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Obituaries
GERALD PRIBUTSKY
VIRGINIA BEACH—Gerald Pributsky, 94, of Virginia Beach, passed away peacefully on November 25, 2020, at his home after a long illness.
Born May 9, 1926 in Fall River, Massachusetts, he was the only son in a family with three sisters. He is predeceased by his parents Jesse and Charles Pributsky and sister Minnie Cohen (all of blessed memory).
He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and later achieved the rank of Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves.
He completed a Master’s in Science from the University of Massachusetts and obtained two undergraduate degrees, a Bachelor of Science from the University of Massachusetts and a degree in Industrial Engineering from Western New England College.
He worked as an engineer in various locations along the East Coast for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and completed the final leg of his professional career at the Norfolk headquarters. He volunteered with Jewish Family Service of Tidewater in the Personal Affairs Management program and served as a translator of Yiddish for new Russian immigrants. He was a member of Ohef Sholom Temple and active in several local synagogues, where he participated in minyan and services. Gerald was a voracious reader and loved to study Judaism and Yiddish.
Gerald logged countless miles running, swimming, and walking throughout the Tidewater area. Additionally, he was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed hiking, camping, and gardening. Gerald was married to his wife Barbara for 64 years and they enjoyed his retirement years traveling to National Parks throughout all 50 states. His most cherished moments were celebrating life cycle events with his beloved family. He was a wonderful “Papa Gerry” to his grandchildren and great grandchildren, always full of stories and laughter.
Gerald is survived by his wife, Barbara; his five children: Beth (Richard) Diamonstein, Caren (Steve) Leon, Debby (Fred) Fink, Lisa (Neal) Schulwolf, and David (Samara) Pributsky; 10 grandchildren: Josh (Cara) Diamonstein, Eric (Callie) Diamonstein, Mason and Matthew Leon, Kevin and Kathryn Fink, Hallie, Brett and Helene Schulwolf and Ava Pributsky; two great grandchildren: Georgia Diamonstein and Riley Diamonstein. He is also survived by his sisters: Phyllis White and Gladys Koss, along with many nieces and nephews.
The family would like to especially thank Freda H. Gordon Hospice and all of Gerald’s loving caregivers for their care and devotion during his illness.
Due to COVID-19, the funeral was private, officiated by Rabbi Rosalin Mandleberg, and held at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.hdoliver.com
The family requests donations to Ohef Sholom Temple, Jewish Family Service, and the National Park Foundation.
SHEILA ELKINS SILVERSTEIN EMANUEL
NORFOLK—Sheila Elkins Silverstein Emanuel passed away on November 23,
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She was the daughter of Robert and Iris Elkins. Sheila was born and raised in New York and relocated to Richmond in 1969 where she lived until she moved to Norfolk 30 years ago.
Sheila is the adored mother and grandmother of Michael (Suzi) Silverstein, Sheryl (Harry) Traub and Evan (Bobbi) Silverstein and her beloved grandchildren Brittany and Stephanie Wengel, Morgan and Brooke Silverstein and Aaron and Elana Silverstein. She is also survived by her sister Eileen (Stan) Torow. Her beloved husband Dick Emanuel predeceased her in December 2019.
Sheila’s exuberant personality enabled her to make a difference in Employee Assistance for many years in Richmond supporting hospitals and banks and also worked at Grace House. Sheila was a shining light in the lives of her family and friends. Her vibrant personality and zest for life were matched by her warm, embracing heart. She enjoyed socializing with friends and martini’s dry and shaken and mostly, the time spent and daily/weekly calls with her children and grandchildren.
Donations can be made in Sheila’s memory to Beth Sholom Home of Eastern VA, 6401 Auburn Va Beach 23464 or JFS 5000 Corporate Woods Dr #400, Va Beach, VA 23462
CYNTHIA MAE STROM
VIRGINIA BEACH—Cynthia Mae Strom passed away on November 23, 2020 after testing positive for COVID-19 on November 14, 2020. She was rushed to Virginia Beach General ER on Friday, November 20 and battled throughout the weekend.
Cindy loved her family, she loved taking care of and decorating her beautiful home. If she could, she would’ve spent every day at the beach in the sun. She loved to bike but became obsessed with yoga and meditation as she and her loving husband Louis Strom lived in Nicaragua soon after he retired. Her life revolved around her family.
She is survived by her loving husband of 40 years, Louis Strom. Her children, Joy Thompson, Samantha Strom, Denielle Batts, and Louie Strom, Jr. She had seven grandsons, Cody, Gunner, Nash, Grayson, Weston, Jordan, Wyatt, and one Granddaughter, Kennedy.
A memorial service was conducted at H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts. Laskin Road Chapel by Rabbi Israel Zoberman. Online condolence may be made to www.hdoliver.com.
PRINCE CHARLES CALLS RABBI JONATHAN SACKS ‘A LIGHT UNTO THIS NATION’ AT CEREMONY MARKING 30 DAYS SINCE CHIEF RABBI’S DEATH
Cnaan Liphshiz
(JTA)—Prince Charles of the United Kingdom called former British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks a “light unto this nation” at a tribute marking the end of Judaism’s 30 days of mourning since Sacks’ death.
Prince Charles, whose title is the Prince of Wales, eulogized Sacks, who died at 72 on Nov. 7, on a prerecorded video broadcast Sunday, Dec. 6 that was viewed by thousands of spectators from around the world. The ceremony also featured speeches by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Lord Jacob Rothschild.
“Through his writings, sermons and broadcasts, Rabbi Sacks touched the lives of countless people with his unfailing wisdom, with his profound sanity and with a moral conviction which, in a confused and confusing world, was all too rare,” Prince Charles said.
Rivlin noted Sacks’ advocacy for liberal democracy as the “best way of keeping the values of monotheism” because “liberal democracy makes space for differences.”
Sacks was a frequent contributor to British media and highly regarded across the English-speaking world and beyond. In the Jewish world, he was celebrated both for his rabbinical writings and interpretations and for his ability to teach non-Jewish audiences both the past and present of Judaism and Israel in relatable terms.
Sacks’ widow, Elaine, said that over the past 30 days—a mourning period known as sheloshim—she had found herself wanting to share the outpouring of
OBITUARIES
love and sorrow that she has received with her husband.
“I want to walk up the stairs to his study and see him sitting there writing away,” she said. “‘Listen,’ I will say. ‘Look what is happening. Look how many people have learned from you, revere you, love you. They are writing such moving things about you. Look what you have achieved.’ He will look up at me deeply and nod and say, ‘There is still so much to do, and he will get straight back to work.’”
James Wolfensohn, the World Bank president and philanthropist who helped shepherd Israel’s exit from the Gaza Strip, has died at 86.
Wolfensohn died last month at his Manhattan home of pneumonia. His wife of 59 years, Elaine, died in August.
Wolfensohn, who was born and raised in Australia, was an investment banker whose philanthropic endeavors had included turning around the fortunes of Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center when in the 1990s he began lobbying to be president of the World Bank.
President Bill Clinton named him to the post in 1995—the U.S. president has naming prerogatives—and his 10-year term was marked by his focus on partnership, rather than patronage, with the developing world. Instead of a disciplinarian, he made the institution a counselor and aide to developing economies. He ended the bank’s practice of tolerating corruption.
Always on the lookout to do good, his next venture was not as successful. President George W. Bush named Wolfensohn as the envoy to the Gaza Strip of the Quartet, the grouping of the United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union guiding the Middle East peace process.
Wolfensohn shepherded Israel’s exit from Gaza in 2005, a process rife with miscalculations that led to the victory of Hamas in 2007 elections and permanent tensions on the border.
Symbolic of the enterprise’s failure was the fate of greenhouses tended by Israeli settlers. When Wolfensohn learned the settlers planned to smash the greenhouses on their way out, he raised $14 million, including $500,000 of his own money, to salvage them for use by Palestinians.
Much to the consternation of Palestinian leaders, whose police were understaffed, underpaid and underequipped, local Palestinians looted the greenhouses. What truly doomed the enterprise, however, according to Wolfensohn, were Israeli restrictions on the export of produce from Gaza.
Wolfensohn was his entire life also devoted to Jewish giving. The family foundation he set up, administered by his children, gave to a broad array of Jewish causes across denominations.
His activism stemmed from his youth; his parents helped bring to Australia Jewish refugees from Europe. He was radicalized, he said, by the poverty he encountered in Africa and Asia as an air conditioning salesman. He eventually joined investment banks in London and then in New York. “The inequity was so striking that I could hardly absorb what was in front of me,” The Washington Post quoted him as saying in his 2010 autobiography, A Global Life.
Wolfensohn, notably self-deprecating, described himself as driven more than naturally intelligent. He said he learned from his mistakes. He made the Australian Olympics fencing team in time for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. He had won two matches and was on his way to winning a third, when his opponent, during a break, distracted him with an offer: He would set up Wolfensohn with an Israeli swimmer.
“Fencing is a little like chess,” Wolfensohn wrote in his autobiography. “You must project a few moves ahead and out think your opponent.” (JTA)
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