BD”E: Rebbetzin Rivka Wolbe, A”h

Rebbetzin Rivkah Wolbe, daughter of Hagaon Harav Avraham Grodzinsky, Hy”d, and wife of noted Mashgiach Hagaon Harav Shlomo Wolbe, zt”l, passed away Thursday morning in Yerushalayim.

She was 95 at her passing, after a short illness. An operation that she underwent last month gave some hope, but in recent weeks her situation took a turn for the worse, until her petirah on Thursday.

She was born in Slabodka, Lithuania, to her illustrious father, Harav Avraham Grodzinsky, Hy”d, famed Mashgiach of Yeshivas Slabodka, who was appointed to the yeshivah after the Alter of Slabodka, Harav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, zt”l, moved to Eretz Yisrael.

Harav Avraham, Hy”d, was murdered in the Holocaust. His children survived the war, b’siyatta d’Shmaya.

After the war, she married Harav Shlomo Wolbe, zt”l. Harav Wolbe was a noted mechanech and baal mussar from the previous generation. His sefarim Alei Shur are learned across the yeshivah world. He served as Mashgiach in numerous yeshivos, including Be’er Yaakov, Kol Torah, Mir and others.

Rebbetzin Wolbe was very respected for her wisdom and middos tovos. Her home was seen by many as a place where they could receive a good word of support. She also tended to the printing and distribution of her husband’s sefarim.

She is survived by her sons, Harav Avraham of Monsey and Harav Yaakov of Eretz Yisrael, and her daughters, Rebbetzin Esther, married to Harav Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman, Rosh Yeshivah, Yeshivas Lakewood East in Yerushalayim; and Rebbetzin Shoshana, married to Harav Yechiel Bamberger, Rav of Sheiris Yisrael in Haifa. Another daughter, Rebbetzin Erlanger, a”h, passed away before her mother.

She is also survived by her brother, Harav Yitzchak Grodzinsky, and her sister, Rebbetzin Leah Rosenberg, wife of Harav Baruch Rosenberg, zt”l, Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka in Bnei Brak.

Tehi zichrah baruch.