My Husband

The Rebbetzin as Mrs. Sura Chana Kohn tlita is referred to by everyone hails from a family of rabbanim and prominent Torah scholars. Her childhood home was permeated with yiras Shamayim. Her father Rav Chaim Scheinbald ztz”l was the rav of Moshav Bnei Re’em and a dayan in the Belzer community. At an early age the Rebbetzin’s nobility of spirit and compassionate nature were already apparent. Her neighbors from the moshav enthusiastically recall her devotion and giving nature.

A whimsical example revolved around a popular treat: homemade meringues. Such sweets were not available in the store back then and making it involved hours of beating eggs with a hand-held whisk to produce the stiff batter. The neighbors knew they could rely on this young girl for help since she was willing to beat five full bowls of eggs every day if necessary.

When she was just five the Rebbetzin lost her mother. “I was very attached to my mother” she relates. “She was only 23 when she passed away but considering what she left behind one might have thought that she lived at least until 80.

“Even though I was only a small child I learned a lot from her. My mother taught me always to think about the good and if there’s nothing good at a particular moment then to think about the good that will come. She always emphasized that we have the best possible reason to be full of joy; after all we are Jewish and we have a great Father in Heaven. All of my mother’s powerful messages and sayings have accompanied me throughout my life even at my most difficult moments when all I wanted was for my mother to be at my side and to embrace me.”