Morah Dinah Rosengarten a”h

BDE: Morah Dina taught me 62 years ago! She was much more than a teacher. She will be missed.

She was all hashkafa. A true loss to Klal Yisroel! BD”E

This was no ordinary family!

Morah Dina’s petira marks the end of an Era for a family that not only remained frum in the early part of the 20th century, but were constantly focused on teaching and encouraging others b’darkei Hashem. They followed in the footsteps of their born and bred American parents, Reb Moshe Yehuda and Chaya Malka (Ida) Goldstein. The Goldsteins hailed from Rhode Island, but made their way to New York, where they got involved in whatever was needed to strengthen Torah true yiddishkeit, during a time that so many others were lost to the culture of America. Behind the scenes, they were a part of the bricks and mortar that established a thriving and growing community of frum Yidden.

In addition to assisting with the establishment of New Square, Reb Doniel was a prolific and inspiring Ba’al Tefila for decades. In the early years, in Boro Park, he stood his ground, and bravely challenged the activities of anyone who sought to tamper with halacha within the community.

Another son, Yossi, (Rabbi Goldstein/”Uncle Yossi”) used his upbeat personality to be mechanech the young, ripe, Bnos Yisrael in Bais Yaakov of Boro Park for many years. He was a trailblazer in the production of Torah oriented media for youth in the growing communities of Brooklyn. His spirited stories, recorded on vinyl record albums, and later on tape were beloved by a generation of Bais Yaakov and Yeshiva children. The lessons he taught, accompanied by his songs, are engraved on the neshamos of half a century of students. Rabbi Goldstein wrote the words to the song “Hashem is here, Hashem is there”.

Reb Shmuel (Shmilly) was a pirchei leader in the 1940’s & 50’s in Boro Park, and grabbed every opportunity to draw young and old close to Yiddishkeit. As an adult he continued that mission, from inside the warmth of his printing shop, the iconic Goldstein Press on 16th Avenue in Boro Park. He was part of the backbone of the Agudah of Sixteenth Avenue, who did a tremendous amount of chesed without publicity, but never without his trademark generosity, and good cheer.

Reb Shloime was a bastion of Yiras Shamayim, who made his mark on Baltimore in his later years. Until his passing last year, he was a vibrant and warm example of what it means to live a life centered on serving Hashem, uplifting all those around him.

Yisrael, (Izzy) was a proud and active member in the Young Israel of Willowbrook (Staten Island). His friendly persona was an attraction, that brought people close to him, and to faithful practice of the yiddishkeit that was embedded in his being. His kibud Av was legendary.

I did not know the (youngest?) sibling, David, who settled in Eretz Yisrael.

And of course Morah Dina, who was one of the most influential examples to thousands of aspiring young teachers. This was a family, who without lots of fanfare made their mark on the development of the yiddishkeit we take for granted in New York. As a family, they wore different “stripes”: Lubavitch, Agudah, Skvere, Young Israel, Bobov. But they all used what they had in common: a talent for reaching people, and a fierce determination to strengthen Torah and Mitzvos wherever they were and always with a twinkle in their eyes.

Collectively, and individually, they are sorely missed. They were zoche to leave behind many hundreds of Doros Yesharim who follow in their ways.

Yehi Zichram Boruch.