A Song and a Prayer By Riki Goldstein | April 27, 2021
Rebbetzin Rochel Rakow faced tragedy with a siddur in her hands and song on her lips
There’s a beautiful picture of Rebbetzin Rochel Rakow taken on her final visit to Eretz Yisrael, in May 2019. She s seated serenely in her wheelchair, in a Meah Shearim store, its walls lined with leather siddurim.In her hand is a gigantic bag of freshly popped popcorn. Together with a six-year-old grandchild, the nonagenarian great-grandmother is choosing a gift. The most precious gift ever a siddur. The child in the picture is named Hindy, after the Rebbetzin’s sister, who survived the Holocaust alongside her, and the gift they’re selecting together is the indispensable item that Rebbetzin Rakow always had within arm’s reach, during the Holocaust years a siddur, her connection to tefillah; it was this that she passed on to her family. Rebbetzin Rakow was the devoted wife of Rav B