Ruth Sulzberger Holmberg, a newspaper publisher and civil rights activist in Tennessee, has died at 96.

Holmberg, a member of the family that controls The New York Times, challenged racial barriers, political skulduggery and environmental adversaries as publisher of The Chattanooga Times for nearly three decades, the newspaper reported. She died in Chattanooga.

Growing up in a newspaper family in New York, Holmberg would lead the Chattanooga daily to become known for aggressive, analytical reporting and editorials that denounced racial segregation, exposed government corruption and demanded cleaner air in a city of heavy industry, according to the Times article.

For years she was a pariah in a city where many regarded her as an Eastern liberal interloper, also because she was Jewish, according to the article.

Holmberg served as publisher of The Chattanooga Times from 1964 to 1992, then stayed on as publisher emeritus and chairwoman until 1999, when it was sold to a small chain and merged with a rival newspaper.

She was a granddaughter of Adolph Ochs, who bought The Chattanooga Times in 1878 and The New York Times in 1896, and the second of four children of Iphigene Ochs and Arthur Hays Sulzberger, the publisher of The New York Times from 1935 to 1961.

Her brother, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, who died in 2012, became publisher of The New York Times and chairman and chief executive of the Times Company. One sister, Marian Sulzberger Heiskell, became a New York civic and philanthropic leader. Another, Judith Sulzberger, who died in 2011, became a doctor affiliated with the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

A Red Cross volunteer in England and France during World War II, she had four children with her first husband, Ben Hale Golden, before they were divorced in 1965. She replaced her husband as publisher of The Chattanooga Times in 1964.

The Chattanooga Times championed the racial integration of schools and universities, supported civil rights legislation in Congress and backed clean-air laws, provoking anger in a city where industrial pollutants shrouded scenic mountain backdrops and whose air, according to a 1969 federal report, was the dirtiest in the nation.

The Times also endorsed reforms to root out corruption in government, expand the voting franchise and give black residents, a third of the population, a larger voice in municipal affairs.

In 1972, she married Albert William Holmberg Jr., who oversaw the production, advertising, and circulation departments at the paper. He was later named its president.

In 1987 she became the second woman, after Katharine Graham, the longtime publisher of The Washington Post, to be elected a director of The Associated Press, the dominant news service in the United States. (JTA)

(JTA)—Looking through the barbed wire of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 14-year-old Nanette Konig could barely recognize her friend and classmate from Amsterdam, Anne Frank.

Both girls had been caught by the Nazis in the Dutch capital and were sent to starve to death in a place Konig describes today as “hell on Earth.” Both were emaciated when they saw each other again in different sections of the same German camp in 1944.

“She looked like a walking skeleton, just like me,” Konig, one of the few living friends of the teenage diarist, told JTA in a video interview from her home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 6, which was her 88th birthday.

As more and more Holocaust survivors die each year, Konig was compelled a decade ago to break her long silence and join a diminishing group of witnesses who now tell their story in the media and at schools. Her lectures, which Konig says she has delivered to thousands of students on three continents, are something that “survivors owe to the victims.”

But it’s also her way of repaying Anne Frank’s father, Otto, who comforted Konig in the aftermath of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, even as he was grieving for his own two daughters and wife.

Otto Frank, who edited the diaries his daughter wrote while the family was in hiding into the best-selling The Diary of a Young Girl, met Konig in 1945 at a rehabilitation center in eastern Holland. Konig, who was 16 and weighed only 60 pounds, was brought there following the Allies’ liberation of Bergen-Belsen—“a hell where people were not exterminated immediately, but died from hunger, dysentery, typhus, cold, exhaustion, beatings, torture and exposure,” she says.

Yet Konig was one of the lucky ones to survive. Anne Frank and her older sister, Margot, were among the estimated 50,000 who perished at Bergen-Belsen in 1945 after arriving there from Auschwitz. Their mother, Edith, died at Auschwitz a month before her daughters, just three weeks before the Red Army liberated the death camp.

Otto Frank, the sole survivor from his family, already knew his daughters and wife were dead when he came to the rehabilitation center to visit Konig, who is also the only survivor from her family. Konig says he wanted to know as much as possible about his family’s last weeks.

Listening to her stories and seeing her emaciated physique “visibly caused Otto Frank a lot of pain,” Konig recalls.

But despite his grief Frank, who died in 1980, “gave me support, encouraged me at a point in my life when I had no one,” she said. “He was a very special man and I will always be grateful for the consolation he offered me.”

Like many of Anne Frank’s schoolmates and friends, Konig recalls the diarist as a “sunny, smiley child.”

But unlike most of them, Konig also witnessed Anne “change into an adult” in a matter of weeks at Bergen-Belsen, she says.

“We had a childhood and then we had no adolescence,” she says.“We simply became grown-ups overnight. It was the only way to survive.”

During their meeting, Otto Frank told Konig that he intended to edit his daughter’s diaries—there were three of them—into a book. During their conversation, he said he was still thinking of omitting some of the personal details that Anne included in the diaries, including her tense relationship with her mother and her account of getting her first period.

Ultimately, though, he included these details—countless readers of Anne Frank’s book regard them as crucial to achieving the personal connection many of them feel to her.

The Diary of a Young Girl is perhaps the world’s most-read manuscript about the Holocaust; it has been translated into 70 languages in dozens of countries.

- Cnaan Liphshiz

Sunday, June 4–Tuesday, June 6
Washington, DC

A leading global Jewish advocacy organization, AJC has unparalleled access to government officials, diplomats, and religious leaders, engaging worldwide opinion and policy leaders at the highest levels.

The annual impressive three-day program includes presentations by global leaders and a mixture of large plenary sessions featuring headline speakers and smaller breakout sessions to engage directly with Jewish leaders from around the world.

So far, those attending from Tidewater include Jody and Alan Wagner, Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg, Robin Mancoll, and Beth and Nathan Goldin. More than 2,500 participants from more than 70 countries who are working to safeguard the Jewish people and state, as well as democratic values and human rights, are expected to attend the event.

At the AJC’s annual conference in Washington DC, participants have the power to make a difference for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

For more information or to register, visit www.ajc.org/globalforum.
First-time attendees should use the code AJCFirst for a 50% discount.

Tuesday, May 23, select theaters

This spring marks the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War. CBN Documentaries commemorates this historic battle with the new film, In Our Hands: the Battle for Jerusalem.

For centuries, the Jewish nation had been in exile. Then, for a generation, Jews had been without access to the ancestral city. For six days, surrounded by enemies, Israel stood
alone…and changed history.

In Our Hands tells the story of Israel’s 55th Paratrooper Brigade and how the Israel Defense Forces risked everything for the sake of their homeland and nation.

With firsthand interviews and historical reenactments, this powerful docudrama focuses on the commitment and sacrifice of the soldiers who reunited Jerusalem.

This special one-night event in select movie theaters shares the story of Israel’s extraordinary battle for survival 50 years ago.

For more information and to see a special preview, visit: inourhands1967.com.

Rabbi Israel Zoberman joined Mayor Alan P. Krasnoff and the citizens of Chesapeake on Thursday, May 4 at the city’s National Day of Prayer program. Rabbi Zoberman shared a heartfelt message of Hope and Prayer for Unity.

Ashev ille, N.C.—David M. Finder, 67, of Asheville, N.C. died peacefully on Sunday, April 16, 2017 at John F. Keever, Jr. Solace Center.

A former resident of Virginia Beach, Virginia, he had resided in Asheville since 1997. He was preceded in death by his father, Theodor and a sister, Robbie Finder.

Mr. Finder was the National Energy Programs manager for Alliance AutoGas, which is a division of Blossman Propane since 2005. Previously he worked at Daniels Graphics, Asheville; Harperprints, Henderson; and Teagle and Little, Norfolk. He is survived by his wife, Terry Finder; sons, Kevin Finder and his wife, Tiffany McAndrews and Ryan Finder; grandchild, Kynlee McAndrews; mother, Bessie Finder; sister, Andrea Zarge; niece, Roni Robinson and her husband, Blake and great nephews, Charlie and Ben; nephew Jeffrey Zarge and wife Lisa; niece, Carrie Noriega and son Jordan; niece, Stacey Schiff and son Atticus. And his beloved extended family, Greg and Georgie Frech and their children, Dina Armstrong, EJ, Chris, and Nick Frech.

A funeral service was held in the chapel of Morris Funeral Home with Rabbi Wolff Alterman officiating. Burial followed at Riverside Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Care Partners Hospice, Solace Center, PO Box 23885, Asheville, NC 28813.

Condolences may be sent through www.morrisfamilyfuneralhome.com.

Norfolk —Ruth Chapel Soskel, 98, died peacefully in her residence on April 30, 2017.

She was a native and lifelong resident of Norfolk, Virginia and was the daughter of the late Nathan and Eva Shiffman Chapel. She was preceded in death by her husband Fred Soskel.

Mrs. Soskel was a member of Temple Israel. She taught piano to many students in the Norfolk area for over 40 years. She encouraged both her children to study piano and to perform and compete in Norfolk and the region.

Survivors include her daughter, Gail Woolley and her husband John of Sterling, Virginia and her son, Norman Soskel and his wife Judith of Germantown, Tennessee, four grandchildren, Daniel Soskel and his wife Michelle, Erich Woolley and his wife Candace, Shira Soskel and Rachael Woolley and three great grandchildren; Tristan Soskel and Madison and Reagan Woolley.

A graveside funeral service was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Rabbi Michael Panitz officiated. Memorial donations to Temple Israel, 7255 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23505 H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk chapel.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at hdoliver.com.

Ramat Hasharon , Israel —Rachel (Regina) Tessler, mother of long-time cantor of Congregation Beth El, Jacob Tessler, passed away on Thursday, March 30, at the age of 94.

Born in the small Romanian village of Romoli in 1922, Rachel helped run her family grocery store until the start of the Second World War. She was one of a few family members to survive the horrors of Auschwitz and Nazi Death Marches, to return to Viseu de Sus, Romania. There, she married her husband, Baruch OB’M, and started a family. Experiencing yet more anti-Semitic persecution under the Communist regime, Rachel and family made aliyah to Israel, where she would live until her passing.

Despite years of trial and suffering, Rachel stood fast in her faith and took the utmost pride in being able to provide for her family in the homeland of the Jewish people. Rachel lived for her children and grandchildren, enjoying immeasurable nachas from them.

Rachel is survived, and lovingly remembered, by her daughter Pessy, and her husband, Benny (of Edmonton, Canada); her son, Jacob, and his wife Cyndi (of Norfolk, Virginia); and four grandchildren.

Donations in her memory can be made at www.gofundme.com/jewishmusictolife in support of a project to save and revive a piece of lost Jewish music that Rachel brought with her through the camps of Holocaust Europe.

Rabbi Benny Elon, who served as the head of a number of religious Zionist yeshivas in Israel and was a Knesset member from 1996 to 2009, has died.

Elon died Friday, May 5 at 62; the cause was cancer, Arutz Sheva reported. A member of the right-wing Moledet and National Union parties, Elon was removed from the Cabinet of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2004 when he refused to vote for Sharon’s plan to evacuate some 8,000 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip.

“Rabbi Benny Elon was a big-hearted man who dedicated himself entirely for the sake of education and the public,” Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, said in a statement. “As a minister, as a member of parliament, and as a man of action, vision, and of spirit, Rabbi Benny Elon was one of the great fighters and doers for the sake of the Land of Israel, for its residents, and its children.”

The Jerusalem-born Elon lived in Beit El, a West Bank settlement that has served as an incubator for religious Zionists committed to Jewish sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, as Jewish residents there call the West Bank. He served as the chief rabbi of Kibbutz Shluchot and the rosh yeshiva, or dean, of Beit Orot Hesder, the eastern Jerusalem yeshiva he founded in 1990 with Hanan Porat, another key figure in the growth of religious Zionism as a political movement.

Elon also was the rabbi at the hesder yeshiva of Maale Adumim, Machon Meir and Ateret Cohanim in the Old City of Jerusalem.

In 2016, he was awarded the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism, established by the late Irving Moskowitz, an American philanthropist best known for his support of the settlement movement and shoring up the Jewish presence in largely Arab eastern Jerusalem. The prize committee said Elon “renewed and bolstered Jewish settlement in various parts of eastern Jerusalem and the area around Rachel’s Tomb; galvanized the national camp into a united political force; advanced an alternative political plan to the Oslo accords; and established a network of parliamentary lobby groups that brings together pro-Israel parliamentarians worldwide.”

Elon is a son of the late Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon. His brother, Rabbi Mordechai Elon, was convicted in 2013 on charges of sexually assaulting a minor.

Benny Elon’s funeral took place at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem.

Jesse Lurie, the longtime executive editor of Hadassah Magazine and a peace activist, has died at 103.

Lurie, an Israeli American, was the magazine’s founding executive editor in 1947 and held the post for 33 years. He professionalized a publication that had been run by volunteers since its launch in 1914.

Lurie also served as a correspondent for The Jerusalem Post covering the United States, according to a Post article about his passing. One of his six brothers, Ted, was among the founding journalists of The Palestine Post, which would become The Jerusalem Post and he would serve as editor-in-chief.

Lurie traveled extensively in the Jewish word, including Soviet Russia, writing about people he met, the political situations in those countries and how they affected the Jewish population. He was an ardent campaigner for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel, and was among those who supported the founding of Neve Shalom, the cooperative village cohabitated by Jews and Arabs.

As one who also supported and encouraged media diversity in Israel among Jews and Arabs, he created the Eliav-Sartawi Award for journalism in Israel through Common Ground, an organization with which he was closely associated in his efforts to encourage conflict resolution in the country.

Lurie was keen for Israel to establish more integrated schools in which Arabs and Jews study together.

As for Israel’s future, Lurie said in a 2014 interview while visiting the country that he was sure it would remain secure, but was not overly hopeful of great progress on the peace front.

“Israel has been living in a bubble for 20 years or more, and will continue to live in a bubble for some time,” he said. (JTA)

A Chicago Jewish couple who were married for 69 years died moments apart in the same hospital room while holding hands.

Teresa Vatkin, 89, died at 12:10 am Saturday, April 22 at Highland Park Hospital, and her husband, Isaac, died at approximately 12:50 am as they wheeled his wife from the room and their hands separated, according to local reports.

Teresa Vatkin had been suffering from dementia for the past decade. Isaac was her caregiver, staying by her side even when she entered a memory care facility.

“The moment he felt we removed her hand from his, he was able to say ‘OK, I’m done protecting her. I can go and rest as well,’” their son, Daniel, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “The ultimate in chivalry—so he could go to heaven and open the door for her.”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” their daughter, Clara Gesklin, told the newspaper. “All of a sudden, when their fingers separated, he just stopped breathing.”

Isaac Vatkin had been admitted to the hospital with influenza and his wife with pneumonia. They were moved to the same room the day before, when both were breathing shallowly and were unresponsive.

The couple grew up in Argentina, on opposite ends of the country, and wrote love letters to each other three times a week until they married in 1947. Isaac, known as Alberto in Argentina to avoid anti-Semitism, was a leather maker.

The Vatkins moved to Chicago in 1968, where Isaac worked as a kosher butcher and invested in apartments.

They were memorialized in a joint funeral. (JTA)

Ezra Schwartz, who was killed in a West Bank terrorist attack in November 2015, was inducted posthumously into Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity, at Rutgers University.

The induction ceremony was held last month, at the start of Yom Hazikaron in Israel, which memorializes fallen soldiers as well as victims of terror.

Also at the ceremony his father, Ari, was inducted as an honorary brother of the Rho Upsilon chapter of the fraternity, which has chapters throughout the United States and around the world.

Ari Schwartz said the ceremony “represents who he could have been,” the news website MycentralJersey reported.

“He could have been sitting here. He could have been roommates with one of you,” Schwartz said of his 18-year-old son.

“It means a lot. It really does. It seems like the entire world has reached out to us in order to support us through this tragedy. AEPi’s gesture today is another example of that. I also very much appreciate the gesture of inducting me into AEPi as well. Now I have something else I share in common with Ezra.”

Ezra Schwartz, from Sharon, Massachusetts, was on a gap year studying at a yeshiva in Israel. He was to start business school at Rutgers, in central New Jersey, in the fall of 2016.

He was killed when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire near Alon Shvut in the Etzion bloc on a minivan full of students and teachers from Yeshivat Ashreinu in Beit Shemesh, who were volunteering to clear a nearby park. Three others were killed in the attack.

The gunman, Mohammed Abed Odeh Harub, was sentenced to four life terms in prison. (JTA)

Katelynn McAraw, winner of the Better Together Program essay contest. A sophomore, Katelynn participated in the pilot year of Better Together, a lunch and learn series with Ohef Sholom Temple teens and seniors from Beth Sholom Village. She wrote about her experiences with the program in the essay. Nine other students at Ohef Sholom participated. Her essay was chosen from a panel of judges. Katelynn was awarded a scholarship for 50% of a semester program in Israel from Legacy Heritage.

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman for having his article on Holocaust Remembrance and the 69th anniversary of the State of Israel inserted into the Congressional Record by Congressman Scott Taylor.

Virginia Beach —Jackie passed away on May 6, just weeks after her diagnosis of metastatic bladder cancer.

She leaves behind her husband of 22 years, Gary Banim, her 16-year-old son Joseph, 12-year-old daughter Sara, and her mother Sandra Forte-Nickenig and stepfather Pete Nickenig. Her father Joseph Forte predeceased her in 1996. Also grieving are her German Shepherd, Black Lab, and Bengal cat.

Other family and friends too numerous to mention (some that date back to kindergarten in Brooklyn, N.Y.), will hold Jackie’s no drama, uncommon common sense, and “it’s no big deal” attitude with them forever.

Although she holds a degree in Fashion ad Marketing, her true vocation became apparent at the age of 11 when she volunteered after school helping children with special needs. Her career of job coaching and supportive services to disabled adults began in New Jersey and resumed when she relocated to Virginia Beach in 1996.

A memorial service was held at Ohef Sholom Temple.

Donations can be made to the Virginia Beach SPCA, 3040 Holland Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23453.

Norfolk —Leonard Edelstein owner of the Record Shop of Wards Corner in Norfolk, died Tuesday, May 23 at the age of 98.

He is best known for his retail business, however he was an accomplished electronics technician and amateur radio operator.

He was born In Shavertown, New York and was a maintenance technician in a dressmaking factory in Kingston, New York. He came to Norfolk/Virginia Beach during World War II when he was a Chief Petty Officer Radioman in the VP74 squadron flying seaplanes. At that time, he met and married his first wife, Winifred Hellen Pollock, of 28 years. He met and married his second wife Dorothy Fensterer of 33 years.

His store started as an electronics repair, TV, and appliance retail sales. He resumed his electronics technician career with the Norfolk City School Board repairing educational equipment until 1999.

He is survived by his son and daughter, William Edelstein and Carol Littman, and step children Nately Taylor, Roswell White, Raymond White and Kate White. He will also be missed by the family of Joice Fashbaugh.

A memorial service will take place at a later date.

Virginia Beach —John Fedida, 64, passed away on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at home surrounded by family and friends.

Born in Casablanca on October 12, 1952, he is survived by his loving wife of 39 years, Lesley, two sons, Michael and Jason, daughter-in law Emmy, and their son Asher, mother Rosa, brother Sami, sister Cecile, their families here and abroad.

John attended the University of Maryland. He later received his GIA certification in gemology. John and Lesley opened Tidewater Keepsake Jewelers in 1980 and spent 37 years creating beautiful jewelry and friendships.

A graveside service was held in Woodlawn Memorial Gardens by Rabbi Michael Panitz. Donations to Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma International, PO Box 665 Hartsville, SC 29551 www.accoi.org.

Tucson , Arizona —Robert N. Levine passed away at his home on April 18, 2017.

Bobby was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to Mike and Frances Levine on May 4, 1940.

After graduating from Granby High School as valedictorian, he received his accounting (1962) and law (1965) degrees, both with honors, from the University of Virginia. In 1965, he won the American Bankers Association award for scoring the highest grade in the country on the CPA exam. After graduating from law school, Bobby elected to practice accounting and had a distinguished career as an executive partner with the national accounting firms of Laventhal and Horwath and later, Deloitte and Touche.

While in Norfolk, Bobby served as treasurer of Temple Israel and Hebrew Academy of Tidewater. He also served as president of synagogues in Tampa, Florida and Marin County, California, when his career took him to those places.

Bobby is survived by his dear wife of 52 years, Ina Rae (Sandler) Levine, his son, Lee Levine, his brothers Leonard Levine of Virginia Beach and Paul Levine of Norfolk, and four grandchildren. He was predeceased by two of his children, Dina Michelle Zauderer and Dr. Gary Levine.

Graveside funeral services were held at Kol Shofar Cemetery at Mount Tamalpais in Fairfax, California.

Virginia Beach —Bradley Osman, of Virginia Beach and formerly of Hampton, passed away unexpectedly in his home.

The son of the late Carolyn Osman and the late Stanley Harris, and adopted son of the late Charles Osman, Bradley struggled with mental illness, which robbed him of contentment and a fulfilling life.

However, his classic good looks, easy, self-effacing manner, and utter brilliance endeared him to many. Bradley attended the University of Virginia, he was a highly valued volunteer at an Israeli kibbutz for many years, and he was a fixture on the Virginia Beach oceanfront for more than a quarter century, befriending and charming countless visitors and residents alike.

Bradley is survived by two brothers, Louis Osman and his wife Sheila Steinbach of Teaneck, New Jersey and Michael Osman, as well as nieces, Yael and Hannah Osman of Teaneck.

Bradley will be dearly missed, but all who knew him hope he has finally found peace.

A graveside service was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery with Rabbi Marc Kraus officiating. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts. Online condolences may be made to the family at hdoliver.com.

Norfolk —Estelle R. Sherman, 96, daughter of the late Samuel and Ida Blumenthal, died May 17, 2017.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Allen V. Sherman, Sr., her son, Allen V. Sherman, Jr., and her brother, Bernard Blumenthal.

She is survived by four children, Diane L. Pomberg (John), Patricia R. Sherman (Charles), Karen B. Whitley (Ken) and Kenneth R. Sherman (Joann); grandchildren, Laura Rudmin, Leesa Sherman-Hochmuth, Steven Pomberg, Rachel Pomberg, Victoria Denis, Emile Daigle, John Johnson, Ada Gregory, Tim Sherman, and Kim Berry; 12 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; nieces, Hope Blumenthal and Susie Herron; nephew, Robert Blumenthal; sister-in-law, Isabel Blumenthal; and daughter-in-law, Roberta Sherman.

A funeral service was held at Altmeyer Funeral Home with Rabbi Dr. Michael E. Panitz officiating. Burial followed in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Donations to the Norfolk SPCA or Hope House.

Condolences may be shared with the family at www.altmeyerfh.com.