Sandra M. "Aliza" (Finkel) Parker

Aliza Parker, 90, passed away on Monday, June 27, 2022. Loving wife of Gerald for 69 years. Beloved mother of Jonathan and his partner, William, and Ryah. Predeceased by her adored brother, Ben. Survived by her sister-in-law, Barbara, brother-in-law Frank, three generations of nieces and nephews, and cousins.

She was a professor at Northeastern University for over 30 years. Aliza also consulted with schools whose mission it is to teach Chinese, Japanese, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, and Native American languages and culture.

Aliza’s lifelong love of the Yiddish language began when she was a young child growing up in New York City. Her many academic accomplishments included earning her doctorate from Harvard University in 1973 with her thesis on Yiddish Secular Schools. She also delivered the Jacob Pat Memorial Lecture at Harvard, entitled “Yiddish Children’s Literature in the Yiddish Schools.”

From the time she met Jerry in Israel in 1950, Israel was at the core of Aliza’s personal and professional identity. Aliza taught for two years at the Technion in Haifa, and was invited to present at many conferences, and spent all of her research sabbaticals in Israel. She has many dear friends and relatives there, and made many trips with Jerry to visit them.

More important than her academic achievements, Aliza created community wherever she landed. Her home was always filled with family, friends, and visitors from around the world, some of whom she had just met on an airplane or waiting in line at a cultural event.

She loved classical music, opera, books, and travel. She also valued and sought out any opportunity to learn new things, and remained active in several reading groups, one of which was devoted to Yiddish poetry and prose.

Aliza will be sorely missed by her family, friends, and community, all of whom benefitted from her example of a life well lived.

Funeral services will take place on Sunday, July 3, 2022, at 10:00AM at Levine Chapels,470 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA. All attendees must be vaccinated and masked. The service will also be live streamed with viewing available using the following link: http://tinyurl.com/SandraMParker

If you choose to access the live stream, please sign your name in the comments section.

Burial will follow immediately after the service at Temple B’nai Brith Cemetery in Peabody, Massachusetts.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Aliza’s honor may be made to Yivo Institute of Jewish Research, 15 West 16th Street, New York, New York 10011, or New Israel Fund (NIF), P.O. Box 70358, Philadelphia, PA 19176-0358