Joseph Moses

Rebecca B. Ohni Given name Joseph Moses Joseph Moses, known more recently as Rebecca Ohni, died peacefully on December 19 at DHMC. A lover of nature, and supporter of environmental causes and social justice, he was Born in Springfield, Mass. April 18, 1931. At age 14, he was sent to Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY to become a Rabbi. This was not his path; he left at age 17 and hitchhiked across the US to California and back. Upon returning, he put his love of language and puns to work writing ad copy. He was married in 1956 to Anita Krochmal. Unhindered by not completing High School, he completed both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the University of Chicago in under four years. His son, Marc, was born in 1961 in Chicago. He then became a professor of English at SUNY Plattsburgh where his son, Elan, was born in 1964. Moving to NYC in 1967 he taught at Hunter and Baruch College of CUNY. He was a writer in many genres, including several children's stories, one of which, The Great Rain Robbery, was published in 1975 by Houghton Mifflin. During this time, he received his PhD for a thesis on George Meredith, later published as The Novelist as Comedian in 1983. His poem, Bar Ledge, was published in The New Yorker magazine in 1980. Upon retiring from teaching, he rekindled his love of Judaism, received ordination as a Rabbi, and took leadership of a congregation in New Castle, Pa., where he served for three years. He then returned to a home he had purchased after retiring on the northern-most coast of Maine. In 2003, he amoved closer to his son Elan in Southern Vermont. At 74, he made a very courageous decision to let the world know that he had always identified internally as a woman. For the last part of her life, she was known as Rebecca Ohni. She was greatly loved and respected by the members of the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community, who referred to her as Reb Rebecca, and were grateful for her extensive knowledge of Torah and love of Jewish melodies. She was predeceased by her three sisters, and ex-wife, Anita. She will be greatly missed by many-- and forever dearly loved by sons Marc and Elan, daughter-in-law Dena, and grandson Avi Isaac Moses. A memorial service was held the day after her death at Ker Westerlund in Brattleboro. Any donations in her honor could be sent to an environmental cause you support.