B''H
Hanna Rose's actual name was Joanne Galler Rubin (Yehudit bat Aharon v'Esther V'dorah-Judith daughter of Aaron and Esther-And-Her-Generations). She died on 24 April 2013 peacefully surrounded by friends and family. Below are the notes Rabbi Jonathon Bienenfeld used to deliver her eulogy.
Joanne Rubin – Yehudit bat Aharon
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We pay tribute today to Joanne Rubin, to Yehudit bat Aharon v’Esther
Vedora—wife of Steve Rubin, mother of Isaac and Rachel, daughter of Mr. Aaron
and Mrs. Esther Galler.
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Joanne’s was a life that was cut far too short, finally succumbing to a
protracted battle with cancer. Yet it is a life that one cannot do justice
to—for she accomplished more and touched more souls in her shortened life than
most people possibly could in ten lifetimes.
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And it is difficult to speak of Joanne for another reason—because of
her complexity. If you knew one facet of Joanne’s personality, you’d make
certain assumptions, only to be thrown completely off guard by another facet.
If you knew her from angle A, you’d soon be blown away by angle B.
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Joanne was brilliant. Growing up in Chicago, she attended Northwestern
University, then receiving a masters in musicology from University of Chicago.
She was fluent in numerous languages. I was recently having a conversation
about studying Talmud with Isaac, and she mentioned that she had a wonderful
textbook we could use—the subject matter was ancient Aramaic, the instruction
in modern German. She was a deep thinker and an avid reader—studying both
secular and religious subjects passionately. If you knew Joanne’s brilliance,
you would expect the cynicism that often goes along with it—a philosophy that
all can be studied and all can be explained. And you would be completely taken
aback by the simple, pure faith in G-d that such an intellectually
sophisticated person could possess. Her brilliance made her shrewd and
thoughtful, not cynical, never disbelieving. Her faith was awesome and awe
inspiring. True faith is not the belief that something will happen, but that anything can
happen. True faith realizes the G-d can do anything, that G-d can make
miracles, but that the miracles don’t always unfold the way we might like them
to.. Joanne’s take on miracles is best expressed in her own words, words she
shared as “Hannah Rose,” her blogging pseudonym:
"Oxygen is smooth and comforting. It is the breath of G-d, the elixir of life when the lungs are filled with fluid. Oxygen keeps the body at peace while the siphon drains liters of fluid from the pleura. Then the pleasure of coughing begins. It is important to puff up the lungs so they may work again. There is nothing boring about breathing.
There is nothing boring about any aspect of life. Miracles are multi-dimensional and have nothing to do with that little purple and pink wand with the star and the ribbons and the glitter that sings a song when you tap or whack someone. Miracles assign many responsibilities. It is difficult business to rise to the occasion of this gift."
