Shoshana Karasanti
Shoshana Karasanti was born on November 30, 1937 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the first daughter of her parents Bluma and Ephraim Smolevitzish. When Shoshana was just four years old, her mother died in childbirth. As the tragedy plunged the family into crisis, Shoshana's father became dysfunctional. Shoshana and her baby sister Rena were sent off to a Jewish orphanage in Buenos Aires, which was cold, alien and depressing. Twelve girls lived in each room, eating their meals seated on stiff wooden benches in the dining hall. Shoshana recalled that at the age of five, she peered at the sky and realized that it was totally empty, void of God. She carried this insight in her heart from that day onward.
The girls’ only bright spots were the vacations they took each year to the city of Córdoba, where they experienced happiness and laughter. Shoshana fondly remembered picking and eating sweet fruits. Another cherished bright spot was Rena, her little sister. Despite their mother’s tragic death, Rena (Ruti) was and remained Shoshana’s closest friend until Rena’s death five years ago.
Although she was younger, Rena was the one who protected Shoshana in the orphanage. At the tender age of twelve, Shoshana left the orphanage to go out to work. She joined a Jewish youth movement, and at fifteen immigrated to Israel through the Jewish Agency, where she settled in a boarding school and began learning Hebrew. At age 18, Shoshana reached Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in the northern Negev, where she met and married Eli Karasanti. Her two children were born on the kibbutz – Maayana in 1958 and Moti in 1961 – however the couple divorced after a decade. Eli, today 93 years old, survived the inferno of Kibbutz Be’eri.
Following her marriage, Shoshana commenced her studies for a Bachelor’s Degree in Education at Oranim College, in addition to studying art at the Avni Institute. For most of her life, Shoshana worked as an art teacher in the kibbutz elementary school, a job which she dearly loved. She also pursued her own artist vision, including abstract and figurative drawings often featured in exhibitions in Tel Aviv. The noted artist Yehezkel Streichman came to view her paintings, and the famed Menashe Kadishman was a great admirer of Shoshana’s work as well.
Shoshana’s second love was reading, which she would pursue for hours on end. Most of the time, her television remained off. Her preference was for books from which to learn something, primarily nonfiction and art. One of her favorite volumes was a 1000-page book on Picasso. Shoshana was savvy in every respect. Beyond Hebrew and Spanish, she spoke three languages which she had taught herself – French, English and German. It was possible to speak with Shoshana on any topic in the world, except for politics, which she despised.
Shoshana came to Kibbutz Be’eri some seven years ago to be close to Maayana (Hershkovitz), her eldest daughter (who was also tragically murdered in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7th). Maayana cared for her mother until two years ago when a caregiver was employed for several hours a day. Shoshana basked in the warmth and love of the wonderful kibbutz members, who gave her social and emotional support from the day she arrived. They saw in her a gentle woman with a lovely soul, who walked the kibbutz paths with a smile on her face. Shoshana was active in Be’eri’s Senior Club, where she greatly enjoyed the enriching lectures and activities that broadened her knowledge.
Throughout the years, Shoshana continued to draw and to create. An announcement for her last exhibition in the Kibbutz Be’eri Gallery read, “This Saturday will mark the opening of ‘A Butterfly’s Wing,’ an exhibition of Shoshana Karasanti’s work depicting her childhood memories of the Jewish orphanage in Buenos Aires. One of the scrolls of text she attached to the exhibition reads: ‘At the cold, gray wake-up hour, when you were still drowsy, you could close your eyes and see a room with vibrant light.’ Her transparent hand became a butterfly’s glowing wing.”
Shoshana maintained a sense of security over her surroundings, and knew well how to contend with difficulties and constraints. One of the sentences that best characterized her was, “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.” From the youngster who grew up in the terrible conditions of an orphanage, in her maturity Shoshana accepted everything with happiness and a smile, never imagining that she deserved more. She always said thank you, and never ever complained. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. She was modest and humble. The great lights of her life were her grandchildren Ella, Amit and Tamir, Maayana’s children, and Opal, Alon and Lihi, Moti’s children and then the seven great-grandchildren, who brought her extraordinary joy. She was an active and involved grandmother, an active partner in raising her grandchildren. She especially enjoyed teaching and sharing with them her vast knowledge. Shoshana raised generations of children on the love of art and the importance of creating, as her great passion became a part of them, engraved in their hearts.
Following the Black Sabbath in Be’eri, a childhood friend of Moti’s noted how to this day he has kept a chanukiah that he made in one of Shoshana’s art classes. She knew how to instill her love of art within others, inspiring children and those around her to love and explore art and literature. Shoshana’s full life, within which she gave inspiration and love to so very many, is a manifestation of her powerful emotional strength and her ability to flourish despite difficulties - to light the darkness as a glowing butterfly wing.
Shoshana’s life abruptly ended on the kibbutz she loved so dearly. She was laid to rest on Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in the Negev earth that was the landscape of her life, the landscape of her love. Her noble inspiration, her beaming smile, will always remain in our hearts.
May her memory be blessed.
