by Nechami Brilliant
Margot Brilliant, a”h, was
born on July 17, 1928, in Hamburg, Germany. Because her parents were unable to
care for her properly, she spent her early years – from age four to ten – in
Paulinenstift, a Jewish orphanage for girls in Hamburg. She remembered her
father picking her up for visits to her grandparents on Shabbos afternoons to
receive a bracha from her grandfather and recalled fond memories of
preparing for Pesach in the orphanage kitchen, with the older girls peeling
potatoes. She laughed when she described the first time she peeled potatoes –
how, when the dirty peels left dirt marks on the potato, she kept peeling until,
by the time she finished, there was not much left of the potato! She also
shared fond memories of dancing around the tables Friday night while singing “Shalom
Aleichem.”
But if her stay at the orphanage was
a tragedy, it also became the bracha that saved her life. In May 1939,
at age 10, Margot traveled by boat to England on a Kindertransport. She lived
with a family in Colwyn Bay, Wales – not a very happy experience – until she
turned 17. At that time, Margot enlisted the aid of the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee to help her emigrate to the United States, where she had
her maternal grandmother, aunts, and an uncle living in Baltimore. While Margot
did not enjoy the voyage by boat to the United States, it was a turning point
in her life.
Margot started anew in the new
world, working and going to night school to receive proper training to become a
secretary. Margot was determined and very resilient. She worked various jobs in
retail businesses before having the epiphany that she could do this herself.
She opened her own mailing and secretarial business in downtown Baltimore. Over
the many years of her business, her services supported many of Baltimore’s
Jewish organizations while in their infancy. She worked hand in hand with Rebbetzin
Gitty Dinovits, Rebbetzin Rochel Feldman, and many devoted communal leaders of
the Baltimore community laying the groundwork for the strong vibrant Baltimore
we have today.
In winter 1967, at age 40, Margot
married Dr. Louis Brilliant, and she had two children a few short years later!
Margot never imagined she would get married and, more so, that she would have a
beautiful Jewish family. Margot balanced her family and business life, never
missing a chance to chaperone class trips and attend community functions. In
those early days in Baltimore, many immigrant families did not have extended
family, and it was a regular sight to see Dr. and Mrs. Brilliant with their
children in tow at the many community organizations’ fundraiser dinners. In
addition to caring for her family, she made sure that their home was an open
home, full of quiet chesed for the community and family members,
offering a home for single family members to live in for many years.
The brightest light in Margot’s
life was her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Each new family
member brought special smiles, playfulness, and joy into Margot’s life. She
loved learning from her grandchildren, sharing her life experience, and most of
all, her precious touch.
Margot had the zechus to
live to be 98 in good health. Her neshama departed this world on 15 of
Av, a most befitting day for her to greet Hashem. The energy we experienced in
the room as she passed through to the next world was palpable; the malachim
danced with great joy as they greeted Margot’s special neshama, a neshama
that worked through painful portals of life to grow, change, and mature to
completion.
Our Special Relationship
Thank you, Hashem, for giving us
the opportunity to have Mommy in our lives for so many wonderful years. Thank
you, Hashem, for being able to fulfill her wish to remain at home all the days
of her life.
Mom, you were right – you did not
melt from the raindrops! I still remember the kindness you shared with me when
I first met you. Your sparkly smile and warm touch forged the beginning of the
special relationship we shared all these years. We used to joke that we both got
the best deal, me and you. As my sister Rochel said, you were surely my biggest
cheerleader, and you made sure I had all the tools I needed to be successful in
the next stage of my life before you left. We were connected in a special way
that is hard to explain unless you experienced it.
Thank you for sharing your love of
all the little things. You took great pleasure in the texture of a scrap of
material, a button, or a bead. Long before the crafting and “upcycling” trends,
you loved to create new items from things that already existed; bookmarks from
magazine photos and new fashions from existing clothing (as long as the fabric
was soft to touch, comfortable, and colorful). You found joy in crafting and
knitting, creating scarves and blankets without any pattern or taking a pattern
and adding your own special touch. And you just loved a good wind chime; of
course, you always added your own flair to those too!
Most of all, you loved to learn Torah
and personal growth. You bought every new Jewish book that was printed, and I
think that, between the two of us, we owned every self-help book available. I’ve
since grown and learned that I am not broken, and neither were you. You were
perfectly imperfect, yet you strived to understand what made you the way you
were. You took the wise words of others to heart, using them to help you
through the challenges you experienced since childhood. You grew, and in turn,
you gave me sage advice many times, on those long walks after Shabbos meals
between our homes.
There is so much to share, but what
we can learn from you most of all is perseverance. You never gave up, no matter
the situation you were placed in. You were always looking to grow and become
your best self, long before it was the popular thing to do. You looked for
Hashem’s beauty in every small creation, and you found it. You treated others
with kindness and generosity, especially those who needed it most.
Thank you for your open home, your
big heart, for helping peel pounds and pounds of vegetables each Pesach, for
teaching our kids to eat lox and sardines. (I am not sure they would be served
in Buckingham Palace, but in case they would, the kids were prepared!) Thank
you for leading by example, for sharing your knowledge, and for being a good
friend. You encompassed a whole world. We are so grateful to have had you all
these years. We are so blessed.
Thank you to all the beautiful
women who helped care for you during the last many years. We are so
appreciative for everything you did to help Mommy/Bubby stay at home where she
wanted to be. Thank you to all our extended family, friends, and neighbors who
lovingly adopted Bubby as their Bubby Brilliant, too.
There were times we did not give
you the proper kavod. You deserved more than we gave. May your neshama
be a meilitz yosher for our entire family. Please daven for all
of us – especially for those who need it most. You know who they are.
