Remembering Ann Katzefman Rubin In the last chapter of the Biblical book of Mishlei (Proverbs) you will find the moving tribute known as “A Woman of Valor,” Eyshet Chayil. My first cousin once removed, Ann Katzefman Rubin, certainly qualified as a modern Eyshet Chayil. The daughter of two Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Ann lived her entire life in Malden. She graduated from high school but did not go to college because her father believed that his daughters should marry and have children. Ann had five, including twin daughters Joyce and Judith, the ones I know the best. She was devoted to her husband, whom she had met in high school and to all of her children. Family was the center of her life. After my own parents died, in 1986 and 1990 respectively, Ann became my main connection to my mother’s family. Whenever I came to the Boston area, I went to Malden because I wanted to see Ann. She loved preparing a meal for my family and me. She kept a kosher kitchen and observed the Jewish holidays. She attended shul regularly. When she became legally blind, her daughters would take her to the synagogue. Also, she often gave gifts of money to the shul. Ann used to tell me that when her children were still living at home she loved to go to Malden Square and have coffee with her sister (of blessed memory) or a friend. She enjoyed being a wife and a mother and maintaining her home. In Yiddish one would say that she was a baalaboosteh. Visits with Ann were always delightful. My wife Natalie and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Whenever we came, she would be in good spirits and have a positive outlook. Rather than discuss books or academic subjects, we would talk about our children, our grandchildren, and people in Malden whom we both knew. Ann was always interested in what was going on for everyone. She was one of the most non-judgmental individuals whom I ever have known. I believe that she modeled herself on her father. She once told me that at Xmas time he would bring a bottle of wine to his non-Jewish neighbor. “After all,” he would say, “Xmas is their yontiff. Ann, like her father, accepted people for who they were. When she would talk about non-Jews, I never heard her use any derogatory terms. All in all, she was a loving, moral Jew and human being who didn’t need to read a Jewish text to learn what was moral and what was immoral. Having grown up in an ethical American Jewish environment, she internalized the best aspects of the Jewish and American traditions. Yes, Ann was a true Eyshet Chayil. I will miss her. ברוך זיכרה יהי (Y’hei zeechra baruch) May her memory be blessed. By Harold Gorvine January 8, 2018