By Nicky Cregor, Roni Ariel and Ruth Wood
Darling Naomi,
Every time I visited you in the last months, when your body and brain started to get tired you had one question you always asked – how long have I known you? So, for the last time I will say with love and gratitude, since I was 16, and I will add that you are my oldest friend in Israel. I met you when I first came to this country on a summer program and you came to meet me as a favor to your former flat mate in London, Beth Grant who was my father's life partner. You two wonderful women had watched me grow up and held me after my own Mother passed away in my twenties, and Naomi, without any hesitation you made me feel I still had someone to rely on. You were the most generous and loving friend that I could ever have hoped for. I will miss our endless conversations in your kitchen, your voracious interest in everything, you gave wonderful hugs and always walked me to my car even when you were using a stick, so that we could have a few more words, giving me the feeling that my presence in your life was as meaningful to you, as it was for me.
You opened your heart and your home to me. I loved coming to stay on weekends when I was studying in Haifa University and when I moved to Jerusalem and started my family you were always available with a listening ear and good advice – I will miss calling you and sharing stories and discussing life and even more will miss you calling me, even in the last year when you would call at crazy hours and send the same emoji seven times. It was a privilege to learn from you, watch your amazing love and dedication when looking after Benny, your husband, which I know you saw as a gift, as you said, he took such good care of me, now I am taking care of him; you were a lioness looking after him and I know it came from a place of deep love not everyone gets to experience.
One of the last pictures I sent you was of a restaurant in Vietnam called the Lucky Restaurant and it reminded me of sitting in your kitchen, and for the hundredth time you would say to me, "I am so lucky, I live in my own home, I get to look out at my beautiful garden and I have a wonderful son who looks after me". I think we can all agree that Naomi was indeed lucky to celebrate the real treasures in life, the really important values of family and friends. She will be missed by all the new immigrants she helped, all the people who read her amazing consumer column in the ESRA Magazine, her many friends whom she hosted so generously and her family whom she loved with her complete self.
With Naomi you got what you saw, she was real and genuine, loving and curious, welcoming and warm.
Thank you for being a second Mum, a safe zone to share my stories and learn about life at your kitchen table, you will be sorely missed by Beth your faithful friend in London and all the lucky people who got to know you and enjoy your wisdom and optimism throughout the years – I love you dearest Naomi xxxxxxx.
FROM RONI ARIEL, NAOMI'S SON
My mother, Naomi, was born in England on May 9, 1931 to her parents, Aharon Melech and Julia Goldberg - both born in Poland. The family lived in Ilford, London.
At the age of 49, her father, who was a printer and a Zionist, made Aliyah to Israel and settled in Kfar Mordechai, near Gedera. Naomi had been living in London in a rented apartment with her best friend Beth - a lifestyle for two young women that was not so acceptable in the 1950s. She eventually joined her parents in Kfar Mordechai.
Mom found a job at a Bank Leumi branch in Tel Aviv that needed English speakers. She would get up early in the morning and walk four kilometers on a dirt road, which was muddy in the winter, to Gedera, and from there she would take a bus to Tel Aviv. After a short period, she decided that this daily trip to Kfar Mordechai was unrealistic and found accommodation during the week at "Beit Hachalutsot" on King George Street in Tel Aviv. She slept in a large hall with other young women who worked in Tel Aviv and needed a cheap place to stay.
Also working at Bank Leumi was a young law student named Ben Adam Ariel and they fell in love. But they were separated by different career paths. Ben Adam went to France to do a doctorate in international Law. And my Mom for four years in England to study for a degree in human resources. She found a job in the human resources department of the British television channel "Granada". But after two years, she gave up her studies to marry Ben Adam. He came from France to England for the wedding, and Naomi returned to France with him for another two years until the completion of his doctorate. They both returned to Israel in 1963. Naomi was six months pregnant with me her first son; her second son, Noam my brother, passed away at the age of 21.
After returning to Israel, Mom worked as a private English teacher and then as an English-language secretary at Asia Ma'abarot. She had a very high typing speed, which was important in those days, when there were no word processors or computers in Israel.
Later, my Dad became an independent lawyer, and Mom helped him run his office and their finances. At first they lived in a rented apartment and later purchased a 3-room apartment in Maoz Aviv. In the early 1980s they purchased a plot of land in Herzliya Pituach and built Mom's dream house. They lived there for the rest of their lives (Ben Adam died in 2022 and Naomi in 2025). They were happily married for over 60 years.
During her time living in Herzliya Pituach (over 40 years) Mom was very active in ESRA.
FROM RUTH WOOD
Computers did not become ubiquitous until later in Naomi's life, but she wasn't one to let a lack of specific knowledge get in her way once she'd made up her mind as to what she wanted. She decided that ESRA needed an online discussion forum and not having the relevant computer skills to create one was irrelevant. I was roped in and the ESRAlistcame into being in 2004. We served as joint Moderators for 16 years (until Yahoo closed its online Groups platform).
ESRAlist's main purpose was to encourage involvement in ESRA and advertise ESRA activities, but it also performed a more general community service for its members who could request assistance and advice, ask for and make recommendations, offer items for sale and share useful information.
Naomi wasn't always the easiest person to work with, but she had plenty of energy, good ideas and the perseverance to get things done. It was a privilege to have known her.