Our mother was a dynamo.  She was a person in constant motion.  Busy, occupied, productive and most importantly creative. Her highest compliment was that someone was “energetic”.  Another was that someone was “intelligent”.  She was the most energetic and intelligent person that we knew.   She moved with purpose and direction and guided us throughout our lives.  She strived high, and achieved higher.   She spoke or understood 4 languages and was an avid reader.  She loved music, art and theatre. She was the archetypical energizer bunny who never ran out of steam.  Her life was a great success, filled with experience.  She was a survivor, a kibbutznik, a socialist, a capitalist, a volunteer, a mother, a sister, a wife, an artist, a partner, a creator and a woman.  She lived life to the fullest suffused in the glow of all that is positive in this world.  She was the archetype to which all women in our family strive to become.
She was born in Warsaw, Poland on June 1, 1930 the first child of parents Israel and Pola Buchman.  Before the war the family was slowly climbing up the economic ladder working in their own business and she and her brother Jack (Kuba) prospered and thrived. The onset of  World War Two brought the horror of the holocaust.  Through the intelligence and foresight of her mother Pola, who converted their funds into precious stones, they were able to survive the war.  With this “wealth” they were able to escape the Warsaw Ghetto and find temporary shelter However, her mother saw that staying in the Ghetto would mean death, and bribed their way hiding in a home in Christian part of Warsaw.  Her father, with his Jewish appearance stayed in the Ghetto until after the Uprising, and escaped from certain death in Treblinka by jumping from train that was taking him there.  Tamara survived the war as a young nanny and housekeeper while her mother and brother remained in hiding.  Through the war years the family survived only to have her mother die weeks before the war’s end.  Widowed, her father took her, her brother and their cousin Tamarka to the Otwock orphange while he tried to reestablish their life.  There they finished high school and rediscovered their youth with other orphans or youths in the same situation.  Otwock was the place that brought them back to life and they made lifelong friends.  It was there that my mother was introduced to the Zionist dream of Israel and where she became an ardent socialist joining the youth movement Hashomer Hatzair.  In 1949, she emigrated to Israel and eventually settled on Kibbutz Revadim.  She became one of the pioneers that built the country – creating a new reality and homeland for all Jews.  In Israel she blossomed.  She was reintroduced to, fell in love with and married our father Mietek and gave birth to two Israeli children – Erez and Pnina.  In 1959, the family moved to Toronto to be with her beloved father Israel (Srulek), his new wife Ginia and her brother Jack and sister Lily.  Within one year, she had her youngest son Yoram and her life was complete.  In Canada, she spent her first few years as a hebrew teacher, helped her husband in his new business and discovered an intense passion for art.  At the age of 42, she entered university to realize her passion and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts.  She remained an avid painter and visual artist throughout her life.  To walk into her home, was to walk into her art gallery with every wall adorned with creations of her imagination.  Her works are filled with colour and vitality and reflect the personality and intensity of our mother.  With her art degree in hand, she spent many years working at Baycrest helping the aged through her special brand of Art Therapy.  She and her husband Mietek were also intensely social people and were the centre of their large group of friends.  On weekends our house was filled with their friends smoking, eating, drinking and singing.  An accordion was always at hand.  Their joy was infectious.  Their Purim parties were legendary.  They were the social event of the year amongst their friends, and in later years a great vehicle to raise funds for the Anne Frank Foundation, with hundreds dressing up foolishly  dancing and drinking the night away with joyful abandon.
At 86 years and 7 months, our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and partner Tamara (Buchman) Weinreich passed away peacefully on January 20, 2017 at 3:10 am at her home in Toronto.  She was surrounded by all of us who loved her.  Her partner Herman Graner, who brought her so much joy and happiness in the past 8 years,  was with her until the end.  As were her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren:  her son Erez, his daughter Danielle and her husband Tony and their children Sam and Ezra and Erez’s wife Li and their children Ela and Lev; her daughter Pnina and husband Allon and their son David and daughter in law Taryn with their children Hanna, Jacob and Noa; their daughter Adee and son in law Jeremy with their children Micah, Brayden and Marley; their son Jonathan and daughter in law Sara with their son Theodore; and their son Ave; and her son Yoram and wife Ronit and their children Raz, Maya, Ely and Ariel.  She is also missed by her extended family in Toronto, New York and Israel as well as her many, many friends.
We miss her greatly.
Funeral services will be held on Sunday January 22, 2017 at 10:30 AM at Steeles Memorial Chapel – 350 Steeles Avenue West – Thornhill – Ontario – L4J 1A1. Shiva will be held at 98 Brookview Drive in Toronto. Memorial donations may be made to the Association for Soldiers of Israel (416) 783-3053 or Bikur Cholim (416) 783-7983