IN MEMORIAM
Rivkah Feldman, 87; Taught
At SUNY Cobleskill, Oneonta
ONEONTA – Rivkah Feldman, 87, who taught at SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Oneonta for many years, died of complications from COVID-19 on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, in Manhattan.
Survivors include Libby Cudmore of Oneonta, former managing editor of Hometown Oneonta and The Freeman’s Journal.
Rivkah was born April 22, 1934, in The Bronx, to Rabbi Isiah and Esther Molotin.
A graduate of Ramaz High School (where she was a Talmudic Champion), she received her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Hunter College. She went on to earn a master’s from Columbia in Statistics, and a doctorate in English Literature in 1979 from NYU, writing her dissertation on the poetry of Anne Sexton.
In 1961, she adopted her son, Nathan.
She taught English at the Borough of Manhattan Community College for many decades, and, for a time, chaired the department, where she was widely loved by her many students and colleagues. In the 1990s, she taught at SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Cobleskill, dividing her time between her home in Sloansville and the Upper West Side.
She was a world traveler, with multiple trips to Israel, Europe, South America and Asia. In the summer, she could be found in the vegetable gardens of her Upstate home. She enjoyed attending the opera, the symphony and the ballet. A lifelong learner, in her retirement she took up ceramics.
In 2010, she married Bernard Bernstein and relocated to Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Now with a travel companion, she continued seeing the world, taking her last trip in 2019, touring Central America.
In addition to her son and her husband, Rivkah is survived by her granddaughters, Shaun, Libby, Hilary, Laura and Bethia, as well as eight great-grandchildren; Rachel, Jacob, Josie, Joshua, Lucy, Melody, Max and Zachary. She also maintained a very close relationship with her former daughter-in-law, Nancy, who she loved as family.
She is further survived by her sisters Devorah and Shlomit.
She was predeceased by her parents.
A graveside service was held Thursday, Feb. 4, at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, with the Rabbi Robert Summers officiating.
Arrangements were entrusted to the Riverside Memorial Chapel.