10 Jan Rebbetzin Weiss A”H

I prepared for The Rebbetzin’s levaya with my pockets full of tissues. I realized afterward that I
had used hardly any of them, and neither had the people sitting near me. The listeners were
focusing on “celebrating the accomplishments of a life well-lived” rather than the “tragedy of a
life cut short.” The Rebbetzin used all of the gifts that הקדוש ברוך הוא gave her to take care of
His children and bring Him naches.
Miriam Libby, as we all affectionately called her, was a person that saw a need and just
addressed it. She didn’t need an organization, or permission, or to assemble a committee, or to
see who else could do, she just did it herself – together with her loyal friends, if necessary. She
was the quintessential one woman band.
Nothing stopped her. Her focus was on “doing the right thing” and nothing else. Period.
Nothing and no one could get in the way of her reaching her goal. If someone tried, they
received a very polite and sincerely meant “sweetheart, darling, honey or dear, please….” And
everyone took the directive in the adorable and well meaning way it was intended. No one was
offended, and no one turned down Miriam Libby…. including her husband, “ The Rabbi.”
It was a real lesson for all spouses to see how The Rebbetzin was able to accomplish so much
without any inkling of her competing with her husband for significance. She never bothered
with honor or glory, it had nothing to do with her from her perspective. The Rabbi willingly
helped her do everything she wanted, always for Klal Yisroel and the family, without her ever
seeming to demand it. The Rabbi, like everyone else, recognized that whatever Miriam Libby
wanted would make הקדוש ברוך הוא happy, so he helped her do it.
Lest anyone think that Miriam Libby was all for everyone else’s family and last for her own, the
opposite was true. For her, family was always her primary occupation and chesed was her
second job. The Weiss children have always been willing and enthusiastic partners in Miriam
Libby’s work and I see in the girls, because I know them best, replicas of their mother in many
ways.

המקום

ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים 

Abe and Ivy Newman