On Friday, the 17th of Teves, the righteous Rebbetzin Chaya
Chermona Rauchberger, o"h, returned her pure soul to
its Maker. Rebbetzin Rauchberger was eishes chover of
HaRav Moshe Rauchberger, a rav in Haifa and a member of the
Council of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel a loyal supporter
of gedolei Yisroel and chareidi Jewry.
Although the levaya was held on Friday close to
chatzos, it was attended by a large thong from all
over the country.
Hespedim were delivered by HaRav Yaakov Rosenthal,
av beis din of Haifa and by HaRav Shalom Chelouche,
Haifa Chief Rabbi and ravad. All the speakers
stressed the unique charter traits of Rebbetzin Rauchberger
as well as her nobility of soul, her dedication to Torah
study and to educating her children to Torah and mitzvos.
They stressed that her special personality had shed its
light on the entire city of Haifa.
In a weeping voice, her husband described the remarkable
saga of her life, a life devoted to Torah and
chessed. He stressed her inner spiritual richness,
noting how in her most difficult hours, while suffering
greatly, her primary concern was the welfare of the needy
families and the elderly people whom she had helped. "She
never spoke ill of anyone. Her sole aspiration in life was
to enable me to study Torah, give shiurim and raise
our children to Torah and yiras Shomayim," he
said.
Her sons, Rav Eliezer Rauchberger, a writer for Yated
Ne'eman, and HaRav Mordechai Rauchberger, parted from
her, noting the special wisdom with which she managed her
household and educated her children, and her aspiration that
the center of the household be Torah and yir'oh.
She was born in 5698 (1938) in the Slovakian city of Naitra,
a city of Torah and chassidus, and grew up in a home
saturated with love of Torah and chessed. She lived
through the Holocaust and came with her family to Eretz
Yisroel, settling with them in Kiryat Ata after the war.
In line with her aspiration to establish a true Torah home,
she married HaRav Moshe Rauchberger, who at a very young age
presided as rav of the Haifa Bat Galim neighborhood. In
Haifa, Rebbetzin Rauchberger served as a teacher, but
devoted her primary energies to enabling her husband to
study and disseminate Torah.
She was well known for her many acts of chessed and
for the special help she extended to the elderly, providing
for their needs, especially on Shabbos. Everything was done
secretly, so that the families she helped had no idea of the
identity of their benefactor.
A year and a half ago, she fell unconscious and was
hospitalized. A few days before Rosh Hashonoh, her situation
improved a bit, but she remained connected to respiratory
devices. Summoning her son, she indicated that she had
something to tell him. Because it was difficult for her to
speak, he gave her a pen and a piece of paper. He was
certain that after having been unconscious for so many days,
she would inquire about the family. However, the rebbetzin
instructed her son to make sure that the needy family she
was taking care of would be able to usher in the holiday. It
was in this spirit that she raised her children.
She was well known for her tsnius and wisdom, and for
the warm way in which she greeted everyone. Her hachnosas
orchim was particularly outstanding, and her home was
open twenty-four ours a day to the needy. During the many
years in which she lived near the Rambam Hospital in Haifa,
she would provide families of the patients with meals and
arrange places for them on Shabbos.
Five years ago, a terrible tragedy occurred when her beloved
daughter, Soroh, o"h, drowned while trying to save a
niece. This calamity broke the rebbetzin's heart, and until
her final day she mourned the loss of her daughter.
Although she suffered greatly during recent years from
illness, she always justified the din and trusted in
Hashem. All who came to visit and encourage her left
uplifted by her emunah and bitochon. In the
last month of her life, she took advantage of every possible
moment to cheer up other patients and to instill them with
emunoh and bitachon in Hashem.
She is survived by her husband as well as by sons,
daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of
whom are pursuing the path she and her husband charted for
them.
