Nehama Dina Adler

Nehama Dina Adler passed away on February 17 at her home in Westlake Village, CA, at the age of 92.

Dina was born to Ezekiel and Rachel Lifschutz in 1932. She was raised in a Labor Zionist household in Brooklyn, New York speaking Yiddish exclusively until starting school. The family grew in 1938 to include Dina’s younger sister, Marcia, and in 1956 moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. 

Dina was a good student and the editor of her high school yearbook. She attended the Baruch Campus of New York City College, where she took a wide variety of courses before deciding on a Business degree. During college Dina also worked as a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward Catalog and Russak’s Department Store. These were social years for Dina that included a close group of friends and many trips to the theater.

During this time Dina met her future husband, Sidney (Sid) Adler, while attending a dance at the 6th Street Synagogue. The couple wed in 1958 and moved to Los Angeles in 1960 for both career opportunities and—importantly to Dina—sunshine.

She liked to say that she moved for the weather and got it. But she never stopped missing her family and the culture of New York City.

Dina earned a Master’s degree in English from UCLA with the goal of teaching so that she could have summers off like Sid. Dina and Sid welcomed their two children, Reeva in 1963 and Eric in 1966, and moved to Thousand Oaks in 1969.

While busy raising a family, Dina taught both business and English in the community college system. She particularly enjoyed teaching older students and therefore (and also because she liked sleeping in) taught evening courses. 

Dina wore many hats during these decades. She wrote poetry, edited the women’s literary journal Facets at Moorpark College, volunteered at the Conejo Free Clinic and local Democratic club, served as a hospice volunteer, did a stint in law school, and was a freelance writer and theater critic for the local newspapers. In the latter capacity, she would often get free tickets to opening night productions “in town” to which she mostly dragged Sid. They enjoyed the celebrity-spotting that went along with this perk.

A life highlight was the sabbatical year of 1974-75 that the family spent living in Rehovot, Israel. Dina’s Zionist Jewish identity was steadfast, and that value lives on in her children.

Retirement brought enjoyment of grandchildren (Hannah, Adam, and Leah, born to Reeva and husband Andy), plenty of travel, and relaxing days spent lunching and shopping. Just two months before Dina’s passing she was able to meet her great-grandson Zeke.

Dina was direct and, it’s been said, a force to be reckoned with. It was best to be on her good side. If you were, she was your biggest fan: peppering you with kind notes, interesting newspaper articles, and photocopies of poems. 

A favorite quote was “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” She passed having fulfilled this maxim over a rich and rewarding 92 years.