Chana Anita Rubin Ausubel passed away Tuesday in Jerusalem. Before making aliya, she was a national field director for Emunah Women of America.

Chana was a central figure in the group of American Zionist visionaries, which also included Alex Friedman, Dr. Sam Korman and Chaim Stern, who worked from the start for the establishment of Beit El and its yeshiva. Yaakov Katz, "Ketsale," whose efforts to build Beit El are the stuff of legend, remembers her as one of the first to recognize the significance of settling Judea and Samaria, at least 45 years ago, while she was still living in New York and when most people had never even heard of the challenge.

"Chana went from house to house drumming up support for the 'settlement' project," Ketsale said nostalgically. "In Hallel, we say that 'the stone the builders rejected later becomes the main cornerstone.' Chana was the cornerstone from the beginning, she was a real tzadeket, a righteous woman of valor."

In Israel, after making aliya, Chana worked at the women's branch of Machon Meir, Machon Ora. She headed its English-speaking women's division, serving as director and teacher, as well as becoming founder and director of Machon Maayan Bina, a school for English-speaking converts.

Although the program closed several decades ago and Chana retired, Rabbi Dov Begun, head of Machon Meir, remembered her as being full of vitality, a powerhouse of activity and ideas. "She loved the Land of Israel and the Torah with all her heart," he said, "and was a mother to the young women in the program who came from far and wide. Many of them, thanks to her loving investment in their welfare, built thriving Jewish homes in Israel."

The funeral is to take place today, 22.08.23 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sanhedria Cemetery in Jerusalem. Shiva will be observed at her son Moshe Rubin's home at 5 Walter Abeles Street, Jerusalem.

May her memory be blessed.