Bailey (Iscove) Bloom

Bailey Ruth Bloom passed away on Saturday, June 3 at the age of 86 after a long struggle with cancer, and only six days after the passing of her beloved husband and soul-mate, Bert.

She was born Bailey Ruth Iscove in Toronto, Canada, and like her husband, her parents came from Poland and what is now Ukraine to escape persecution in the early 20th century. She grew up in a household that included her many aunts and uncles as well as her grandparents, and it was always full of visitors, music, food and conversation.

Bailey was predeceased by her parents, Rose (Harnick) Iscove and Dr. Arnold Iscove, and her beloved husband, Rabbi Bernard "Bert" Bloom. She is survived by her three children, Jeremy (Dale) Bloom, Margo (Jeff) Olson, and Joel (Julie Novkov) Bloom, her grandchildren, Jaffa (Topher) Jung, Sarice Olson, and Izak Olson; Asher, Shira, and Zachary Novkov-Bloom, and Marlowe Bloom, and her brother Melvyn Iscove.

The first thing that people would say about Bailey was how smart she was. She skipped two grades and was still the valedictorian of her high school class. Her amazing intellect informed her life and enriched the causes and organizations for which she worked. Bailey was a community leader in her own right, serving as an activist and leader in the local and New York State League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood, Family Planning Advocates, and Interfaith Impact, just to name a few. She was a regular and much-loved presence in the halls of the New York State Capitol, lobbying for women’s rights, reproductive rights, civil rights, voting access, social services, and other progressive causes. Bailey served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in the area’s family courts, and late in life, went back to get her Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Rockefeller College at the University at Albany, SUNY.

Music played a central role in Bailey’s life from a young age and she started playing the piano at age six. As a teen, she was an accomplished concert pianist, highlighted when she won second place at a competition at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music; the great Glenn Gould approached her after, to tell her that in his opinion she should have won. She later served as the founding Music Director at Temple Isaiah in Lexington, Massachusetts, and continued playing her Steinway baby grand until a few months prior to her passing. When Bailey felt that the music program at her children’s school could use more support, she took action and was the founding president of the Bethlehem Music Association, ”formed in 1975 to provide music enrichment opportunities not normally available in the schools,” and which thrives to this day. Bailey also received music teaching certification from the College of Saint Rose and taught piano for many years in Delmar.

But for most of her life, she derived her love and joy from her deep bond with her husband of almost 66 years, Bert Bloom. She and Bert met at Camp Ogama, a Jewish summer camp north of Toronto, where she was music director and he was the art and canoeing director. They fell in love and in June of 1957, she graduated from the University of Toronto. Bert had just been ordained at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, so they were married on June 10th and moved to his first congregation in Nashville, Tennessee.

At the age of 20, she knew nothing of what it meant to be a "rebbetzin," a Rabbi's wife; indeed, she barely knew how to cook! But with the help of the southern ladies of Nashville and recipes from her aunts, she began the process of making a home and a life. In all of the following moves to Boston, Asheville, Chicago, and then Upstate New York in 1968, including homes in Albany, Schenectady, and finally Saratoga Springs, she used her skills and intelligence to become engaged with and to enhance the communities in which they lived. She joined organizations, chaired committees, saw where there was need, and rose to fill the gaps. She did all this while raising her three children and spending as much time as possible with her extended family in Toronto. When they moved to Saratoga, she of course got deeply involved in her community there, taking part at Temple Sinai, serving on her condominium association board, and continuing with her support of the Jewish Federation and Planned Parenthood.

After Bert retired, they had even more time to attend concerts at Union College and the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and they could be found during the summer enjoying the ballet, orchestra, and opera at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Tanglewood. She shared this love of music with her children and grandchildren who were often on the lawn at SPAC or attending concerts or plays with her. As much time as she spent on community activism, she loved spending time with her family and especially loved and doted on her seven grandchildren. Her life was enriched by playing her piano, traveling with Bert and with friends and family, spending time on her deck and at the pool with her beloved Bert, friends, and neighbors.

Contributions to causes that were important to her can be made in her memory to the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, the New Israel Fund, to Planned Parenthood, or to a Jewish or social justice cause that has meaning to you.

Her connection to her husband Bert was so profound that she passed away shortly after his death and just a few days shy of their 66th wedding anniversary. Due to the sudden worsening of her cancer, his funeral service was put on hold.

The joint funeral service for Bailey and Bert Bloom will take place on Tuesday, June 6 at Temple Gates of Heaven in Schenectady, New York where Bert was the Rabbi Emeritus. The service will take place at 11:00 am and will also be available to stream at CGOH.org. The service will be followed by a private burial.

A Shiva Minyan on Zoom will take place on Tuesday, June 6 at 7:00 pm https://skidmore.zoom.us/j/92109654307

They were united in a long life and now they will be united in eternal peace.

(Bailey never had the opportunity to have a bat mitzvah, so she decided to study and became an adult Bat Mitzvah when she chanted from the Torah at Temple Sinai of Saratoga in August 2019, just after receiving her cancer diagnosis. For her speech, she wrote a wonderful story of her life's journey through Judaism. Bailey Bat Mitzvah Speech

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