                            My Nana
                    A Genuine Woman of Valor
                         April 5, 1992
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg

       My Nana, Michga Ruchel Donevesky was born in Russia nearly 90 years ago.  She
came to the United States as a young child of three or four with her parents, Efraim and Sarah,
and her older brothers Shmuel and Reuven.  They moved to the tenements in the lower east
side of Manhattan, where, together with many other new immigrants, they lived a hard life of
poverty, yet sustained by dignity and the maintenance of their Jewish traditions.
       When Michga Ruchel was enrolled in kindergarten the teacher had great difficulty
pronouncing her name.  So, to make things easier, she simply decided to call her, Rose.  
       When she was about ten years old her father, Efraim, died.  She was heartbroken, as
she was very close to her beloved father.  Aside from the calamity of losing her dear father at
such a tender age, the financial difficulties to the family arising from his absence, forced little
Rose to leave school, lie about her age, and get a job in a sweat shop to help support her
mother and brothers.  
       From then on life was always a struggle for Rose, but she met each challenge head
on with the strength and good will of a human dynamo.  She always had a smile and kind word
for everyone, and was loved by all who knew her.
       Her mother, Sarah, a robust and beautiful woman, soon remarried and gave birth to
another son whom Rose helped her raise.
At age 14, Rose, again lied about her age and married Joe Gold, a young veteran of World
War I, and began her own family.  Joe was a hard working taxi driver, and Rose worked at
any job she could find, including scrubbing floors, in order to make ends meet.  
       It was not enough for her to worry about how to solve all of her personal problems,
Rose decided to take upon herself the problems of the entire neighborhood.  If their was a
family without what to eat for Shabbat, Rose would find a way to get food for them.  She
soon learned that the way to get things done was through political involvement.  She
canvassed her neighborhood to glean votes for who ever would help her poverty stricken
neighbors.  Everyone knew and loved Rosy Gold who was a genuine political activist in a day
and age when such things were unheard of, especially on the part of young women.
       After her husband passed away, she moved in with her daughter's family which
made aliyah about 15 years ago.  She led a full, if difficult life, yet lived to a ripe old age and
had the zchut to see five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren before departing this
world.  
       She left us on Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the month of redemption.  As the
truly righteous woman she was, so will my Nana continue in the world to come, interceding
for her people and pleading to our Creator to hasten our already ongoing redemption.