Merle Rubin was awarded the Eric Samson Mendel Kaplan Communal Service Award at the SA Jewish Board of Deputies National Conference in Johannesburg in November.
National Vice Chairman of SA Jewish Board of Deputies, Rael Kaimowitz had the following to say on the occasion “…the true measure of any society can be seen in how it treats its most vulnerable members, those identified by the Torah as the widow and the orphan, the stranger, the sick and the indigent. The defining characteristic of your life has been in how — quietly, unobtrusively and without the slightest desire for recognition — you have gone about realising these ideals.
“One of the reasons why tending to the earthly remains of the deceased and conveying them to their final rest is considered so great a mitzvah in Jewish tradition is because those benefiting from such acts of kindness are unable to reciprocate. In view of who you are, the especially prominent role you have played in overseeing the ladies’ tahara services at the cemetery can therefore be readily understood. Truly, you epitomise what it is to be an Eishet Chayil, that lofty ideal of Jewish womanhood as described in our sacred Scriptures.”
As one of Cape Town’s foremost kosher caterers, Merle Rubin has displayed unstinting generosity in making kosher functions affordable for both individuals and organisations in need of such assistance.
Beyond this, those who know her will readily attest not just to the innumerable kindnesses she has given to those in need over the decades, but to her unequivocal wish that such acts be carried out as privately and anonymously as possible.
To read the editor’s column for December/January click here
To read or download the December/January issue of the Chronicle in PDF click here
To read the most read article of the November issue, click here
Portal to the Jewish Community: to see a list of all the Jewish organisations in Cape Town with links to their websites, click here
Featured organisation of the month: The Jewish Community Services’ (JCS) activities are centered on relief for the poor and distressed in the Jewish community. They provide a full range of preventative, educative and supportive counselling, statutory services as well as material relief. Visit https://www.jcs.org.za for more.