Rosh Chodesh Tammuz marks the 10th yahrzeit of Mrs. Chaya Zlata Geisinskya”h. During the years since her passing, many initiatives were started in her memory, including a new Chabad house and the ‘Mivtza Chaz’ initiative for bochurim in Melbourne yeshiva.
The 1st of Tammuz is the 10th yahrzeit of Mrs. Chaya Zlata Geisinsky. Ten years have passed since the sudden passing of this beloved Shlucha to Bethesda, MD.
Morah Zlata, as she was affectionately known, was a true powerhouse in the Greater Washington DC Jewish community. Besides for being the co-founder and director, along with her husband yblcht”a Rabbi Bentzion Geisinsky, of the Chabad Centers in Rockville, Potomac, and Bethesda, MD, she also started the preschool in the local modern orthodox Jewish day school and built it into the premier early childhood education program of the area.
She was also the founder and devoted coordinator of the Women’s Mikvah Ateres Yisroel at Chabad of Potomac. With great aplomb, she balanced educating and counseling of thousands of children and adults from all walks of life, the preparing and hosting of delicious meals for full tables multiple times a week, and co-directing the largest Jewish summer camp in the area.
And yet, in true Chabad Shlucha fashion, she somehow still managed to devote the lion’s share of her time and attention to her family and especially, to her children; Sender, Aida (Shusterman), Rochel (Charytan), Mushka (Blesofsky), Mendel, and Moshe Geisinsky and the growing number of grandchildren. She accomplished all this before her untimely passing, a month after her 49th birthday.
Needless to say, her passing left her young students, her cherished community, her beloved family, and the countless others who benefited from her uniquely wise counsel, utterly devastated. The void left behind by this larger than life individual is truly unfillable.
Yet, as a testament to how much she meant to everyone and how her life and legacy continue to impact those who benefited from her incredible life, a beautiful spectrum of programs, initiatives, and institutions were established and dedicated in her memory.
These include, among others:
A Sefer Torah – started within her shloshim and completed for her first yahrzeit.
Keren Yad Zlata – A tzedaka fund and yearly musical event, quietly helping families and individuals that find themselves in an emergency need of financial help.
Zlata’s Little Lights – The Chabad preschool on the West Coast that is quickly becoming the most sought after location for pre-k education
Mivtza Chaz – A learning and Chasidishe growth initiative for yeshiva bochurim learning in Melbourne, Australia.
The Chabad Jewish Center of Bethesda – a beautiful new campus built and dedicated in her memory.
Judaism defines life by the impact one has on the world around them. In that case, the life of Mrs. Chaya Zlata Geisinsky – wife, sister, mother, grandmother, educator, director, matriarch, innovator, host, friend; continues on in the most beautiful of ways.
May her memory be source of blessing until she is reunited with all those who lover her and miss her, with the coming of Moshiach, now! Amen!