Gila Ramras-Rauch, internationally distinguished scholar of Hebrew, Israeli and Holocaust literature and leading authority on the writings of Aharon Appelfeld, died on Wednesday, February 16, in her home in Brookline, Mass. She was 71.

The Lewis H. and Selma Weinstein Professor of Jewish Literature at Hebrew College, where she taught for 23 years, Ramras-Rauch believed that Jewish literature is a window on the human condition and the creative mind at work.

"She was a spellbinding personality who was both an impeccable, world-renowned scholar and brilliant teacher," said David M. Gordis, president of Hebrew College. "She had the ability to connect with a wide range of students of all ages, without a touch of arrogance or condescension. At the same time, she did not suffer fools gladly."

In the midst of writing a book about the work of Holocaust survivor Ida Fink at the time of her death, Ramras-Rauch was perhaps best known for her definitive analysis of the writings of Aharon Appelfeld, winner of the 1983 Israel Prize for Literature. Meticulously crafted, Ramras-Rauch's Aharon Appelfeld: The Holocaust and Beyond (Indiana University Press, 1994) was the first book to appear in English on Appelfeld's work.

Trying to understand the human struggle against tremendous odds is what led Ramras-Rauch to her study of Holocaust literature. Author of six books, she emphasized the power of metaphor to convey what descriptions of horror and suffering cannot fully express. Focusing on writers like Appelfeld and Fink, she taught her students to uncover literary metaphors, such as smoke, that can evoke both the personal and universal pain of the Holocaust by connecting at a deep emotional level with the reader.

"By deconstructing and reconstructing texts," she said, "my role is to give students the tools so they can understand and analyze text and literature on their own. I hope after my courses that they will read differently, as independent thinkers."

In addition to her scholarship on Appelfeld, she was the author of The Arab in Israeli Literature (Indiana University Press, 1989), which she wrote under the sponsorship of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and The Protagonist in Transition: Studies in Modern Fiction (Peter Lang Publishers, Inc., 1982), as well as co-editor of an anthology on contemporary Israeli writing about the Holocaust, Facing the Holocaust: Selected Israeli Fiction (Jewish Publication Society, 1985). Her Hebrew publications included a book on the Israeli novelist L. A. Arieli and a study of the early 20th century novelist J. C. Brenner.

Born in Tel-Aviv in 1933, Ramras-Rauch received her MA from Hunter College, City University of New York, and her PhD from Bar-Ilan University in Israel. During her career, she taught at Bar-Ilan University, Indiana University, the University of Texas, Ohio State University and Brandeis University.

Wife of the late Leo Rauch, z'l, who died in 1997, she leaves her sons, Michael and Daniel Rauch, both of California; her sister, Rachel, and brother, Dov, both of Israel.

In memory of Dr. Gila Ramras-Rauch, beloved teacher and scholar, Hebrew College is establishing The Dr. Gila Ramras-Rauch Memorial Lecture Series and creating a fund to support the program. Learn more about the fund and how you can contribute . . .

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