Mrs. Susan Shuster, 87, OBM

Mrs. Susan Shuster, matriarch of a proud Jewish family who merited many answers from the Rebbe and who were instrumental in founding Chabad communities in Florida, passed away on Friday, 18 Tammuz, 5786.

Mrs. Susan Shuster, matriarch of a proud Jewish family who merited many answers from the Rebbe and who were instrumental in founding Chabad communities in Florida, passed away on Friday, 18 Tammuz, 5786.

She was 87.

Mrs. Shuster was born on April 27, 1939, to Ella and Sam Scher. Her mother, Ella Scher, was among the first women criminal attorneys in New York City and in the United States, and her father, Sam Scher, was a pioneering plastic surgeon. Susan grew up in a home of distinction and, by every account, a life of royalty and luxury.

Susan and her husband, Dr. Marvin Shuster, built an extraordinary relationship with the Rebbe. It began at a time when, though she had everything she thought she wanted, she still felt an emptiness inside. The Rebbe looked at her and said simply, “But you are Jewish. You have your religion.” In one sentence, he helped her discover what had been missing all along, and from that moment she never looked back. What followed was a lifelong bond of correspondence, guidance, trust and love, with the Rebbe as the compass by which the family lived.

Their path forward began with their son Kenny, who was learning at Landow Yeshivah in Florida. As Kenny grew in his own observance, he wanted to make his parents’ home kosher, and he connected them with Rabbi Sholom Lipskar and his family. Susan and Marvin embraced the idea wholeheartedly. They hosted a koshering party, opening their home to the high society of Hollywood, Florida. Their kitchen was filled with designer china and beautiful things collected over the years, yet anything that could not be koshered was lovingly given away, not because anyone made them, but because once they knew the truth they wanted their home to reflect it.

Some time later, when Dr. Shuster’s father passed away, the family needed a minyan, and they opened their home for davening. That minyan took root and grew, leading the family to purchase a place to serve as a shul and to their close bond with Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus. From those beginnings, Chabad of South Broward was born. In time, the family moved back to Bal Harbour, Florida.

Susan merited a special connection with the Rebbe, and she treasured a number of remarkable stories from those encounters. The Rebbe once gave her the mission that would define the rest of her life, telling her, “Your husband makes people beautiful on the outside. Your mission is to make people beautiful on the inside.” She took those words literally. She opened her home, set a magnificent Shabbos table centered around an extravagant green marble table that seated twenty, and welcomed guests of every kind: families, students, neighbors, searchers and children. In her home, Yiddishkeit was not simply observed. It was experienced, joyful and beautiful.

There is another story she treasured. When the family was designing the doors of their home, she turned to the Rebbe for guidance, and he told her to engrave on them the teaching that the world stands on three pillars: Torah, avodah, and acts of kindness. Those doors became far more than an entrance. They became an invitation to Shabbos, to mitzvos, to belonging and to Yiddishkeit.

She trained as a nurse and carried herself with rare grace: a hostess par excellence who made every guest feel like the most important person in the room. Her generosity was legendary; if you complimented something she owned, she would give it to you on the spot.

Above all, Susan took a life of luxury and transformed it into a life of purpose and meaning, giving of herself wholly, with love and generosity of heart. She spent her years filling the lives of others and building a home where countless people discovered the beauty of being Jewish.

She is survived by her children Kenny, Shirley (Tovah) Greenbaum and Bernie, along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren who continue in her path, and by her brother, Charlie Scher.

Shiva details are as follows:

Shiva @ 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Sunday – Thursday

Shuster residence
8945 dickens ave
Surfside fl 33154

Greenbaum Residence
1445 Carroll street
Thursday
10am-2pm
6:00-9:00

Friday
10am 1pm

MOTZEI shabbos
9:30pm-
12:30am

Boruch Dayan Ha’emes – Chana Basya bas Reb Shmuel Leib HaLevi.

Never Miss a Headline!

Sign up for the COLlive Daily News Roundup and never miss a story

Opt In

• I would like to receive the collive newsletter

Follow Us!