[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 52 (Monday, April 13, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E462-E463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LIFE OF YAEL HORNSTEIN GALPERIN

                                  _____
                                 

                             HON. TED LIEU

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 13, 2015

  Mr. TED LIEU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life 
of Yael Hornstein Galperin--mother, wife, grandmother, professional 
opera singer, and school administrator--who passed away on April 5, 
2015, at the age of 87.
  Yael met every challenge in life head on, with integrity and great 
intellect. Born in Israel to Russian immigrant parents, she took a job 
at a salt factory so that she could help support her family. She went 
on to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces and its elite security 
service, and later pursued a career as a professional opera singer.
  In 1949, she married a fellow opera singer, Levi Galperin, a 
Holocaust survivor and rabbi from Romania. The young couple moved to 
Philadelphia, where Yael was awarded a full scholarship to the Academy 
of Vocal Arts, and was a prized performer.
  Yael embraced motherhood, putting aside her full-time pursuit of 
opera to raise her children. She continued to sing, but also began to

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teach and work as a school administrator. Upon her move to California 
in the 1980s, she began to work with the Jewish Federation of Greater 
Los Angeles, where she worked in the Bureau of Jewish Education for 
over 13 years.
  Yael was an avid reader, spoke multiple languages, and embraced 
adventure by traveling the world and constantly taking on new 
challenges. She is survived by her husband, Rabbi Dr. Levi Galperin, 
her son, L.A. City Controller Ron Galperin, her daughter Leora Krygeir, 
her sons-in-law, David Krygier and Rabbi Zachary Shapiro, and her 
grandchildren, whom I hope take comfort in the way Yael lived her life 
as an accomplished and astounding woman. May her memory be a blessing 
to us all.

                          ____________________