Ida (Chaya Sara) Cohen Selavan-Schwarcz
SELAVAN-SCHWARCZ: Ida (Chaya Sara) Cohen Selavan-Schwarcz, 93, passed away early Friday morning, Feb. 16, 2024, the 7th of Adar I, 5784, in Jerusalem, Israel, and was buried in the Kfar Sava Nordau Cemetery. Survived by son Rabbi Barnea Levi Selavan in Jerusalem, Israel; and daughter Batya Selavan in Cincinnati, Ohio; five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren; and brother Rabbi Dovid Cohen in Brooklyn. Born and raised in Brooklyn to older parents, after three siblings died young, Ida was deliberately called “Bubbele” from birth to help her merit living to become a grandmother, which she did. In eighth grade she earned 100 in eight subjects, unprecedented in New York City. Finishing a three-year Dropsie College doctoral program in two years, she came by boat to Israel in the 1950s and married Amos Selavan. To further his psychology studies and practice, they left for Chicago Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and then Pittsburgh. Here Amos earned his doctorate and pioneered in recognizing and treating alcoholism as a disease, and their children received a Jewish education and enjoyed growing up in this warm community. Ida later also earned a PhD at the University of Pittsburgh, taught Yiddish there, and knew 10 languages. She involved herself in many local organizations such as Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, where her children went to school; National Council of Jewish Women, under whose aegis she produced two volumes of “By Myself I’m a Book” about local Jewish immigrants; Hadassah Women, and others. Ida was known as an expert on Pittsburgh’s Jewish history, writing articles and often lecturing about its personalities, particularly women. Her sense of justice and her mother’s avant-garde fight for women’s workers’ rights perhaps pushed her to research and write about labor relations. Earning a library degree and working in Cincinnati, the moment she reached retirement age she again made aliya to Israel. In a wonderful 22-year second marriage to Dr. Yosef Meir Schwarcz, father to Louis, Alicia, and to Dan Schwarcz of Pittsburgh, they lived in Arad and Omer, traveling the world and exploring mutual interests. Yosef passed away in late 2018, and Ida returned to Jerusalem, to the Golden Hill protected living facility. She gradually weakened in recent months, while savoring seeing three new grandsons. Ida passed away in Hadassah’s Mount Scopus hospice, lovingly cared for by the organization she represented and supported for decades. The family therefore asks that contributions in her memory should go to Hadassah. Condolences may be sent to selavan@gmail.com and bselavan@gmail.com. PJC
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