Ruchoma Shain

Rebbetzin
Ruchoma Shain
Born Ruchoma Herman
(1914-12-06)December 6, 1914
Lower East Side, Manhattan
Died March 16, 2013(2013-03-16) (aged 98)
Lakewood Township, New Jersey
Spouse Rabbi Moshe Shain
Children Yisrael Meir
Mashi
Refoel Yitzchak

Ruchoma Shain (6 December 1914 – 16 March 2013) was an American-born rebbetzin,[1][2] English teacher,[3] and author. She is best known for her first book, All for the Boss (1984),[4] a biography of her father, Yaakov Yosef Herman, which she wrote in her late sixties. In detailing her father's life, she also describes Orthodox Jewish life in America in the early 1900s.[3] All for the Boss became one of the all-time bestsellers for Feldheim Publishers,[5] and Shain's stories and observations are quoted by numerous authors.

Her second book, Reaching the Stars (1990), chronicles her experiences as a teacher.[2] She also authored Dearest Children, All for the Best, and Shining Lights.[1][3]

Biography

Ruchoma Herman was born on New York's Lower East Side to Rabbi Yaakov Yosef and Aidel Herman.[1][2][6] She was the youngest of her parents' five children.[2][3] She had three sisters and one brother.[3]

When she was seventeen years old,[3] she married Moshe,[2][3] eldest son of Rabbi Shimon and Geneshe Shain.[2] Shortly after their wedding, the couple, at the behest of her father,[2] traveled to Mir, Belarus,[2] where they spent nearly six years while her husband studied at the Mir Yeshiva under Rabbis Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, Yeruchom Levovitz, and Yechezkel Levenstein.[2] Her sister, Bessie, wife of Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, and her brother, Rabbi Nochum Dovid, also joined them in Mir.[1] Then they returned to the East Side. When their children were grown, the Shains moved to Jerusalem, purchasing an apartment in the new development of Kiryat Mattersdorf.[2]

In the United States, Shain taught several grades. In Jerusalem, she was a popular lecturer.[2] After the publication of her books, Shain received visitors seeking her counsel regarding various topics.[2]

Shain wrote her first book, All for the Boss, in her late sixties upon the request of Yaakov Feldheim, one of the founders of Feldheim Publishers. Published in 1984, her book about growing up in New York City and the influence of her father became one of the all-time bestsellers for the publishing company,[5] which until then had concentrated on Torah and rabbinic literature. All for the Boss was revised and expanded in 2001,[3] and Feldheim published a "Young Readers Edition" in 2006. Feldheim translated the book into Hebrew in 2002.[7] In 2010 a Ynet reporter called the book "one of the most read, talked about, and widely studied in the Haredi street".[6] Shain went on to write four more books, drawing on her personal and teaching experiences.

About ten years before her death, she returned to the United States to be near her children in Adelphia, New Jersey, where she continued to welcome visitors.[2] She died in 2013 at Lakewood Township, New Jersey.[2]

Her children are Rabbi Yisrael Meir Shain, Mrs. Mashi Wilner, and Rabbi Refoel Yitzchak Shain.[2]

Influence

Shain's stories about her childhood, and her viewpoints on teaching, have been quoted by numerous authors.[8][9][10][11][12]

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Rebbetzin Ruchoma Shain a"h". matzav.com. March 16, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Borchardt, F. (March 2013). "Rebbetzin Ruchoma Shain, a"h". Hamodia. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Schulman, Malkie (April 4, 2014). "Living For The Boss". The Jewish Press. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Year in Review 5773". Hamodia. September 16, 2013. p. 31.
  5. 1 2 Heller, Esther (15 February 2006). "Will it Sell in New York?" (PDF). Mishpacha. p. 22. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 Heivan, Eliezer (2 June 2010). "לא תמצאו בדוכנים: המלצות לספרות חרדית" [You Won't Find it in the Stalls: Recommendations of Haredi Books]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  7. ↑ הכל לאדון הכל (in Hebrew). Feldheim Publishers. 2002.
  8. ↑ Green, Rabbi Dovid (7 June 2002). "Hide the Shame: Parshas Noach". Torah.org. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  9. ↑ Waldman, Shmuel (2005). Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Feldheim Publishers. p. 132. ISBN 1583308067.
  10. ↑ Hoffman, Dovid (26 December 2012). "Rav Sholom Shachne Zohn". Yated Ne'eman. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  11. ↑ Alden, Rabbi Yosef (31 December 2014). "Esau's Head". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Klempner, Rebecca (29 January 2015). "Book Review: Letters from Mir". The Jewish Home: 24. Retrieved 20 October 2016.

External links

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