12 | MAY 5 • 2022 

PURELY COMMENTARY

b’Shevat? Seeing Israel itself with 
my own eyes, I attempted to bring 
my experiences and visions into 
sync with my imagined images. 
I also discovered some-
thing new, as well: the Chagall 
Windows at Hadassah Hospital 
Ein Kerem in Jerusalem. On a 
tour of this amazing world-class 
research hospital, I was smitten. 
I fell in love with the windows. I 
had no idea then that Hadassah, 
the Women’s Zionist Organization 
of America, which supports this 
hospital, would become part of 
my life and that I would bring 
items for the hospital on my visits, 
and become a life member. On 
subsequent visits to Jerusalem, I 
always insisted upon driving to 
Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem to 
see my beloved windows. 

MEETING MY SABRA
Upon my return home, despite 
my scoffing at my mother’s sug-
gestions, I did go to the Jewish 
Community Center, where she 
said I would meet a nice Jewish 
boy. Oh, those mothers are always 

right! However, the nice Jewish 
boy was not a young American 
professional lawyer or doctor 
as my parents had expected. In 
1976, at the Israel Independence 
Day celebration at the JCC, I met 
Mickey, an Israeli sabra (a native 
Israeli, as they are called, because, 
like the sweet cactus fruit, they are 
prickly on the outside, but sweet 
on the inside). 
In 1978, I married Mickey, add-
ing another dimension to my ties 
to Israel. My connection to the 
land and people of Israel expand-
ed as we became a bicultural, 
bilingual family, and me, a part 
of Mickey’s loving, supportive, 
extended family. 
My birthday twin and I have a 
lifetime of experiences to reflect 
upon; the joyous and the sad. We 
have marked celebrations togeth-
er, raised families, progressed 
technologically. We have both lost 
friends and loved ones along the 
way. Dor l’
dor, now, my own chil-
dren, Etai, a urologist, and Oren, 
a filmmaker, and our grandchil-
dren, Leo, Ami, Estee and Elie, 

have their own ties and intimate 
connections to their father’s 
homeland, their Jewish homeland, 
my mother’s passion. 
On Yom HaZikaron 
(Remembrance/Memorial 
Day), the day before Israel’s 
Independence Day, we will 
honor those who lost their lives, 
so that we, Israel and the Jewish 
people, could be safe, protected 
and free. We will stand in silent 
tribute, stopping all activity when 
the sirens blast for a moment of 
silence. As the day closes, Yom 
Ha’
Atzmaut, (Independence Day) 
Israel’s birthday, will begin.
Together with Am Yisrael, I 
will sing, dance and celebrate the 

anniversary of meeting my hus-
band and both of our birthdays. 
As the Israeli national anthem, 
“Hatikvah” (the Hope) proclaims, 
Israel and I will rejoice together as 
“free people, in our Jewish home-
land.
” 
L
’
chaim to both of us! 

Beverly Kent Goldenberg of Huntington 

Woods has been a life member of 

Hadassah since 1968. She is a member of 

the Eleanor Roosevelt Chapter, Hadassah 

Greater Detroit. A social worker by profes-

sion, she earned bachelor’s and master’s 

degrees from the University of Michigan. 

Beverly worked at Jewish Family Service 

and Hillel Day School of Metro Detroit 

for over 30 years, creating social skills 

programs for children that were modeled 

statewide. 

Mickey 
Goldenberg and 
Beverly Kent 
Goldenberg

“finding the love in a room.
” After 
about 20 minutes, she would say 
“I’ll let you go.
” I almost always 
felt surprisingly energized by 
these interactions.

A PILGRAMAGE
With my aunt’s failing health, the 
logistics for our visits became 
more challenging, but seemed 
even more important. Our visits 
felt like a pilgrimage to our aunt. 
We would have long conversa-
tions about life and people.
Often, my brother or I would 
bring a guitar and we’
d sing 
together as a family. After she 
moved into assisted living, 
we interacted with my aunt’s 
Jamaican caretakers. We watched 
with amazement at how much 

love they showed my aunt and 
how much she knew about each 
of their personal lives. She knew 
how to engender a loving com-
munity around her, and these 
special people responded in kind 
to my aunt’s curiosity and caring 
about them.
Even though her vision and 
hearing were gradually failing, 
she never gave in to despair. She 
just seemed to persevere. And 
she talked about the continued 
value of her written and verbal 
communication with her departed 
daughter. 
My siblings, spouses and I 
always felt emotionally replen-
ished by spending time with my 
aunt. AJ’s way of looking at life 
served as an enduring legacy. She 

helped us to be and to feel useful 
to her. And we always left feeling 
uplifted. 
On her 100th birthday, her 
assisted living facility held a 
special celebration for my aunt, 
coordinated with our yearly visit. 
My brother and I each wrote a 
song for her, and there was a party 
outside which included her care-
takers and fellow residents. It truly 
felt like a celebration of her life 
and her way of connecting with 
people.
Inevitably, my aunt’s health 
continued a downward slide. At 
the end, her grandchildren came 
down to bury her in the Florida 
Jewish cemetery she had chosen 
to rest in peace. My siblings and I 
did not attend the funeral. We felt 
we had said what we needed to 
say while she was alive. 

Instead, we headed down to 
Florida for our yearly visit a few 
months later. We made a stop at 
her assisted living home, and we 
expressed our thanks in various 
ways to those who had cared for 
our aunt so lovingly. We decided 
that AJ would have been okay 
with that. 
My aunt taught us many things. 
If you are caring and curious 
about the people who surround 
you, they are more likely to care 
about you. Help people to know 
what you need and what you can 
do for yourself. Death does not 
end a relationship. 
One of the challenges of aging 
is to continue to find purpose in 
your life. And maybe the most 
important message is: If you look 
for it, you can almost always find 
“the love in the room.
” 

THE LOVE IN THE ROOM continued from page 8

ISRAEL — MY BIRTHDAY TWIN continued from page 6

