I come from a family that immigrated to Lima, Peru in 1939 from Romania, three months before the Second World War. My mother lost all her family in the Holocaust. I was born, raised and went to school in Lima. I grew up in a small community in which being Jewish and being identified as a Jew was as critical as my survival. At home and in the Jewish community, anything that had to do with Israel or Jewishness was embraced with “both arms.”

I came to San Diego in 1966 for a job that was offered to my then husband.

I want to honor my parents for their love, dedication, tenderness and for providing me with such a strong sense of Jewish identity. They did not have much money but they contributed money to the “pushka” of Keren Kayemet. I never went to a Jewish Day School and for that reason I placed both my children at the Hebrew Day School in San Diego for five years. I saw the relationships they fostered, the discipline they acquired and the joy of their participation at Shabbat dinner on Friday night.

As I arranged my trust, one of the most important things I wanted to do was to leave funds to the Soille Hebrew Day School for scholarships to children that wanted to attend and have a solid Jewish and secular education whose parents could not afford the tuition. I feel my contribution can perpetuate Jewish education for future generations.