Esther Moskovitz’s father taught the serfs to read under cover of darkness in Russian cemeteries, a direct violation of the czar’s decree. Her mother was a doctor born into a lineage of doctors that stretched back to the 1600s. So it is little wonder that the necessity of helping the needy was ingrained in Moskovitz at a very young age, and it never left.
“She was a force for peace and love in the family. She was so helpful to everyone. I can’t dwell enough on her. I loved her,” said Lowell Adelson, Moskovitz’s 86-year-old nephew.
“We used to refer to her as ‘Auntie Esther.’ Then when she was 18 and I was about 12 she said, ‘Honey, make believe we’re cousins. Don’t call me Auntie Esther.’ I was embarrassing her in front of her friends. She was a doll, an absolute doll, I tell you.”
Moskovitz died in her San Carlos nursing home on Jan. 29. She was 91.
Born Esther Adelson in Oakland, she soon moved with her family to San Francisco, where she spent her formative years. By the time she was a teenager, she had already become highly involved with the local Jewish community, teaching Sunday school at Congregation Emanu-El and soliciting funds for the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation — then known as the Jewish Welfare Federation — an endeavor she pursued for the next 47 years.
Moskovitz graduated from Lowell High School, attended business college and worked as an editor for a series of small local papers before marrying Jerome Moskovitz in 1936. The Moskovitz family ran the Rochester Big & Tall shop, which always triggered ironic jokes, as the family was entirely composed of extremely small men, and Esther was a very petite woman.
Jerome Moskovitz died in late 2001 at age 91.
Following the war, Jerome and Esther moved to the Peninsula. Like many of the Jews who left San Francisco, they were frustrated by the lack of Jewish institutions in the area. So Peninsula Temple Beth El was founded in the Moskovitz’s Hillsborough living room.
“I distinctly remember a meeting in our living room where we invited this rabbi from Bakersfield. He was very young, in his 20s. That was Rabbi [Sanford] Rosen, and he was hired as our first rabbi,” recalled son Myron Moskovitz, a Berkeley resident.
“It was controversial; a lot of people thought he was too young. It turned out he was absolutely terrific, and he was a good friend to my parents for the rest of their lives.”
Rosen, now the San Mateo Reform congregation’s rabbi emeritus, remembered Esther Moskovitz as an extraordinarily sweet and generous woman, who dedicated a great deal of her time to the temple.
“If every Jewish lady did as much for her fellow human beings and was as sweet and kind and humble about it, it would be wonderful,” he said.
“She had tremendous concerns for her temple and for her faith. I think she was just a lovely lady.”
In addition to pouring a great deal of effort into the temple (she was on the board of directors and was the first woman to hold the congregation’s Torah), Moskovitz was devoted to a number of progressive social causes.
She became heavily involved in the San Mateo-area Head Start program in 1960. When one of the program’s two classes was canceled for lack of funds, Moskovitz and her friends started up a fund-raising organization, which has kept the second class afloat for more than 20 years.
Moskovitz also served on a committee to abolish discrimination in housing and, even in her 80s, became an active member of a gun control coalition.
“She joined the gun control coalition rather late in life. She kept doing it the entire time,” said Myron Moskovitz. “But the temple was always her first love.”
Moskovitz’s generosity went beyond the community and the temple, however. Sometimes, it was closer to home.
“If anyone was in need, she was over there with food or cash if that’s what they needed. She was an extremely generous person. One of her sisters had some emotional and mental difficulties and some financial difficulties, so Mom sent her money. Even though the sister didn’t speak to anyone in the family,” said Janet Hastings, Moskovitz’s daughter, who lives in Oakland.
“Even though she cut off her ties, Mother never stopped giving.”
Even in death, Hastings noted, Moskovitz hoped to help the less fortunate, donating her body to scientific research.
“She was able to preserve peace in the family when there was bickering, and there was on occasion,” recalled Adelson. “She was just a force for the good, just a doll. My memories of her are all pleasant, they’re all so sweet.”
In addition to her son and daughter, Moskovitz is survived by her son’s three children, Jeremy, Alex and Damian Moskovitz. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 16 at Peninsula Temple Beth El. Donations can be made to Guide Dogs for the Blind, P.O. Box 151200, San Rafael, CA 94915; Peninsula Temple Beth El, 1700 Alameda de las Pulgas, San Mateo, CA 94403; or charities to help disadvantaged children.