Mendellapine

Pesha Leah Lapine
Born	El Campo, Texas, U.S.
Spouse	Chaim Dovid Lapine ​ (m. 1979)​
Children	4

Birth and Early Life

Pesha Leah Levin was born on July 30, 1953, the 19th of the Jewish month of Av, in El Campo, Texas, a small agricultural town in the floodplains of the Colorado River about an hour’s drive south of Houston. Her parents, Frank and Betty Levin, were one of only a half dozen Jewish families in the town of 7,000. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1992/02/09/248692.html

Marriage

In the 1970s, Phyliss became more religious after a visit to Israel in high school, in fact, she changed her name to Pesha Leah. She learned under Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff of Houston TX. In 1979, she met Chaim Dovid Lapine and after a few dates they got married. They settled in Houston.

Moving to Brooklyn

In 1984, after they had their first child Shraga Fivel, they moved from Houston to Morristown NJ. A short while later they moved to Brooklyn NY and had three more children:

Avraham Shmuel-born 1986

Mira-born 1987

Sara Chana-born 1989

Assassination

In February 1992, Mrs Pesha Leah Lapine came home from shopping and was attacked and killed by a insolent who broke into her home. It was found out that their 7-year-old Shraga Fivel, couldn’t get into the house until he called the neighbor for help. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1992/02/09/248692.html

The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Response

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson the Lubavitcher Rebbe attended her funeral. After the week of mourning, he spoke of her sacrifice. His words sounded more towards God, than the audience. https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/5618173/jewish/From-Texas-to-Missouri-A-Crown-Heights-Story-of-Love-and-Memory.htm

Mikvah in her Memory

In 2022, about 30 years since her Yartzeit, her son Rabbi Avraham Lapine announced he would open a mikvah where he lived Columbia, Missouri since there was no Mikvah there. He would make it in honor of his mother, Mrs Pesha Leah Lapine. May her memory be blessed.