Asara B’Tevet, marked this year on Sunday, January 8, commemorated a national disaster for klal Yisrael when the Babylonians first surrounded the Beit Hamikdash with towers for two and a half years and instilled fear in Yerushalayim’s inhabitants. One day later, on January 9, communities within the United States as well as Israel and Europe suffered a more personal loss, but a great one as well, in the passing of beloved Rebbetzin Ruth Schonfeld, a”h. Serving the community of Kew Gardens Hills as rebbetzin alongside the venerable Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, y”l, for 56 years. Rebbetzin Schonfeld’s passing into Olam Ha’Emet will be mourned below by so many for so long.

At the age of 93, the majesty and elegance with which she was identified accompanied her still. At her recent honor as Eishet Chayil at the 65th anniversary dinner of the shul on Yom Yerushalayim 2016, Rabbi Schonfeld recalled when Menachem Begin visited the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills and told the audience that he felt like he was at the Embassy of the State of Israel. “Tonight,” proclaimed Rabbi Schonfeld to the dinner attendees, “we are honoring the first lady of the embassy.”

A tearful Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, current mara d’asra of YIKGH, shared his disbelief at seeing his mother’s name listed on the many forms he was required to fill out at Sinai Chapels before the levaya. “Despite the hundreds of times I have reviewed these forms for others, I cannot express the shock and incredulity I felt at seeing her name listed as the deceased.”

Rabbi Yoel went on to praise his mother for uniting a family and raising each one as her own. From children to grandchildren, from great-grandchildren to great-great-grandchildren, they all loved Imma/Mommy/Grandma and they were each her precious jewels.

Her passion and dedication to the Erna Lindenbaum Hachnosas Kallah Organization, which began in the YIKGH, grew it into a worldwide organization, helping bring needy kallahs to the chupah with everything they needed, with dignity and joy. Her work on behalf of many other charitable organizations and individuals was known to all.

For youngest son Rabbi Aryeh Schonfeld, who flew in from Switzerland the morning of the levaya, his gratitude to his beloved mother for her belief in him and constant encouragement are boundless. “I remember the morning of my aufruf when I put on my shtreimel for the first time, my mother a”h told me that I looked “regal.” Rav Aryeh cherishes the love that his sons in Brussels have for their grandma and her mutual love for them.

For Rabbi Shlomo Leifer, Nadvorna Rebbe of Boro Park, the passing of his sister is painful. “When I picture my sister, I picture us all in the home of our parents, z”l, and I am greatly pained at the loss. My sister exemplified the beauty that is associated with the Jewish woman, modesty and middot. When you came into my sister’s home, her treasures were her attributes. If you wish to see how beautiful a woman she was, look at her ikvei hatzon, her children through her great-great-grandchildren, all who continue in her derech.

Son Joseph Schindelheim portrayed his mother, a”h, as loving and strong. She united her family into one coherent clan. He shared a touching moment that occurred just days before. One of her passions was facilitating shidduchim, at which she worked hard alongside other local rebbetzins. Just days before her passing, when she was losing strength, she turned to the doctor treating her and offered, “Do I have a match for you!”

For son-in-law Shabsi Wolf from Chicago, whose relationship with Rebbetzin Schonfeld spans 45 years, she was a sage woman who shared wisdom whether solicited or not. She gave guidance to young people seeking direction as well as to older people seeking comfort and consolation.

Representing the numerous grandchildren of Rebbetzin Ruth was Simcha Schonfeld, son of Rabbi Yoel. In alluding to his uncle’s portrayal of his grandmother as an eishet chayil in every sense that Shlomo Hamelech had in mind, he suggested one additional talent not described in that tribute that Rebbetzin Ruth displayed, “Our grandmother was a talented artist. She took the shards of glass remaining from two families and combined them into a magnificent mosaic that is forever expanding and bursting into more and more colorful and vibrant images.”

For the hundreds attending the levaya, current and former members of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills and local residents, representatives of the National Council of Young Israel, the Rabbinical Council of America, Yeshiva University and the Orthodox Union, as well as members of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens and distinguished rabbonim from all parts of the Metropolitan area, the farewell to Rebbetzin Ruth Schonfeld was a deeply sorrowful and painful event.

On behalf of those of us who were zoche to a rebbetzin as “majestic” as Rebbetzin Ruth Schonfeld, “Our simchas were not truly simchas without Rabbi and Rebbetzin Schonfeld in attendance.”

We pray that Rebbetzin Ruth bat Shalom Schonfeld be a meilitzat yosher for us to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

Yehi zichra baruch!

By Pearl Markovitz