Well-known Milwaukee Hebrew teacher Israel (Erving) Haber died Feb. 1 at the Jewish Home and Care Center. He was 92.
He was the last survivor of five brothers and three sisters, all but one of whom died in the Holocaust. He was born in Sasow, Poland, and survived the war as a dentist in the Soviet army. In 1945, he was reunited with his wife, Henia (Helen), daughter and mother-in-law, who had also miraculously survived.
The family migrated to the small Jewish town of Sosua, Dominican Republic, and after several years there settled in 1951 in Milwaukee, where a sister and uncle were living.
Unable to practice dentistry, he pursued careers as a machinist, then a dental lab technician, grocery store owner and finally a Hebrew teacher at Beth Am Center, Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue and Congregation Beth Israel. His family described him as “a man of fierce loyalty to his family and his adopted country, and devotion to his religion and his people.”
After the death of his wife in 1985, he moved to Madison to be near his daughter, Julia (Dr. Lowell) Lakritz. A series of debilitating illnesses necessitated a move to the JHCC.
In addition to his daughter, he is survived by son Sheldon Haber of Madison; three grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
A funeral was held Feb. 3 in Milwaukee with Rabbi Kenneth Katz of Beth Israel Center in Madison officiating. Burial was in Agudas Achim Cemetery.
His family requested memorial contributions to the Jewish Home and Care Center, Jewish Social Services of Madison or Israeli charities.
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