On the 13th of Kislev, 5770 (November 30th, 2009) an amazing light left the manifest world. I don’t believe this light has disappeared, just been transformed into something new, amazing, and hopefully free of pain.
My dear Kohenet sister Yosefa was diagnosed with brain cancer just one month before our Smicha in July, 2009. Her battle to live was as amazing, courageous, and inspiring as the rest of her life; her death and dying process was even more so. No one who knew Yosefa wasn’t touched by her. She had an amazing gift to get right to the heart of the matter and connect deeply with people.
She will be deeply missed by so many people. She was known by many names:
- Jill Greenberg-Strouss
- Gypsy Jill
- Yosefa Rafaela haKohenet
She was in all things: amazing. She changed the lives of everyone she seemed to meet and everyone was changed by meeting her.
All that you touch
You Change.All that you Change
Changes You.The only lasting truth
Is Change.God
is Change.~Octavia Butler
The video at the top of the post is from one of the last times I saw Yosefa while she was living. It was taken just a day before our Smicha. Yosefa was not in the “class picture” we took the day after smicha. She had already left for home. I wish she were there. I wish she was here, now. But I see her in the colors around me and feel her presence every time I look at her artwork, which graces the Kohenet siddur.
We laid her to rest on sunny day in Seattle, Washington. Her grave overlooks a gorgeous landscape. We cried. We sang. We grieved.
She was loved. She will be missed. She will be remembered.
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Tags: death, Kohenet, life, remembrance, yosefa
Dear Ketzirah,
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend Yosefa. It sounds like she was a wonderful person, and you and others were blessed to have known her. Thank you for this wonderful tribute. Sincerely, Carol Esther
This is a beautiful tribute to her. I knew her and have her interpretation of my ideas tattooed forever on me. She truly was a wonderful spirit and I am extremely saddened by her loss. I am so happy to have known her, even if only for a short time.
Thank you.
I am very deeply moved by your words, as you were in writing them.
In efforts to honor her memory, I am working on a project that reaches out to those that she touched. I have posted the webpage explaining…I hope you too will consider honoring her memory with your art and memory.
Much respect and love,
Nancy Brown