Shoshana Rosenthal

Shoshana Kreisler Rosenthal, beloved matriarch and cherished grandmother, passed away peacefully on January 17th in Denver, Colorado at the age of 91. She was surrounded by her family in her final days.

Shoshana was always a beacon of love and warmth to her family. She leaves behind a legacy of kindness, generosity, and unwavering commitment to her family and community.

Born in L’vov, Poland (now L’viv, Ukraine) on March 23, 1933, Shoshana lived a remarkable life filled with joy, accomplishment, and adventure. She overcame many challenges, from her toddler years when her family fled the Nazis, emigrating to Tel Aviv, to teaching herself French and English in order to pursue her academic ambitions.

Growing up in pre-1948 Tel Aviv Shoshana endured risks and hardships, losing her mother Zipora when she was a young child, and her brother Dov who died while in British custody. As a teen she was wounded by a sniper while serving as a courier during Israel’s War of Independence and had to dodge other snipers’ bullets to attend university classes near the “green line” in Jerusalem.

She was blessed with a great intellect and blazed a trail as the first member of her family to earn a college degree at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While living in Jerusalem she also entered and won the Miss Jerusalem beauty pageant, unbeknownst to her family and friends. After earning her degree, she pursued graduate studies in physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne de Paris. An enthusiastic recommendation from her professor brought her to the United States and an opportunity to teach chemistry, mathematics, and physics at Anna Maria College in Worcester, Massachusetts, and she later went on to teach at Brandeis University.

Not long after moving to the U.S. she met her future husband Harris Rosenthal while staffing the Israeli exhibit at an international convention at the request of the Israeli Consulate. Shoshana and Harris were married in 1960 and had 55 happy years together before his passing in 2015. They lovingly raised their three sons Eli, Dan, and Gil.

In the 1950s it was quite unusual, and courageous, for a young woman to move overseas, alone, to pursue an academic and professional career. But fearlessness, tenacity, and resilience were hallmarks of Shoshana’s personality. She instilled in her family a lifelong devotion to learning, to Judaism, and to the State of Israel where most of her family still lives.

She was a pioneer in computer science, and its application in the study of astrophysics. For more than fifty years she worked as a radio astronomer in Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Despite offers to move to Silicon Valley in the 1970s to join the nascent personal computer industry Shoshana prioritized stability for her family and remaining part of their community.

Shoshana was an amazing cook, and nothing brought her more pleasure than seeing her family gathered around the table to enjoy a meal celebrating Shabbat, Thanksgiving, or the Jewish Holidays. She taught her sons to cook and bake, as well as to connect to computer networks via a modem in the 1970s. She was a talented painter but rarely had free time to spend on art until late in her life.

For decades she was a fixture and leader of the congregation at Temple Emeth in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, including serving as its first woman President, and President of the Sisterhood, as well as on countless committees and as a teacher in the Temple’s religious school.

Shoshana enjoyed traveling the world, and especially visiting Israel, creating lasting memories with her family. She and Harris also hosted foreign exchange students for almost twenty years and created an extended family of young people around the world.

She found immense joy in spending time with her eight grandchildren: Emma, Abe, Isaac, Jonas, Sadie, Kiki, Noam, and Stella, and was so proud of their accomplishments and the wonderful individuals they have become.

In addition to her grandchildren, she is survived by her children Eli (Chantal) Rosenthal of Portland, Oregon, Dan (Aviva) Rosenthal of Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Gil (Chandra) Rosenthal of Denver, Colorado, and her sisters Zipora Feiner of Peabody, Massachusetts and Rachel Weiss of Bnei Brak, Israel. She will be deeply missed by her family and all who knew her.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday January 22, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. at Temple Emeth, 194 Grove Street, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Shoshana's memory to Ramah in the Rockies: https://www.ramahoutdoors.org/