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Marshfield's Jules Rabin Celebrates a Century of Intellectual Curiosity, Trailblazing Bread and Peace Activism
Marshfield's Jules Rabin Celebrates a Century of Intellectual Curiosity, Trailblazing Bread and Peace Activism
The spirited centenarian has made his mark in the Goddard College classroom, through his Upland Bakers bread business and at decades of peace vigils.
By MELISSA PASANEN
Published August 7, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. | Updated August 8, 2024 at 12:16 p.m.
WALLACE-BRODEUR
Jules Rabin
Jules Rabin describes the current state of Montpelier's Friday peace vigil as "kind of schleppy," a Yiddish word for awkward or undistinguished. Despite his characteristically forthright assessment, Rabin has been a steadfast attendee for the better part of two decades. Most weeks, the 100-year-old drives himself from his home in Marshfield to join a handful of senior citizens in front of the old post office, wielding well-worn signs proclaiming, "War is not the answer," "Climate Action Now" and "Free Gaza."
On June 7, Rabin joined five fellow protesters on State Street. He had navigated his red Toyota RAV4 to the Capital City through a brief, intense rainstorm. "I hardly noticed it," he said. Barely five foot three, the elfin Rabin wore a collared turquoise shirt, khakis and a jaunty straw boater suited for a picnic lunch.
[...]
Born Yehuda Moishe Rabinovitz on April 6, 1924, Rabin was the youngest of five children of uneducated Eastern European Jewish immigrants who lived hand to mouth in Roxbury, Mass. Rabin is not religious — he calls himself a Jewish atheist — but he identifies strongly as Jewish. "As a tribe, we Eastern European Jews have our customs and deep attitudes," he explained. "'See something, say something' is part of my Jewish culture."
As such, he said, he feels compelled to speak out against injustice wherever he sees it, from the Vietnam and Iraq wars to the situation in Gaza, which he has been protesting for years. Though Rabin is not temperamentally suited to be a movement organizer — "He can't stand meetings," said his wife, Helen — his deep commitment and talents as an articulate and tireless spokesperson distinguish him.
[...]
The spirited centenarian has made his mark in the Goddard College classroom, through his Upland Bakers bread business and at decades of peace vigils.
By MELISSA PASANEN
Published August 7, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. | Updated August 8, 2024 at 12:16 p.m.
WALLACE-BRODEUR
Jules Rabin
Jules Rabin describes the current state of Montpelier's Friday peace vigil as "kind of schleppy," a Yiddish word for awkward or undistinguished. Despite his characteristically forthright assessment, Rabin has been a steadfast attendee for the better part of two decades. Most weeks, the 100-year-old drives himself from his home in Marshfield to join a handful of senior citizens in front of the old post office, wielding well-worn signs proclaiming, "War is not the answer," "Climate Action Now" and "Free Gaza."
On June 7, Rabin joined five fellow protesters on State Street. He had navigated his red Toyota RAV4 to the Capital City through a brief, intense rainstorm. "I hardly noticed it," he said. Barely five foot three, the elfin Rabin wore a collared turquoise shirt, khakis and a jaunty straw boater suited for a picnic lunch.
[...]
Born Yehuda Moishe Rabinovitz on April 6, 1924, Rabin was the youngest of five children of uneducated Eastern European Jewish immigrants who lived hand to mouth in Roxbury, Mass. Rabin is not religious — he calls himself a Jewish atheist — but he identifies strongly as Jewish. "As a tribe, we Eastern European Jews have our customs and deep attitudes," he explained. "'See something, say something' is part of my Jewish culture."
As such, he said, he feels compelled to speak out against injustice wherever he sees it, from the Vietnam and Iraq wars to the situation in Gaza, which he has been protesting for years. Though Rabin is not temperamentally suited to be a movement organizer — "He can't stand meetings," said his wife, Helen — his deep commitment and talents as an articulate and tireless spokesperson distinguish him.
[...]