It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rebbetzin Batsheva Linchner a”h. She was 104 years old.
Rebbetzin Linchner was the wife of Rabbi Alexander Linchner, founder of Boys Town Jerusalem.
The Rebbetzin was a daughter of the legendary Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt”l, the architect of Torah in America.
While the Rebbetzin was born in Europe, her husband, Rabbi Linchner, who passed away in June of 1997 at the age of 89, was born and raised in the United States, and was one of the few Americans to study at the great yeshivos of Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. During the course of his studies at the Yeshiva at Radin, Poland, he came under the direct, personal influence of the Chofetz Chaim and returned to the United States before the outbreak of World War II, becoming principal at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn working under the guiding hand of his father-in-law, Rav Shraga Feivel.
Together with his father in law, who was the founder of Torah Umesorah, Rabbi Linchner trained and inspired a generation of Jewish educators who founded Jewish day schools in many American Jewish communities, forming the backbone of Jewish education in the United States.
Rabbi Linchner was deeply affected by the devastation of the Holocaust and considered himself to be a Holocaust survivor. Rav Shraga Feivel, on his death bed, charged Rabbi Linchner with the task of carrying on his mission in life, to promote Jewish education by working with immigrant youth of Israel. From that time forward, Rabbi Linchner’s goal, with the unwavering support of the Rebbetzin, became to inspire and educate Israeli youth.
Rabbi Linchner founded Boys Town Jerusalem in 1948 and formed close, lifelong friendships with thousands of his students.
The Rebbetzin was a pillar of support to her husband, who could not have accomplished what he did without her encouragement. The Rebbetzin became a surrogate mother to the extended Boys Town family, sharing their joys and sorrows, and taking great personal pleasure in befriending people from every walk of life and dedicating herself to their well-being.
The Rebbetzin’s legacy is not only that she and her husband founded a great educational institution, which will long serve as a monument to their foresight and idealism, but also thousands of Boys Town alumni and students throughout Eretz Yisroel who will always remember her as a mother figure and inspirational role model, and tens of thousands of Boys Town supporters around the world who were touched by her personal warmth and sincerity.
The Rebbetzin leaves behind her sisters, Rebbetzin Shulamis Schiff and Rebbetzin Chana Greenbaum, and her children, Rabbi Moshe Linchner and Mrs. Naomi Rothstein.
Yehi zichroh boruch.
{CB Frommer-Matzav.com Newscenter}
