Freund, Lea (née Tachauer, married Fürst)

Hebrew-Name
לאה פירסט/פרוינד (נולדה טחובר)
Biography
Lea Freund (née Tachauer, married Fürst) was born on 10.10.1920 in Nürnberg, Germany and died on 8.5.2012 in Tel Aviv. She was one of four children of the famous Rabbi Alexander Tachauer, who was also an insurance agent and the head of the welfare department at the Jewish community of Nürnberg. Lea studied at the Jewish elementary school in Nürnberg, then attended a religious high school, and was a member of the Jewish youth movement Ezrah. She immigrated with her family to Palestine in 1933 and lived in Jerusalem until 1938. In 1935, she studied education at the Mizrachi movement teacher seminary. She left after three years without graduating, havinge decided that she did not want to become a teacher. At first, she served as a secretary for the religious youth movement Bnei Akiva in Tel Aviv. In 1940, she joined the Hagana and attended Siddy Wronsky's school for social service in Jerusalem. Lea started to work as a social worker in the Ness Ziona and Rechovot welfare offices in 1941. In the following year, she began working as a social worker in Tel Aviv with immigrants from Yemen. Her first husband was Schendor Fürst, whom she married in 1949 and with whom she had two children. Her second husband was Rabbi Gidon Freund. In 1957, she went to the University of Cleveland in the United States for two years in order to obtain a master’s degree in social work. Later, she became one of Israel’s leading social workers. In 1963, she began work as a supervisor of social workers at the Ministry of Welfare and was a lecturer at the Tel Aviv University School of Social Work. She was a highly active volunteer at the Emunah welfare organization and was a board member, manager and therapist at the Aluma center for family therapy. In addition, she was the founder and a board member of the organizations Shlomit for voluntary aid and civil service and Matav for welfare services for the elderly. She retired in 1985 but continued to volunteer in the aforementioned organizations.
Mother
Jatchen Tachauer (born Meir)
Father
Rabi Alexander Tachauer, an insurance agent and head of the welfare department at the Jewish community of Nuremberg
Siblings
Esther, Ischachar-Bernhard and Yaacov Tachauer
Marriage/Children
Her first husband was Schendor Fuerst (married 1949). They had a daughter (Mirjam) and a son (Yair-Ischachar). Her second husband was Rabi Gidon Freund.
Age at Migration
13
Year of Migration
1933