| Rebecca Asher | |
 Asher on her 105th birthday in 2017. | |
| Birth: | 12 December 1912 Warsaw, Masovia, Russian Empire (now Poland) |
| Death: | 20 May 2022 Ra'anana, Central District, Israel |
| Age: | 109 years, 159 days |
| Country: |  POL ISR
|
| Centenarian | |
Rebecca Asher [Hebrew: רבקה אשר] (née Rubinstein; 12 December 1912 – 20 May 2022) was a Polish-Israeli centenarian who was the oldest known living woman in Israel at the time of her death.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Rebecca Asher was born in Warsaw, Masovia Voivodeship, Russian Empire (now Poland) on 12 December 1912. Her parents were Gershon and Miriam Rubinstein. She had two brothers: Joseph, and Jacob.
When she was 5, Asher's parents died of typhus. She moved to an orphanage with her brothers. Her mentors were the brother of David Ben-Gurion, and the mother of Gad Yaacobi.
In 1924, Asher wrote a letter to Shmuel (Zakif) Zuchowitzky, a Zionist living in Mandatory Palestine, as she would like to emigrate there, and he was a godfather of her orphanage. Her dream became true, and she moved to Magdial (now Hod HaSharon), Mandatory Palestine (now Israel). She studied in a seminar in Neve Tzedek, Tel-Aviv.
One day, as a teacher, she was a volunteer for picking citrus fruits in Ness Ziona. It was there she met Haim Asher [Hebrew: חיים אשר], her future husband, when he was riding a horse. They got engaged (they had a kiddushin), and had two children: Uzi, and Ofra. At the beginning of the First Arab–Israeli War, the family was living in Gan Yavne.
In the early 1950s, Asher bought a house with her husband in Neve David Remez, a neigbourhood in Ra'anana.
Later Life[]
On Asher's 105th birthday in 2017, a proposal for her to be given the Yakir Ha'ir was put by Haim Broida [Hebrew: חיים ברוידא], a member of the city council, as she contributed to Ra'anana's community for many years.
She became the oldest known living person in Central District, Israel, after the death of 109-year-old Zhiya Ben Mames around 29 June 2021. She may have become the oldest known living woman in Israel, following the death of 110-year-old Heinke Gilad on 7 March 2022.
Rebecca Asher in Ra'anana, Central District, Israel died on 20 May 2022 at the age of 109 years, 159 days.
References[]
- 104 years Chaim Broyde on Facebook, 27 January 2017
- רבקה אשר חגגה 105, חיים ברוידא מציע להעניק לה את אות יקירת העיר Junction Hasharon, 18 December 2017
- 106 years "חיים ברוידא" on Facebook, 9 August 2019
- 109th birthday "חיים ברוידא" on Facebook, 13 December 2021
- Death mention "חיים ברוידא" on Facebook, 21 May 2022
- רבקה אשר האישה המבוגרת ברעננה נפטרה בגיל 109: "חיים מלאי נתינה" MyNet Ra'anana, 23 May 2022