In December 2023, Virginia “Jinny” Stern’s (z”l) extended family gathered at her Northwest DC home to celebrate Thanksgiving. By the time Chanukah came around, Jinny’s children and grandchildren had returned to their homes and schools. So, she invited my husband, Howard Oppenheim, and me over to light the menorah and eat latkes. On the evening of December 16, 2023, Jinny shared with us a remarkable story of survival through her chanukiah. Actually, the chanukiah belonged to Jinny’s beloved husband. When Robert “Bob” Stern (z”l) (born in 1928) was a young boy, his family fled Germany for Antwerp, where Bob’s uncle had connections in the diamond industry. When Belgium became unsafe during the war, the children – Bob and his younger brother, Andy — were sent to England and from there, in September 1939, to the United States. Meanwhile, the Stern family’s sentimental items, including the menorah, were buried by a loyal secretary who, after the war, helped Bob’s uncle retrieve the treasures. The family chanukiah uses ordinary vegetable oil and string wicks from the grocery store. Filling the menorah’s nine tiny cups, including the shamash, was a bit messy, but the oil burned nicely and for a long time, without the smokiness of most. As we lit our chanukiah in 2025, we often thought of Jinny who brightened our lives.
I met Jinny through a mutual friend and Temple Sinai member, Mindy Kotler. For many years, on my way back to my office, I drove Jinny home following Sinai Daytimers meetings. When Daytimers went virtual, we would sometimes have lunch at Jinny’s house and Zoom into Daytimers together. Jinny has four grown children and seven thriving grandchildren, yet she always showed an interest in my husband and kids and my young clients. Jinny was involved with multiple Jewish women’s organizations. She was a member of Temple Sinai Sisterhood (now, WRJ). Also, like me, Jinny, through her mother Rebecca, was active with the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). Jinny shared that when she was growing up, her mother was the head volunteer of the NCJW’s thrift shop on Divisadero Street in San Francisco. However, Jinny, who was gravitating towards the arts, and science, chose to volunteer elsewhere, visiting patients in hospitals.
– Terri Salus