Mrs. Ellen (Elka) Gordon, wife of Rabbi Yisroel Gordon obm, passed away on Thursday, 2 Adar, 5783.
She was 86.
Born in 1936, Ellen Schasberger spent her early years in Greenwich Village and Brooklyn Heights in New York City. The family lived in Los Angeles from 1940 until 1946, when they moved to East New York.
After graduating high school at 15, Ellen studied at Black Mountain College and later Brooklyn College, where she met the charismatic and inspired R. Zalman (Jerry) Jofen, a brilliant artist and a scion of the leaders of the Novardok yeshiva network.
Fully embracing Yiddishkeit, she married R. Zalman and the couple settled in Crown Heights, where they were neighbors and close friends of Rabbi Yosef Baruch and the late Alessa Wircberg and their family. Loving and wise, she became a treasured member of the extended Jofen family, which includes many prominent roshei yeshivos and Torah leaders.
When her husband became ill, she faithfully cared for his every need until his passing in 1993.
In 1994, she married R. Yisroel Gordon, a Chabad chossid and shliach and patriarch of a large family, who passed away less than three weeks ago. As before, she became a beloved member of the Gordon family, treasured for her unconditional acceptance, an intuitive knack for connecting, and genuine concern for all.
She was a full partner in her husband’s shlichus in Morristown, N.J., where he served as administrator of Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim and oversaw the Tikva Way Community, where they lived in addition to Crown Heights.
A skilled cinematographer, she worked on many of the beloved children’s films produced by the Little Wonder Puppet Theater, such as Uncle Pinchy and the Dancing Bear.
Naturally gifted in the area of nurturing and healing, she trained as a Feldenkrais practitioner, a craft she used to bring comfort and life improvement to many.
She passed away early Thursday morning. She will be dearly missed by her brother Richard and by countless family members, clients, and friends who were touched by her gentle charm and ability to connect with and elevate everyone with whom she came in contact.
The levaya will pass by 770 at 1:30 p.m. and interment will take place at 2:00 at Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Queens, New York. Ellen’s brother is sitting Shiva in Ellen’s house, 719 Crown Street, Friday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.
You will be sorely missed. Bde
She was a real tzadaikis a special woman caring with sensitivity & devotion for both her husband’s who were not well for many years!
There is no one like Ellen. She will be sorely missed in this world. She no doubt has many loved ones welcoming her.
Ellen radiated serenity , joy and true devotion. It was a pleasure to be around her. Moshiach long overdue.
Not enough can be said to sing Elka’s praises! A true Dugna Chaya to a new generation of Baal Teshuvas. A unique Chassidista for a unique time. She left her strong influence in a quiet convincing manner with her knowing, warm, inviting smile of affection to all. BDE So many of us recognized her greatness. So many of us now feel the loss.
Elka always radiated warmth, love, and peace. She was a kind, giving person and a pleasure to work with. May her neshama keep rising closer and closer to Hashem’s Emes and light. May she return to her guf immediately now with Moshiach and Geulah. What is her father’s first name so I can daven for her neshama?
elkah bat Binyamin