Mrs. Peska Friedman, a”h

Mrs. Peska Friedman, a”h, passed away last week Thursday; her levayah was held on Erev Shabbos Chol Hamoed. She was descended from several celebrated Chassidic dynasties, survived the horrors of the Holocaust and was the widow of renowned askan, Mr. Wolf Friedman, z”l.

Mrs. Friedman was born in 1919 in Siedlce, Poland, which boasted an especially pious, but also poor population. Her father, Harav Nosson Dovid Rabinowicz, zt”l, was a renowned Rebbe in prewar Poland and was known as the Parczever Rebbe. Her mother, Rebbetzin Yitta, a”h, was the daughter of Harav Moshe Leib Spira, the Sassover–Stryzower Rebbe.

Her parents put tremendous efforts into young Peska’s chinuch as well as that of her brothers. They instilled in them the values of a pure Yiddishkeit with a special emphasis on ahavas Yisrael and chessed. Their home was one that was truly open to any Jew in need of a meal, a place to stay, or a word of encouragement. Peska was among the early talmidos of the Cracow Bais Yaakov, founded by Sara Schenirer, a”h.

During the war, she was interned in several ghettos and eventually was sent to labor and concentration camps. Mrs. Friedman’s memories of the Holocaust years are recorded in her book, Going Forward, which won wide critical acclaim.

In 1947, she married Wolf (Volvie) Friedman in Paris and moved to America, settling in Brooklyn where they raised their family and became bulwarks of the community. Mr. Friedman was a long-time askan, particularly under the auspices of Agudath Israel. He enjoyed a close relationship with Rabbi Moshe Sherer, z”l.

She is survived by her sons, Dovid and Yehuda Friedman, and daughters, Mrs. Jeanette Friedman-Sieradski and Mrs. Chany Friedman, and many grand-children and great-grandchildren.

Yehi zichrah baruch

This article appeared in print on page 28 of the October 8th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.