Dalia Grozobinsky Lehavy, 82, passed away on May 17th at her home in Margate, New Jersey surrounded by her loving family and dear friends. Dalia is most known in the community for teaching at the Hebrew Academy for over 30 years, as well as at Beth El and Beth Judah synagogues. To her family and friends, Dalia was known to be a strong, wise, loving, and giving spouse, mother, friend, grandmother, cousin, and colleague who continuously supported everyone around her with a full heart and delicious cooking. Dalia was born on December 7, 1935 in Haifa, Israel where she lived until she joined the Israeli army. Dalia served in the elite Golani brigade from 1955 to 1956. After the army, she attended Seminar Rothschild College in Haifa where she earned her teaching certification. Dalia always dreamed of living in America and lived in Detroit from 1960 to 1961 where she studied ceramics. The story of how Dalia met her husband Yechiel Lehavy is a favorite of the family’s. As she tells it, she was on her way back to Israel and decided to stop and tour through Europe. Her travels ended in Naples, Italy, where she decided to tour the ruins of Pompeii. While looking at the ruins, she noticed a man with an Israeli passport in his pocket filming the site. She went up to him and said in Hebrew, “This is interesting.” The two fell in love at first sight. After spending the day together, Yechiel, who was studying at the University of Pennsylvania at the time, and she decided to exchange addresses and stay in touch. After a few months of writing letters, Dalia came to visit him in Philadelphia, and they were married within two weeks. While living in Philadelphia, Dalia and Yechiel began building a family, while she earned her bachelor’s degree at Gratz College in Hebrew Literature and taught at Adath Jeshrun and Temple Sinai synagogues. The couple moved to Margate in 1973. Once in Margate, Dalia started working at the Hebrew Academy and supported the Jewish community with all her heart through community involvement and a charitable mindset. Dalia is survived by her husband and “match made in Heaven” Yechiel of 55 years; her son Nadav who lives in Singapore; her daughter Ophir who lives in Florida; Elana who lives in Boston; and six grandchildren Coby, Juliette, Cale, Aria, Ethan, and Celia. The lessons of community that Dalia instilled in her students, her family, and friends will pass down through the generations. Relatives and friends are invited to attend graveside services Friday, May 18th, at 2:30pm, at Beth Kehillah Cemetery, 6687 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Twp., NJ. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Dalia’s favorite charity Magen David Adom at https://afmda.org/.

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