Biography of Dr. Moises Rub
November 1927- December 2000
Moises Rub was born in Tishivetz, Poland, where he went to preschool at a heder. Yiddish was spoken there as well as in his home.
Since he was little, Moises was stoic. When his family was ready to begin a long boat trip to Peru, his arm was in a cast because of an accident on a seesaw. His mother, who was afraid that they would not be allowed to board, made him remove the cast. Moises had to make the entire journey in pain. Years later, stoically and with the spirit of a fighter, he underwent various treatments to combat the cancer that ultimately took his life, a month after having turned 73 years old.
In 1933, his family relocated to Peru. There he helped his father sell fabrics door-to-door. Eventually, his father opened up a fabric store which he called Casa Rub. At home, he helped his mother in the kitchen, beating eggs by hand to prepare mayonnaise, among other activities. His great sense of humor became apparent very early in his life. He always saw the positive side of everything. Once, when his mother sent him with some hens to take to the shojet, they escaped on the way. He then told his mother that they would no longer have to eat Kosher meats. On another occasion, he rode his bicycle to pick up a package for his mother and his bicycle was stolen. When he came home, he told her with a smile that they should buy a car, since he could not count on his bicycle anymore.
In Lima, he studied at the Guadalupe school, honoring the school’s hymn by personifying the lyrics “entusiasta juventud” (enthusiastic youth). Always very athletic and sociable, he belonged to the basketball team and he obtained Peruvian citizenship of which he was very proud. His older sister and brother began careers in pharmacy and engineering, respectively. During his medical studies at the Main National University of San Marcos of Lima, he worked during his free time and at nights at his sister’s pharmacy giving shots. With these first savings from work, he succeeded in purchasing his first car, a Morris Minor. His graduate thesis was entitled “La circuncisión en el recién nacido” (The Circumcision of the Newborn).
He married Raquel Stern Rub, and after a honeymoon in Cuzco they moved to the United States. He specialized in pediatrics at the Long Island Jewish Hospital in New York, under the supervision of Dr. Samuel Karelitz. In 1956, he returned to Peru where the first of his five children, Jose Mark, was born. In Lima, he worked at the children’s hospital, Hospital del Niño, under the supervision of Dr. Carlos F. Krumdiek.
He established his private practice in an office on Avenida Arequipa. He was the chief of the Neonatology Department of the clinic in Pueblo Libre called Asistencia Social Santa Rosa de Lima. Together with 12 partners, he built and founded the hospital, Clínica Javier Prado. Being a visionary, a short time after working at the Clínica, he promoted the need to expand it. After acquiring an adjacent lot, a new wing was built, where he created and headed the Pediatrics Department. He worked there from 1964 until December of 1974. His contagious laughter was heard through the walls of his office; people that visited the hospital told stories of hearing him laugh.
In December ’74, he resettled in the United States, where he did a residency in pediatrics at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, Florida. In 1977, after working in different private practices, he decided to establish Rub Pediatrics in North Miami Beach. Eventually he relocated to the North Shore Medical Building, and opened a second office in the city of Aventura. In this practice, he was joined by his two pediatrician sons. His third son, Pulmonologist Mario, established his own practice.
The family unit was paramount in his life. His dedication and devotion toward his wife and children was exemplary. During the summers, they vacationed in Ancon, where he would get up at dawn to go down to the beach with his family where he played paddleball with them. They ran around on the beach, swam in the ocean and ate breakfast together before he went to work in Lima.
One of his hobbies was public speaking; he belonged to the Toastmasters Club for several years. In Ancon, he established the Club de Conversación (Conversation Club) in which young people were encouraged to prepare interesting conversation topics. He also ran a weekly column in the newspaper El Comercio in which he gave medical advice. He included his family in everything possible: walks, trips and celebrations. He instilled respect toward human beings (“respect breeds respect”), nature, recycling, establishing and reaching goals and leading productive lives. He constantly taught everyone around him, correcting posture, eating habits, instructing people to live in a healthy, constructive and active way. His energy and joie de vivre were admirable.
He was an educator without imposing his ideas. He would say “I can only advise, every one is free to do what he feels like.” A nice example is when he was visiting New York during the wintertime and his youngest daughter Vivian, who was 5 years-old, saw a radiant blue sky through the hotel window. In Lima this would imply a warm summer day. Everyone else in the family was bundling up trying to convince her to dress adequately. He said, “Let her dress the way she wants,” which was a summer outfit that she had recently obtained. When the hotel’s automatic doors opened, the family proceeded to go out into the snow. Vivian took a step forward, shed a tear and went back to the hotel to put on warm clothing.
In the United States, he obtained his American citizenship and was very grateful for the opportunity to practice medicine in that country. He adapted to changes with conviction and devotion.
He saw his children become professionals, marry, and he boasted about his 16 grandchildren, who were always a great source of pride for him. Always accompanied by his wife, he attended all the important events in their lives, traveling to the births and birthdays of their grandchildren in California and Colombia, or attending on the same day events in schools that were several miles from each other.
His Jewish religion was always an integral part of his life; he lived by its principles and traditions. Tzedaka (justice), charity and helping his fellow men were very much on his mind in his daily life. On his desk he always had the flags of the three nations closest to his heart: Israel, Peru and the United States.
As a doctor he was a great professional. As a friend, he was always willing to listen, help, advise and accompany anyone in need, in good times as well as bad. As an athlete, he always played to participate and have fun. He also tried to win, sharing his weekly games with his doubles partner, his son Beny. His motto was always “sound mind in broken body.” His patients remember him with great fondness because of his accurate diagnoses and human quality. He used to always say “Paciencia y buen humor” (Patience is virtue). His energy, vitality, pragmatism and capacity to work were admirable.
His family members remember him as they pass on to his grandchildren the mark left by such a noble person, sharing with everyone the morals and principles of integrity and kindness that he instilled in them.
Anabel Rub Peicher