Today many of us are pausing with heavy hearts to remember our dear Anna Hollander. I never thought she would die. She seemed invincible because she lived through so much; surviving the Holocaust as a young girl, the struggles of living in the young state of Israel and getting through the painful personal tragedies of losing her beloved husband Ernie and children, Beverly and Michael before their time. It seems way too much for one person to have endured in a lifetime. Yet Anna had the capacity to keep on going, to emit an endless stream of love to all who knew her. Her beloved Kathy became her daughter after Michael died.
There are so many of us whom she has profoundly affected. What a legacy, to have lived a life with the power to have touched so many, to have imparted her wisdom not to mention her sponge cakes. I knew Anna for forty years, Jeff even longer. He would hang out at Ernie and Anna's house when he was a teenager as a friend of their oldest child, Beverly.
I met Anna when I joined Beth Jacob, though it is almost impossible to say just Anna because "Ernie and Anna" were a team then and until Ernie died one would say them in the same breath. The two of them together could whip up a Shabbat dinner for the congregation. Anna's vegetable soup was legendary. The rest of us might try to help in the kitchen but we were pretty much superfluous.
Over the years I was one of her"kids", one of the hundreds she nurtured as a surrogate mother or grandmother. I loved hearing their stories, especially their wedding day in Israel on the day the state was created when they were on a rooftop and bullets were flying. Their wedding feast was a few rolls Ernie managed to get from the bakery where he worked.
When she saw me, she always rushed over to me in shul with her big smile and a kiss to ask how I was, what my children were doing and later to inquire about my grandchildren.She qvelled when my oldest daughter Devora moved to Israel. She would have loved to go back there to live once again but that was a dream that was not to be.
Those of us who were invited to the Hollander home for a Sabbath or holiday celebration like their legendary sukkot feasts when they invited the entire congregation never forgot their incredible hospitality and their abundant food, course after course served until we were bursting. My recipe binder has well worn pages, "Anna's brisket, ." "Anna's stuffed cabbage."
When I think about what I will most keep in my heart is her spirit which kept shining inside of her despite everything. That is what I would like to emulate. My heart goes out to Kathy, David, Nikki and the whole family. Dear Anna, we will never forget you.
Amen
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