JERUSALEM (VINnews) — BDE: Some 1500 people attended the levaya of Rebbetzin Leah Althaus, the wife of the Chabad emissary to Dnieper in Ukraine, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 29 from a rare complication in pregnancy.
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Rebbetzin Althaus is the daughter of Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi, who has served as Rabbi of Kfar Chabad since the 2015 passing of his father Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi.
Rebbetzin Althaus a’h
Rebbetzin Althaus A’H and her family
She had started her shlichus [Jewish community service] in Dnieper together with her husband Rabbi Zelig who serves as one of the rabbis at the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva in Dnieper. The couple have four children.
In the wake of the rare complication, Rebbetzin Leah was flown to Israel last week in a complex operation which involved the assistance of the Ukrainian army. Despite all the medical efforts, she passed away at Tel Hashomer hospital and was laid to rest in Kfar Chabad.
Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzki, the rabbi of Dniepro and Chabad emissary, said that “Everyone here is in shock. The rebbetzin was a dominant figure and had an important role in running the Jewish studies programs, festivals, informal education, adult education and other school activities.”
He added that “She was a living example to parents of how Jews can combine the physical with spirituality. She always had plans on how to progress further, influence and break barriers. Even though she invested all of her energies in the school at their request, we wanted them to establish another community in a different part of the city where many Jews live.”
BDE
BDE, So sad, we mostly take for granted healthy pregnancies, until something like this happens.
In previous centuries this was so much more common and kind of expected. Crying. 🙁
BD”E
so sad