Volume 13 Number 1 February 2004
January 1, 2004 was a crisp New Year's Day in Manhattan. Yossi Kipnis, and a friend from Israel, were taking a constitutional walk down a nearly-deserted avenue, when they saw a solitary figure approaching them from the opposite direction. By the conservative black suit and hat, they correctly deduced that the bearded man coming towards them was an observant Jew. Not one to miss an opportunity to reach out to a fellow Jew, Yossi hailed the man with the greeting 'Shana Tova Ezrakhit!' (A Happy Secular New Year!). When greeted this way, Mendel Rosenbaum responded warmly, and paused to have a chat.
One thing led to another, and like all Jews who meet for the first time, the question arose regarding each other's origins. Among other things, Yossi allowed that he didn't know a great deal about his mother's family, but he did know for sure that she came from the Polish shtetl of Zelva. He said that he knew this from the fact that he had his mother's original passport in his possession, and that her family were bakers, but not much else. Mendel told Yossi that his mother-in-law, Faygel Garber York was a native of Zelva, and maybe she could help with further information.
As luck would have it, Faygel could not remember this family, and the matter remained dormant until I returned from the West Coast earlier this month. In the process of checking up on my 'grandes dames' I placed a call to the Rosenbaum household, and discovered this state of affairs. This led to a telephone conversation with Yossi on this matter.
He told me that his mother was born Genya Pajkowicz in Zelva in the year 1913. My initial attempts to trace this were not successful, even though I had a nagging memory of a name like this. I had just put out a call for help to those in contact with our 'Elders,' when I had a rather obvious inspiration. It occurred to me, that if I saw that last name in Hebrew letters, I probably would have transliterated it as 'Pei' and not 'Pai.' I hit pay dirt.
In the Zelva Memorial Book, in the Memoir of the late Chaim Jonah Gilony, the following appears:
Like a moving picture, people from all walks of life pass before my eyes, beginning with the prosperous manufacturers, the Borodetzky brothers, and ending with the tailors, and shoemakers occupied in their work. I remember well, carpenters like Grunberg, of blessed memory, and builders of wooden houses, Alter Goy, and his two sons, (who built the house I lived in until I moved to Israel), the barber, in addition to the gentile barber, who apart from his primary vocation, sold leeches for medicinal purposes and for bloodletting; the bread bakers: Moti-Meir, the father of Pesha and Henia Peikowitz, and the bakery that was next to the house of Itcheh Yudelicheh's; I can still taste his zemel rolls in my mouth; The bagel bakers on Schneider Street, Fradel Rotni, the owner of the general store right next to our house, from which we got not only our foodstuffs, but also our school supplies as well. Her husband, Aharon Rotni, made carbonated water and ice cream, The manufacturing merchants, the Slutskys, and the famous Herr Manzheh, and the vigorous merchants in the line of the small stores of the Volksdeutsche, Herr Schuchart, who added unique color and atmosphere to the diverse activities of our small town.
We subsequently also found a reference to the fact that Yossi's mother is recorded as having been among the Zelva olim to be buried in Israel, which Yossi quickly confirmed.
It is difficult to place a price on the value of giving a fellow landsman the gift of re-connecting with his past, and the descendants of his community. However, this is one of the very tangible benefits associated with translating and disseminating Holocaust Memorial Books on a global basis.
Apart from being grateful to the late Chaim Jonah Gilony for having written this piece, we must also be grateful for the stubborn persistence of Yerakhmiel Moorstein for having put the book together in the first place.
! cIy kzn
Matan Ovadiah... born to Kally and Barry Kislowicz on October 26, 2003. Best wishes also to the grandparents, Larry & Sharyn Rubin....to great-grandfather "Poppy" Jack Rubin ....and the entire expanding Rubin clan!
Liya, a daughter to Shlomit & Gil Barak in Israel, granddaughter to Dr. Yair & Miri Gilony.
The Cantor and Barnson Families are very ecstatic to announce the birth of Shoshana Miryam on Nov. 17, 2003 to Christine and Rabbi David Cantor, and brothers Joash and Avniel. The healthy little bundle weighed in at 9 lbs., 9 oz, and 21 & 1/2 inches long. She has lots of dark hair, is beautiful and sweet, and looks like Gloria when she was little. (according to David). She is named in memory of great-grandmother Lilly Shapiro and great-grandmother Mary Plessis (?) (grandmother of Christine). Very proud and excited grandparents are Gloria & Allan Cantor, Donna & Art Barnson, and great-grandmother Jean Barnson. Immediate uncles and aunts, David's siblings, Uncle Stephen, Aunt Susan and Uncle Doug Foster, Aunt Diana, and Chris' brother Brent.
Avia Moor advises that she has a new grandson, Yotam, born June 30, 2003. He is brother to Shaked born on February 14, 2001 and , oldest brother Yuval, who was seven on Feb. 12.
Shimon, born on January 18, 2004, to Chaim & Aliza Rosenbaum in Seattle, WA. Named for his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Shimon Benzaquen, in keeping with the Sephardic tradition, where children are named for living relatives. Best wishes to grandparents Mendel & Renee Rosenbaum and great-grandmother Faygel Garber York.
Mazel
Tov to All!
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We are happy to announce that during the summer of 2003, Michal Bratt, daughter of Chaim and Irit Bratt, was married to Yitzchak Cohen in Israel.... From Mike Friedman, we received the following correspondence in the late fall: We are all feeling fine. Laura and I, as well as my sister and brother-in-law and my niece Sherri [Calvo] just returned from a short visit with my father. He is still doing okay and living at home with a full time aide that we have for him. He now uses a walker and can no longer play golf or be as active as he would like but is still able to get out daily. His mind is fine although he has some communication problems as a result of the stroke he suffered a couple of years ago. I showed him some pictures of various Bereshkovsky family members and he recognized them immediately. We were all down for a Bat Mitzvah which my dad also enjoyed going to. While we were in Florida I picked up Gertie Boyarski and my cousin Roz Weinstein both of whom are in the Palm Beach area and brought them back to Deerfield Beach where we had a very nice luncheon with the rest of our family. Roz is a first cousin (I am a second cousin) of Abram Kulakowski. As you know from your work on the Dereczin Memorial Book, Abram and his wife Masha fought in the resistance with and knew Gertie quite well. In fact Gertie is also a cousin of Masha.... Gloria Cantor provided us with this year-end synopsis of the activities of her family: Allan and I have been well. Allan had a hernia repair in October, and has recovered well. We've had a busy year, have traveled a lot, spent most of the summer at the cottage, which was great, and there were hardly any mosquitoes. Our children are well, and employed and doing well. Stephen and I now share a car, as he and Allan walk to work, so there is always a car available. We usually see him on the weekend, as he is back on the afternoon/evening shift at work, having weekends off. Susan and Doug are looking forward to Doug's active military duty ending on Dec. 17th. I don't know when he will resume his job with Intel, hopefully he will have some holiday time before he goes back to work. Diana has been teaching grade 3 in Vancouver, and her term position continues into the new Year. She is also taking courses at Simon Fraser University toward her a master's degree in Education. As for David and Christine, they have a busy time ahead. David and his Synagogue signed a 5 year contract, which indicates their respect and regard for both of them. Members of the Synagogue have been incredible helpful and kind to David and his Family. I love coming here, as it has such a warm family atmosphere, and I am made to feel most welcome... |
Adding to his portfolio, David Frum has co-authored the book 'An End to Evil' with Richard Perle. Like its predecessor, 'The Right Man,' which he authored alone, this book too, finds itself on The New York Times 'Best-Seller List.' Here is a publicity shot of the authors:
David Scull/Random House Richard Perle, left, and David Frum Avia Moor advises us that she is in contact with Yitzhak (Shulyak) Shalev, and that he is doing well... Moshe Freidin has undergone prostate surgery in Israel and is recovering well. We all wish him a refuah shlema, and a speedy return to good health... In keeping with their annual practice, Carol & Jack Berger made a trip to San Mateo California to visit son David, wife Dana Spanger, and the two grandsons, Zachary and Jordan. We celebrated Jordan's second birthday, and a slightly accelerated fourth birthday for Zachary. The trip also afforded us the opportunity to see Jack's (paternal side) cousin David Carver, who came up from San Jose for a day. On that day, we also met with Tomasz Panczyk, his wife Ania and their little boy, Mikolaj. Tomasz is a Pole, born in Szczebrzeszyn, the shtetl outside of Zamosc where my father was born. Without any Jews remaining, Tomasz has undertaken an initiative to conserve the Jewish presence there, and help restore the Synagogue in town, which has remained largely intact. The Panczyks currently reside in Rohnert Park, California, but intend to return to Poland in time. Once I have completed the editing of the Zamosc Memorial Book, I will undertake the translation of the Szczebrzeszyn Yizkor Book as my next endeavor... We are also pleased to announce the marriage of Tamar, daughter of Ami & Orah Gilony, to Matan Columbus in Jerusalem on February 15, (23 Shevat), 2004. We hope the big snowstorm in Jerusalem didn't impede the festivities too much.... Wedding bells are due to ring out on the West Coast later this year. We hear from Philip & Elaine Shapiro that their son, Jason just became engaged to Camerin Fischer of San Diego. A wedding is anticipated on October 23.... |
Here is Great-Grandpa Jack Rubin, and newborn Matan Ovadiah Kislowicz
A Freidin Family Bouquet from Israel
On February 7, we celebrated the Jewish Arbor Day, Tu B'Shevat. To help 'decorate' that day, we received a clutch of nice pictures from Zvika Freidin, in the area where he lives, in Modi'in, the ancestral home of the Hasmonean Maccabees, not far from Jerusalem. Here is a sample:
Zvi Freidin Dor Freidin
Dedication
Remembering a Special Person
Early in January 2004, I completed my translation work on Pinkas Zamosc, and I have now begun the task of editing it, and getting it ready for the printer. With all of these books, one of the things I have to do, is decide on a dedication. The outline below is self-explanatory regarding my choice.
Majer (Mark) Swiatlo
(1915 - 2003)
Walking the fifth floor of the Wimberly Library at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, one is surrounded by Mark Swiatloís legacy in his role as its Judaica Curator. Starting as a volunteer in 1988 -- at the age of 73 -- Mark Swiatlo traveled to three continents to retrieve most of FAUís 80,000 or more volumes related to Judaism and Jewish populations. An indefatigable zammler, Mark accumulated a collection of more than half the recognized Holocaust Memorial Books (Yizkor Bikher) ever published, making FAU's collection one of the more complete in the world.
In my capacity as a translator of Yizkor Bikher, it was inevitable that our paths should cross. This meeting was facilitated by a personal need to visit South Florida periodically, to look in on aging in-laws. Mark and I recognized each other as kindred spirits. Though a generation separated us, we became fast friends, and I found his encyclopedic knowledge to be of inestimable value in ferreting out subtleties of language, not only in Yiddish, but also in the several other Eastern European tongues in which he was fluent.
In Mark I found an unswerving ally for the imperative of translating Yizkor Bikher into English. It paralleled his own drive to get the testimony of Holocaust survivors translated into English. He, too, recognized the longer-term need to assure that these histories should not be allowed to languish behind a language barrier.
Mark passed away on May 17, 2003. He is one of the increasingly rare individuals, who earned the respect of being recognized as irreplaceable. This book is dedicated to him, as an example of the type of endeavor that was so near and dear to his heart.
Reminiscences
Zelver Benevolent Association
In going through the effects of the late Jack Fried, his family discovered that he had in his possession souvenir copies of the 25th and 40th Anniversary programs of the Zelver Benevolent Association Banquets of those years. We are still in the process of scanning this material for permanent display on our website. Here, we present the frontispiece of the Fortieth Anniversary program:
Happy Purim Holiday !
The
Freidins of Zelva
Family NewsletterEditor-Publisher............................................. Jack S. Berger
Web Host............................................................... Randi Ostro
Publisher Emeritus..................................... Samuel K. Rubin
The Family Newsletter of the Freidins of Zelva is published periodically to foster communications between the descendants of TANHUM YITZHAK FREIDIN ritual slaughterer of the town of Zelva in the Grodno Province of Belarus. For further information, the Editor-Publisher may be reached as follows:
Jack S. Berger
12 Janice Court
Mahwah, NJ 07430-1515 USA
Telephone: 201-529-3391E-mail: JSBerger@Sigmaxi.org
© Copyright 2004
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