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List of honorees
Louis Rose Society
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Honoree
Rose Fischbein
June 30, 1898—April 23, 1982
Honored by Lewis & Margaret Fischbein, San Diego, July 31,
2005
My nomination to the San Diego Jewish Hall of Fame, of course,
is my late mother Rose Fischbein. Rose, a native New Yorker came to San Diego
in 1933 accompanied by her husband Dave and her two young sons. Keeping
kosher while driving across the country was no mean feat in 1933. Upon
arriving she immediately joined the choir at Beth Israel Temple. When the
Orthodox Congregation, Tifereth Israel, hired a more progressive Rabbi,
Ephraim Siegel, in 1936, the Fischbein family became members. Dave became
active on the board of directors and subsequently became president of the
congregation, while Rose joined the Daughters of Israel, the congregation's
women's auxiliary. While serving as president, Rose supervised schlepped and
helped cook Shabbat dinners and Passover Seders for the many Jewish servicemen
stationed in San Diego during World War Two. The Daughters of
Israel received awards from the Jewish Welfare Board for this commendable
project. Rose received hundreds of letters from the grateful parents. In 1939, Rose and Dave formed a group of forward looking
congregants to implement the construction of a larger and more appropriate
home for Tifereth. They called themselves the Junior Auxiliary of Tifereth Israel
. The impact of the Second World War and the prospects for future growth of
San Diego, as well as the current membership overflowing the sanctuary during
the High Holy Days, made this goal all the more imperative. When a the younger
women of Tifereth formed an auxiliary to help the Congregation, Rose became
active and became President of the Sisterhood in1960. When some Congregants of
Tifereth became unhappy with the leadership of the congregation, Rose joined
their ranks and became one of the original founders of the now defunct Beth
Tefilah Congregation. Early every Shabbat morning Rose boarded a bus and
journeyed to Beth Tefilah to set up the Oneg Shabbat for the congregation.
Many Bar and Bat mitzvah students remember Rose giving them a brief inspiring
talk and a gift. —Lewis Fischbein, El Cajon, Calif., August 4, 2005