Edith Dinar 1931-2024

April 2024 People

By Valerie Kantor and Merle Guttmann

Edith Dinar was an amazing ESRA volunteer with many facets. She gave of herself totally to helping ESRA for over 20 years.

She joined the ESRA Hanadiv office in Herzliya as a volunteer in 1998. She didn't drive and Roy her husband brought her from Holon every week. She was never late and always stayed as long as she was needed. She was a dedicated, efficient, competent and capable worker. She never complained and completed any task she was given with a smile. Once when the office was particularly busy she arrived with her daughter Dvira (a teacher on holiday) to help.

In 2001, Edith received an ESRA Outstanding Volunteer Award for her dedication and commitment to fulfilling the task of updating the ESRA Database at the ESRA office in Herzliya and for her willingness to contribute her time.

Edith also wrote occasional articles for ESRA Magazine, one of which was "How Jews got their surnames".

In 2012, she and her late husband Roy were the initiators of an ESRA branch in Bat Yam. They worked hard to organize lectures and volunteering opportunities for English speaking residents in Bat Yam.

Edith eventually moved to Raanana as she had made many friends in the area.

By Judy Copeland

I got to know Edith when I started working in the ESRA Raanana office. She was a dedicated volunteer who only stopped volunteering when the office closed down in 2019. She would be there once a week, whatever the weather, never missing her Mondays and was often willing and ready to come in on other days if needed. Together with the other devoted volunteers in the office, she was there to help new and old olim, answer their questions, and offer advice and encouragement where needed.

She was easy to work with and became a personal friend to all of us. She remembered everyone's birthdays and anniversaries, and you knew you could count on her for advice, given her wide knowledge of Israel and understanding of life here, having lived here for most of her adult life.

Her family was very important to her, and she was proud of all of them, keeping us all entertained with stories of their achievements. Together with some of our other volunteers, I was even invited to special family events, and I remember us arriving at the venue of the barmitzvah of one of her grandsons and being treated like an honored guest.

Sadly, in recent years, her physical health severely limited her activities and she found it difficult to climb the stairs at the ESRA office in Klausner Street, Raanana, but in spite of that she did persevere. After the office was closed, she retired but kept in touch regularly with us all and of course was surrounded by her loving and caring family.

She will be sadly missed.

Edith Dinar with her family

About the author

Merle Guttmann

Merle Guttmann was born and educated in Zimbabwe and immigrated to Israel in 1962. She is well-known in Israeli Anglophone circles and Israel’s social and volunteer fields. A social planner, writer, editor and active community leader, she has held tens of positions serving Israeli society.

Guttmann has an M.A. degree in Social Planning from Bar Ilan University, and a B.A. from Cape Town University. She has taught at the Tel Aviv and Bar Ilan Universities and worked in Israel for the National Insurance Institute, Maccabi Health Fund, Ministry of Defense, and other public bodies. She has authored many publications and articles.

For over forty years Ms. Guttmann has been actively involved in the world of volunteering in Israel. She has helped set up numerous nonprofit organizations and served on their board of directors. Her most recent position (2003–2009) was chairperson of ETZA – Israel Self Help Center. She has also served on the boards of the Center of Small Businesses in Raanana (Mati), the Center for Family Peace (Herzliya), the National Council of Voluntarism in Israel, Telfed – South African Zionist Federation, the United Jewish Israel Appeal, and is a former member of the Kfar Shmaryahu Local Council.

Guttmann was the founder and chairperson and is the Life President of ESRA – English Speaking Residents Association, a self help organization composed of volunteers assisting in the absorption of English speakers and a multitude of social and community welfare projects for immigrants from distressed countries, disadvantaged families and people with disabilities. She is also the Editor of the ESRA MAGAZINE which she initiated in 1979.

Guttmann is the recipient of many awards for her contribution to Israeli society including the Israel President’s Award for Voluntarism (1992), the Prime Minister’s Award for Outstanding Volunteer Leadership (1999) and the Telfed Yakir Zion (2008).

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