Barbara Rubenstein Topol, an active leader in the Jewish community, died at her home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, of lung cancer, on Aug. 28. She was 83. The daughter of the late Eleanor Nevins Rubenstein and Frank Rubenstein, Barbara was born in Pittsburgh and went to Carnegie Tech, where she met her husband, Allan Topol. They moved to the Washington, D.C., area and raised their children.
Barbara played a leadership role in raising funds for Hadassah, American-Israel Cultural Foundation, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, among other organizations. Highlights of her accomplishments include raising seed money for the Hadassah Hospice, co-chairing Hadassah’s National Convention and serving as Hadassah’s national board member and president of the Washington Chapter. Barbara was a committed philanthropist who also enjoyed playing piano and tennis, cooking, entertaining friends and family and editing her husband’s novels.
Barbara is survived by her husband, Allan Topol, her children Rebecca Topol (Emil Mertzel), Deborah (Lawrence) Topol Rosenberg and Daniella (Joseph) Topol Slott, the late David (surviving, Stacey) Topol and cherished grandmother of Sam, Ben, Hannah, Alex, Sophia, Jessica and Leora. The family has asked that memorial gifts be made to Hadassah. Arrangements entrusted to Torchinsky Hebrew Funeral Home, 254 Carroll St., NW, Washington, D.C., 20012, 202-541-1001.