Raye Freedman and her legacy
by Stephen Katz
The concept of Dor L’Dor, from generation to generation is the key to Jewish community and survival. Raye Freedman was raised to identify actively with the Jewish people and religion, and to pursue mitzvot with a generous heart.
Born Rachel Ginsberg in Winnipeg, Canada in 1910, Raye moved to London when she left school to train as a speech therapist. When war broke out in 1939 she returned to Canada. On the ship home she met her first husband, Ernst Blumenthal, a Czech refugee escaping Hitler’s Europe. Ernst persuaded her to move to New Zealand, and in 1941 they were married by Rabbi Astor in his Park Road home.
In New Zealand Raye worked first as a teacher, then ran the Kottage Kake Kitchen on Queen Street with Ernst. Subsequently she worked as a speech therapist. After Ernst died in 1968, Raye needed to find a way to support herself. She became a female pioneer in the male-dominated world of property development and management. As a strong-minded woman of many talents, she soon became a successful self-made businesswoman. She married Mannie Freedman in 1979, but sadly she was widowed again in 1986.
An incident in Canada when Raye was 12 was formative in her later philanthropy. Two elderly nuns arrived at the family home one cold winter night, seeking charity. She turned them away. When her father heard what she had done he was furious and bundled her out the door to find the women and bring them home for food and warmth: ‘This incident . . . made one of the greatest impacts on my whole being. The way I have since tried to conduct my life goes back to those early years.’
Raye had a lifelong love of music and the arts as well as an enduring belief in the importance of education for young women. When she heard that Epsom Girls Grammar School was raising funds to build a creative arts centre, her interest was aroused. In 2003 she made a generous donation to the project, which became known as the Raye Freedman Arts Centre. Although she hadn’t gone to Epsom Girls, a lifetime of hard work had ignited a desire to leave something ‘concrete’ behind.
Throughout her life Raye was a keen supporter of the Auckland Jewish community. She was one of the founding donors of Shalom Court and was closely involved in its establishment. In her later years, she founded the Raye Freedman Library in Remuera, which brought her great joy. Often on a Sunday morning library users would be surprised to discover that the elderly woman sitting in the window seat, keen for a chat, was Raye Freedman herself.
In April 2006 Raye passed away at the age of 96. Her life was celebrated by the many people who knew her as a woman of generosity, humour and great spirit.
Raye would no doubt have been delighted to see how the library has gone from strength to strength since her passing, providing a much-needed community focal point for many unaffiliated members of the community, including many Israelis. As well as housing a collection of over 5,000 books, the library provides a wide range of Jewish learning opportunities and activities.
Not long after its establishment, at the request of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation, the library made its facility available to the AHC Stiebel Committee. The services operated by that committee (under the chairmanship of Charlene Beinart and Steve Schwarz) soon became renowned for their warm and heimishe atmosphere. Sadly, with the departure of some younger members of the community overseas, it became increasingly difficult for the committee to continue to provide weekly services. Fortunately, two relative newcomers to Auckland, Rabbi Aharon HaCohen and the Rebettzin Yael HaCohen , stepped up to take on the challenge. Under their guidance, the library has been reinvigorated and, in addition to continuing to provide regular religious services, offers a wide range of community activities, ranging from cooking classes to Hebrew lessons. The library is also used as a meeting place by a wide range of community groups, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
The Raye Freedman Trust – which is probably the largest charitable trust in the New Zealand Jewish community – was established by Raye several years before her death to advance her charitable aims. It was chaired during its early years by Sarah Katz, until her appointment as a High Court judge in 2012. Judy Murray also played a key role in the Trust until 2013. In addition to the Raye Freedman Arts Centre and the Raye Freedman Library, the Trust made a very generous donation to the redevelopment and refurbishment of Kadimah school. The trustees were closely involved in supporting Kadimah’s state integration process, and helped maintain the school roll at a sustainable level pending state integration by providing scholarships to those who could not otherwise afford to attend the (then) private school. At one stage over a quarter of the school roll were on ‘Raye Freedman scholarships’.
Over the years the Trust has supported a wide range of Jewish organisations, including the Auckland Hebrew Congregation, Beth Shalom Congregation, AUJS, Bnei Akiva, Habonim, Maccabi Carnival, the Second Generation Group, Florence Melton, the Zionist Federation, Chabad New Zealand, Limmud, March of the Living, Birthright New Zealand, Shadows of Shoah (now Holocaust and Antisemitism Foundation Aotearoa NZ), the community social worker, the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, Moriah Kindergarten (Wellington), Temple Sinai (Wellington) and the Wellington Hebrew Congregation. The Trust also proudly sponsors the Royal Society Weizmann Scholarship, which enables a top New Zealand secondary school science student to attend the prestigious International Summer Science Program at the Weizmann Institute in Israel each year. The Trust has sponsored the visits to New Zealand of many international speakers and touring exhibitions. In accordance with Raye’s wishes, it is also involved in a wide range of educational and other projects in the broader community, with a particular focus on education and supporting disadvantaged youth.
Raye Freedman was a woman ahead of her time. Never short of an opinion, her strength of character enabled her to succeed on her own terms, as an independent woman in a male-dominated world. Looking back on her life, Raye would sometimes wistfully reflect that, because she had no children, her name would soon be forgotten. Nothing could be further from the truth. Her philanthropic legacy has helped support and shape the New Zealand Jewish community over the past 15 years or so, and will no doubt continue to do so for many years to come.