siblings.
"My mother waited patiently until her
mother's gaze fell upon her beloved Chana,
her dutiful daughter; the story reads.
"Chanala,"' she said. `"I ran out of money,
and the shoes were so expensive. I just could
not buy them:' She assured her that her old
shoes would be polished and, next year, she
promised, 'You will be the first on the list:
As my mother told this story, it was clear
that her pride far exceeded her disappoint-
ment:' Weisberg wrote. -Mama', she said,
`next year Mashiach (Messiah) will be here
and we shall all have as many shoes as we
could possibly dream of."'
Continuing Honor
"I was devastated by the death of my mother
and writing about her and starting this foun-
dation was very cathartic for me:' Weisberg
said. "The funds are collected to buy shoes,
but, in actuality, the money is probably used
for whatever a family most desperately needs
for Pesach.
"My entire book is devoted to what a
remarkable woman she was. She was highly
intelligent, taught herself to read; and she
read classics, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Herman
Wouk. She was my best friend, my men-
tor. My love of reading comes entirely from
her example," said Weisberg, who studied
English literature, American literature and
creative writing at Wayne State University in
Detroit and taught Hebrew school for more
than 20 years.
Weisberg's husband, Itzy, said, "I've known
my mother-in-law since I was 17. She was
a mother to me, and I loved her as if she
were my own mother. She was a witty, wise
and selfless person. She was also the most
beloved Tubby' to my children. We all miss
her terribly'
The Weisbergs' eldest child, David
Weisberg of Oak Park, said, "The relationship
between by mom and my grandmother was
one of devotion. As a result of this relation-
ship, my mom still acutely feels the death of
my grandmother and misses her severely," he
said. "There can be no better way of honoring
the relationship than to establish and nur-
ture this charity in my grandmother's name.
Giving tzedakah was of tantamount impor-
tance to my grandmother, and this charity
builds on her legacy and keeps it alive:'
Weisberg's parents met in Salzburg,
Austria, in a displaced persons camp. "My
father, David Rosenberg, had been married
before, and his wife and two little children
were killed in Auschwitz:' Weisberg said.
"He and my mother met, fell in love, and my
mom gave birth to my brother on their first
anniversary in Salzburg.
"Her entire family was killed in Auschwitz.
She came to Ellis Island in 1948, stayed in
New York for a few months and then came
to Chicago where my father had family. My
father passed away in 1962, and my mother
raised my brother and me on her own. She
Local foundation
collects funds for
Passover footwear,
honors mother's
memory.
was a very talented seamstress and worked
in a high-end men's clothing factory. She
moved to Southfield in 1980 to be with her
children; well, really her grandchildren.
"She was very religious, yet had a strong
foothold in both the religious and secular
world; she loved every Jew, regardless of ori-
entation. She was financially savvy and very
knowledgeable about politics:'
Help From God
The Y'shoe-ah Foundation was named
through a combination of sentiments, the
most obvious being the inclusion of the
word "shoe:'
"My mother had a Yiddish expression she
used when anyone was depressed or anx-
ious:' Weisberg said. "She would say, 'The
yeshuah (help from God, or salvation) will
come when you least expect it: This was a
constant refrain to all my friends and hers
who needed a bit of bolstering:'
The foundation name also holds a similar
sound to the word "Shoah (Holocaust):'
"Certainly, the sentiment of 'help from God'
is what saw her through the darkest time
of the Shoah," Weisberg said. "She truly
believed that in the end, we, as a people, if
not her personally, would survive; that the
yeshuah would come. My mother was a
remarkable woman, a survivor who never
lost her belief in God:'
The foundation is under the auspices of
Matan B'Seter Detroit, a Southfield-based
agency headed by Rabbis Shaul Broner,
M.Z. Greenfield and Meir Leiberson. "We
contacted Rabbi Broner because he and Itzy
are long-time friends, and he knew that in
Rabbi Broner's hands the money would be
given anonymously and with the utmost
dignity to the beneficiaries:' Weisberg said. "I
asked him if he, as a representative of Matan
B'Seter, would distribute funds I collected to
large families so their children would have
new shoes for Pesach:'
Last year, additional funds were collected
and disbursed before Rosh Hashanah.
"I am extremely proud we were able to
join forces with Matan B'Seter and help
those in need during these difficult times:'
Weisberg said. "My mother would have loved
this mitzvah:'
Itzy Weisberg said, "My wife has a prayer
on the wall that translates, 'My God and the
God of our fathers: May it be Your will to
accept with mercy and grace any good deed
that I do whether in thought, word or action
and let it all go in merit of the neshamah of
my dear mother Chana bas Yosef. May her
soul be bound up in the bonds of eternal life
and her memory be a blessing. Amen:
Ruchie Weisberg holds a framed photo of
her late parents, taken in 1945. "I would
give a king's ransom to have a picture of
my mom as a young girl; unfortunately
none survived the war," she said.
The late Chana Rosenberg dances
with her daughter, Ruchie Weisberg, at
Weisberg's daughter's wedding in 2000.
"I'm so proud of Ruchie coming up with
the Y'shoe-ah Foundation and writing a book
to honor her memory:' he said.
As Passover approaches, Ruchie Weisberg
tracks the progress of the foundation, get-
ting word of the most recent gift. "Last week,
Rabbi Broner gave a family $100 from the
fund:' she said. "He said to Itzy — without
revealing names — `Ruchie would have cried
had she seen how happy this family was to
get a mere $100:
"I know my mother would have been
ecstatic to help anyone in need, particularly
with something new for Yom Tov:"
The action also brings emotion to
Weisberg. "When I heard I started bowline
she said.
"I feel over the moon to know in my
mother's memory someone has been able to
receive new shoes for Pesach:'
❑
Helping Others
The Southfield-based Matan B'Seter
Detroit is a 25-year-old charitable
agency run by volunteers that pro-
vides financial aid to those in need
in the Metro Detroit Jewish commu-
nity, following the Talmudic principal,
"The needy of your city take pre-
cedence." Donations may be made
at the checkout in One Stop Kosher
Food Market in Southfield and at
Paper Goods Plus in Oak Park, or
mailed to Friends of MBS, 25275
Southwood, Southfield, MI 48075.
Donations may be earmarked for the
Y'shoe-ah Foundation. For details,
email friendsofmbd®gmail.com or
call (248) 968-5646.
April 10 • 2014
43