Laurel Yakobovitz 1942 – 2013

My identical twin sister – Laurel - left us a few days before Rosh Hashanah.

She died from acute cardiac arrest aged 71 years old.

Laurel, or as she was called by everybody, Liora (my light), was aptly named.

She enjoyed helping people. Her first employment was in Wizo Tel Aviv where she became the Head of the Home Economics Department. She left Wizo when they did reorganization.

Her last job before her late husband became terminally ill was working with bipolar people. They adored her and in return her spirits were uplifted. Giving, helping, was part of her life.

Laurel got me interested in ESRA. She was an avid knitter for the Rishon leZion knitting group where her many hand-knitted sweaters were enjoyed by high risk children.

Among the people she cared for over a period of two years was her brother-in-law who had had amputations of his toes and distal part of his forefoot due to diabetes. She managed to rehabilitate him so that he could function, walk around and return to his daily life habits. Then her own husband became terminally ill and for the last four years she tried nursing him back to good health.

In spite of all this hardship she kept on knitting for the ESRA knitting group and also managed to find time to care for her grandchildren.

Laurel is survived by our 96 year-old mother, Ziporah (Zippi) Dubin, all of whose affairs she used to take care of.

Laurel was always highly independent, never asking for help even when she really needed a helping hand.

In death, as in life, she slipped away within hours without being a burden…...

The night before she passed away she attended an ESRA meeting in Rishon to drink le'chayim to a happy and healthy New Year, not knowing that within 12 hours she would not be among us…...ברוך דיין אמת.