High School Tunes In to Memorial

by Mindy Lew, Nehama Abecassis and Miriam Geisinsky
Photos by Rebecca Howard and Sarah Kracoff

Mrs. Rashi Minkowicz, the Shlucha in a suburb of Atlanta who passed away at the age of 37, continues to have an immense impact on people of all backgrounds from across the world.

During her memorial tribute this month in Georgia, a group of students from the Hebrew Academy in Huntington Beach, California, tuned in to the live broadcast and took part.

They gathered in the multi-purpose room in their school, and between speeches, they sang heartfelt niggunim, shared divrei Torah and discussed “how to emulate Rashi Minkowicz, a great role model for young women,” COLlive was told.

A large screen connected them with the Jewish community in North Fulton, which was mourning the passing of Mrs. Minkowicz, a Shlucha and mother to 8 children.

To further the spirit of future Torah & Tea gatherings at the Hebrew Academy, the girls designed their own mugs to use at home. The mugs displayed their individual creativity. “It will serve as a daily reminder of the lessons of the life of Rashi,” they said.

Mrs. Minkowicz’s Torah & Tea class in Alpharetta was duplicated after her passing by Chabad centers around the world. Updates on events and programs that are being done in her honor are often posted on the Facebook group “A Mitzvah for Rashi.”

Many posts also share personal good deeds in her honor. “For the seders I usually just have my family over but this year inspired by how Rashi always opened her home to all, I invited a couple of families who too might have been on their own tonight. It was just lovely to have a big group to share with,” Nicole S. wrote last week.

In Huntington Beach, the students had a beautiful meal prepared for them by a local chef, Mrs. Pedouth Isti, as they vowed to continue the atmosphere of love and sisterhood that was in the room throughout the year.