By Henya Laine
Hei Menachem Av, July 24th, is the 10th yartzeit of Rebbetzin Esther Alpern of Sao Paulo, Brazil. A Shlucha par excellence, she was totally dedicated to the Rebbe’s directives.
She was a teacher, a mentor, and a guide to all. She never carried a grudge and considered everyone her friend.
Esther started a Kollel for women. Every Tuesday, after taking the children to school, women would come and learn the entire day at the Central Bais Chabad. She taught most of the subjects herself and there are over a thousand tapes of her classes.
Esther worked hard on getting women to wear Shaitels. She started a Shaitel gmach and insisted that kallahs get beautiful human hair Shaitels. She felt that if a kallah wears a natural Shaitel, she will continue wearing it later on in life also.
Esther was committed to doing all the Mitzvos scrupulously and in her gracious and knowledgeable way she taught them to anyone who wanted to learn. Whenever she came to New York, she was the official Portuguese translator of the Rebbe’s Farbrengens.
The Rebbe told Rabbi Zalman Kazen, our father, that he has to learn Portuguese because of Esther. Even before there were so many Sichos of the Rebbe printed, Esther would write down the Farbrengens in their original language.
Rabbi Kazen would send her hand-written 30 pages of the farbrengen to Russia. Many of the Underground Yeshivos in Russia learned the Rebbe’s Sichos from her work. Esther loved learning and she shared her knowledge with everyone.
She convinced many women to bake Challah by showing them how to do a 6-braided Challah. She felt that this is a woman’s special Mitzvah, so why give it up?
An indication of the immense influence she had on others and the high regard she was held in by those who knew her came a few years after her tragic passing.
The Jewish Federation in Brazil conducted a survey among members of the Jewish community of the person who touched and influenced them the most. Listed as options were many names of accomplished Jewish leaders and officials to choose from.
But the person who won was a person whose name was not listed and was not among the living either. It was Esther Alpern, who would not seek such honors, but was written in by people expressing their true feelings.
Esther left behind a husband, Rabbi Shabse Alpern, children and grandchildren. The family is currently writing a journal about her.
buby im missing you sooo mcuh!!
yeah, she was mussi’s grandmother
is she related to my old councler mussi from brazil also?did she ever work in pardas chana?anyway she is amazing
Kudos to Rabbi a”h and ub”l Rebbetzin Kazen for bringing up such wonderful children who share only good with people all around them.
“She was widely recognized” before her passing as well! And “held in high regard by those who knew her” while still alive! Dona Esther was and will always be a force to be reckoned with.
Let’s not just remember “who she was”, but “who she would want us to be”. If you are touched, please add in your mitzvas observance, Bake challas, teach someone how to light shabbos candles, be meticulous in covering all your hair, and other areas of modesty. These are just some of the things she would get people to do. These are the special mitzvos of a Jewish woman. Be special, so Esther can live on through you.
PLEASE anyone who have stories about her or how you were touch by her write to
[email protected]
so we can know more about her, after so many years
Thanks for that inspiring article. She really ws such a phenomenal person, that you really cannot express in words what she accomplished. May she daven for all of us.
what a special person
I B”H got to know rebbetzin Esther Alpern ZT”L and all I can say is that’s not even 10% of what she did in Brazil. We miss her so much!