Freidin Family Newsletter

The prior edition of this Newsletter went out days before the September 11 cataclysm swept over the world. Those of us in the New York City environs, and in the Pentagon, were subject to the trauma of terrorism that we know our brethren in Israel live with from hour to hour. Few have remained unscathed by the world-altering events of that day. Jack's cousin Amy lost her husband, Alan Schwartzstein, who worked for Cantor-Fitzgerald on the 104^th Floor of T1. She was left a widow with two children aged 3 and 5. Our community friends Jan & Bea Kandell lost their 29 year old daughter Shari, who worked on that same floor. Six members of our community narrowly escaped with their lives. The daughter of one Temple member made it down from the 51^st Floor of T1 and escaped with her life. Her father had survived the attack on the WTC back in 1993...

Anna-Aliza (Benzaquen) Rosenbaum was on her way to work, but never got out of the PATH trains. She escaped and returned home. Shaken by this experience, she and husband Chaim have since moved to Seattle, near Anna-Aliza's family, and taken up residence there...

The church across the street from our Temple in Wyckoff, NJ lost 31 of its breadwinners. And the march of obituaries across the pages of the New York Times continues to be a disturbing reminder of what has transpired.

Among the lesser traumatic indignities was the case of our own Donna Fried Calcaterra. As a long-time commodities trader in the financial district, she happened to have maintained a safety deposit box in a branch bank located in the WTC. The vault of the bank was deep in the basement levels of the WTC complex, and the contents of the bank premises were thought to have been totally destroyed.

As part of the process, Donna went about documenting her claim regarding the contents of the box. She had used it to store a variety of commemorative coins, largely from Israel, along with small denomination blanks of silver metal. Eventually, the recovery operation at Ground Zero got down to the level of the bank branch vault. To everyone's surprise, the vault survived, albeit heavily damaged. Surprisingly, the various safety deposit boxes were recovered. They were beaten up, burnt, and bent out of shape, but there they were.

Eventually, Donna got possession of her safety deposit box. She brought it home, and opened it. The contents were charred, and much of the metallic contents were defaced by flame, and fused together. Yet much of the content survived in recognizable form. And there was the most prominent of the contents in the lower left corner, round and blasted by the heat and flame. A commemorative Israeli coin, bearing the legend in big, bold Hebrew letters, Am Yisrael Chai (The People of Israel Live). A picture of the box is shown below, along with a close up of the coin.

And so, in a very personal way, we can see that Osama bin Laden really failed in what he tried to do. All the forces of destruction unleashed on that terrible day, did not -- could not -- destroy the essential spirit of what we are, both as Americans and as Jews. And like the tyrants and evildoers of times gone by, he too will be consigned to the trash bin of history.

Our hearts go out to all those who have been bereaved by this tragedy, and we extend our comfort to those who survived as they attempt to re-build shattered lives.

We are proud to let you all know about our newest grandson. Mother, Dana Spanger, and son are doing well, and little Jordan seems to be a good eater and sleeper, commensurate with his size.

His name in Hebrew is Yaakov Ariel, making him literally a Jacob, the Lion of the Lord. At his brit milah, Jordan's father David explained that he was given the biblical name of Yaakov to honor the memory of the late Dr. Jacob Melnick. While it has no direct family significance, his middle name provides a point of differentiation relative to the name of his grandfather Jack. This is sufficient to satisfy the Ashkenazic custom, that a baby not be named for a living relation (Sephardic Jews routinely name babies for living relatives).

In recollecting his Uncle George, David made the point that he hoped his son would grow up to embody the attributes we ascribe to Dr. Jacob Melnick: Wise, Gentle, Kind.

Congratulations to the grandparents, Jack & Carol Berger, Gerry Spanger and Frances Spanger, and great-grandparents Morris & Frances Kleinberg and Sarah Berger...

Omer Maxim, to Ronen & Orna Neutra in New York City. Grandson to Eli-Emil Neutra, and named in honor of the late Maxima Neutra...

A baby boy, Ahiad sghjt to Hayya (Zomer) & Gedaliah (Gadi) Rechtman . Grandson to Riva & Yehuda Zomer....

Miriam Freidin passed away on 31Dec01 at age 80, and was buried on 01Jan02. Wife of the late Aharon Freidin, and mother of Dr. Nahum Freidin, Rachel Sha'anani and Irit Bratt...

Hannah Monokoff passed away at the age of 90. Mother of Ishaya Monokoff, and grandmother of Monique Monokoff, wife of Dr. Daniel Berger...

Fran Rubin passed away on 13Mar02, at age 86, in Pittsburgh Pa. Wife of Jack Rubin, for 64 years, and mother of Larry Rubin and Ken Rubin. She was a Matriarch in the truest sense of that word, and mainstay of her family throughout her entire life...

Family continues to be on the move, as evidenced by a communication from Israel. Ayelet & Yohanan Benvenisti moved to their new house in Nirit, 25 minutes from Odded & Jochi Ritz. They have a nice big house in a very nice area, though not as close as they used to live to the Ritzes. Maya, their daughter, is growing up as a nice happy little girl...

Grandma Manya, Baby Maya, Ayelet and Aunt Ronit

And here in New Jersey, Dennis & Sharon Javer have moved from Oakland to Mahwah, where they will be a scant few minutes from Carol & Jack Berger. Next fall, Daryn Javer will enter the first grade in the very school system that her mother and five of her uncles and aunts attended...

Hanukkah was a solemn time for the Ritz family in Israel. Odded writes: The family observed the 31^st Yahrzeit for my father Eliezer, and 2^nd Yahrzeit for my sister Maxima. Time is passing very quickly. My mother Manya (almost 96) gave a speech. Osnat read Ronen's letter and also some songs that her children wrote. Uri is still in the Army, having several more months to serve. Ronit (who graduated from Be'er Sheva University last summer) just came back from Spain where she spent several summer months (with her boy friend Aviv) learning Spanish in school. Jochi & Odded visited them there and spent 2 weeks together traveling in Southern Spain...

Larry & Sharyn Rubin visited Israel in the 2^nd week in Jan02 and saw Odded Ritz and his family... and we also learned that daughter, Kalany Rachel is engaged to be married this coming June, and we extend our best wishes...!

On the engagement front, we are also happy to announce the engagement of our daughter, Judyth Ellen Berger, to Harry Greenbaum of Great Neck, NY. Harry is an Attorney with a Long Island firm. Judyth continues in her position as a Genetic Counselor in Brooklyn, NY. A November wedding is being planned, and the couple plans to reside in Long Island...

Judyth Berger & Harry Greenbaum

Mazel Tov to Dr. David & Leah Zakut on the occasion of the Bar Mitzvah on 15Feb02 of their son, Ran Zakut...

Our wishes for a speedy recovery and return to good health go out to Shmuel Sabarov, in Israel, who underwent serious abdominal surgery and is now recuperating...

The ranks of the Greater Zelva tribe continue to grow with the arrival of new babies. Fran & Allan Rosenblatt are delighted to announce the arrival of their grandson, Simcha Hersh Goldsmith, born to their children, Farrell & Joanna Goldsmith. Born at 12:59AM on 20Dec01, he weighed in at 7lbs 4oz. He is named for Fran's late father, Sam (Simcha) Krugman. We extend a special Mazel Tov to great-grandmother, Sylvia Krugman...

And in Israel, among the ranks of the Moorstein Family, a daughter named Shaked sea was born to Efrat & Reuven Moor-Millman on 14Feb02, a sister to Yuval, and a granddaughter to Avia Moor. A Big Mazel Tov to everybody...!

The state of tension in Israel makes us ever mindful of our young people who are in the ranks of the armed forces. Thus, a special Passover greeting goes to Shiri Freidin, as she is commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the IDF at the time of our Festival of Freedom....

Mike & Laura Friedman report a visit to Florida on the occasion of the 95^th birthday of Mike's dad, Abraham Friedman. Mike writes: "I am very happy to report that he is still making improvement from the stroke he suffered a couple of years ago. He is now, however walking with a walker (the result of a fall this past September). Despite this small setback he continues to improve steadily. His speech is much better than it had been for the past 2 years, and his name retention is also much improved.

His long term memory and his continuing interest in life and the family remains as strong as ever. Even his bridge game is getting better....!" We add our best wishes and Mazel Tov on the occasion of so venerable a milestone in life...

Our landsfrau, Gertie (Gutka) Salutsky-Boyarsky, who winters in Florida, continues to integrate with her newly found family from both Zelva and Dereczin. She had a visit from Dr. Bob & Linda Marshall, and Jack & Carol Berger visited her in December, meeting her daughter, Dorothy Halperin at that time. Subsequently, Gertie spent a week in California with Phil & Elaine Shapiro, and then got a visit from Mike & Laura Friedman during their recent Florida trip. She is a remarkable woman (the only grandmother I know who can field strip a sub-machine gun), and a treasure for all of us to cherish...

Gutka Holding a Picture of Dr. Bob & Linda Marshall Gutka's Daughter, Dorothy Halperin

I am pleased to report that this English translation is now at the printer. The final product is due for delivery to me in mid-April, so that the Supporter's among you will have a copy before the beginning of May. Because this work is a Trilogy, it is large: 800 pages in all. I know that some of you will actually read it from cover to cover, but most may not. However, those of you with lesser ambition, should avail yourselves of a 'taste' of the contents. There is a great deal to be learned from this carefully compiled legacy, of both Jewish life in Eastern Europe, and the tragedy of the Holocaust. A copy of the frontispiece is shown below:

It has been a challenging, but rewarding experience finding scions of Volkovysk, who have emerged to be quite supportive of this effort. Curiously, with the waning of linkages that were created by the landsmanschaften of the early 20^th century, it is not easy to try and find people by the place of origin of their Eastern European forbears. I have had a couple of heartwarming surprises. One of my closest friends, with whom I grew up and went to school as a child, Rabbi Dr. Stanley Nash, Professor of Bible and Hebrew Language at the Hebrew Union College, is a scion of the Nakhumovsky Family of Volkovysk. The world keeps getting smaller...