A Heartrending Account
The piece by Jeremy Koffsky (“Does My Son Know You?” March 27) regarding the loss of his sister as a result of a car accident in Israel almost moved me to tears.
His loss, and that of the entire family, was palpable – the article exuded grief. I felt this terrible tragedy to my very core and immediately wished I could reach out and comfort Jeremy in any way that I could.
Given the global situation, this article was an important pivot to a human-interest story that could elicit empathy and kindness, something that is sorely lacking today.
It was also a call not to forget those near and dear to us who are no longer here, including those who, in cases like this one, were taken in an untimely manner.
May Hashem comfort the Koffsky family and provide them with the strength to move on while at the same time keeping Adira always in their hearts.
Her neshama should have an aliyah.
George Weiss
Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Evolution of a Jewish Name
Shalom Aleichem, Rabbi Klein. I was intrigued by your recent Jewish Press column “Shulamit and Shlomit” (April 21). My mother, a”h, Frieda’s Jewish name was Fradel. Her chassidish family pronounced it with a short a, as “ah.” The people at YIVO [Institute for Jewish Research -ed.] told me that in her day – she was born in 1910 – it was spelled Fey-Reish-Aleph-Daled-Yud-Lamed, so that’s how I spell it.
Subsequently, I obtained her Israeli (Palestine) certificate of marriage dated 1939. There it gives her name in Hebrew spelled Fey-Reish-Yud-Daled-Lamed, and next to it, in parentheses, is written, also in Hebrew letters, “Shlomit.”
Interestingly, her New York Hebrew School diploma from 1924 gives her name in Hebrew as Simcha! So, between litvish/chassidish pronunciation and New York/Eretz Yisrael translation, I’m left with both choices. She was named for a great-grandmother, and I of course don’t know what they had in mind. I have not yet been able to view her kesubah.
In any event, you sent me back to my family documents and memories. Many thanks.
Binyamin Yablok (Yaakov Binyomin ben Fradil)
Via Email
Rabbi Klein responds:
Fascinating! That seems to reflect what I wrote – how the names Frida and Freyda are often conflated. And you tied it in to Shlomit, even though in my article I connected it to Shulamit. The difference between the YIVO spelling and the Modern Hebrew spelling has to do with the Modern Hebrew tendency to take out the letter aleph when used as a vowel.
Kol Tuv,
Reuven Chaim Klein
Beitar Illit, Israel
Falafel with a Warm Heart
Once again, we would like to thank The Jewish Press and its many readers for helping to make a tremendous success of our “Erev Pesach Falafel Campaign” for poor Israeli families.
Thanks to the generosity of Jewish Press readers, this year we were able to send almost 800 fine, poor Israeli Jews to our local falafel store for a falafel and French fries. Truly, The Jewish Press is unique in the impressive number of readers who not only read about the Falafel Fund, but also responded positively.
We truly thank you, the Jewish Press management, and the generosity of your readership, for making this Erev Pesach such a wonderful time for so many fine, frum, very poor Jewish families.
Please be aware that any checks we receive too late for the Falafel Campaign will be put towards the Emergency Falafel Fund for similar poor families (particularly if they have children or husbands fighting in the army).
By mistake, I erased my list of names with email addresses, so, if you donated but did not receive a thank you letter, please email me your name and email address (kleinhap@gmail.com).
With sincere appreciation,
Tzvia Ehrlich-Klein
Jerusalem, Israel
How We Got Here
Your editorial in the April 10 edition of The Jewish Press, “Chickens Coming Home to Roost,” describes some problems that may have arisen from the Biden administration’s open-border policy. I would like to back up slightly and discuss what made that policy possible in the first place.
The radical left in America and other countries around the world has divided the world’s population into two camps. One camp is composed of women, the poor, and persons of color – black, brown, yellow, and red. These have been labeled the oppressed “minority,” although they probably make up about 80% of the world’s population. The other camp is composed of “rich,” Anglo-Saxon white males, and has been labeled the oppressor “majority,” although they probably make up only about 20% of the world’s population.
All the various minority groups are banded together into one movement called “intersectionality.” To advocate for any one segment of the movement basically obligates an individual to also advocate for all the other causes. This makes for a very large voice for all the “oppressed minorities.”
There are two small groups of people, however, who are all labeled as belonging to one of the camps, irrespective of their individual race, color, gender, and economic means. All Jews and Israelis are automatically labeled as being part of the oppressor majority, and all “Palestinians” are automatically included in the oppressed minority. Thus, by adhering to the code of intersectionality, all the other members of “minority” groups must owe their allegiance to all Palestinians, and be against all Jews and Israel.
We also have the problem of Trump Derangement Syndrome. The radical far left becomes apoplectic at anything Trump says or does, like engaging in the Iran War. And since intersectionality is a construct of the far left, they automatically oppose Trump and his policies. It is not necessarily a political objection, but an automatic reflex against his position, whatever its merits.
All these factors set the stage for the open-border policy, as well as the current alarming rise in worldwide Jew- and Israel-hatred, pro-Palestinian sympathy, terrorism, support for BDS legislation, campus violence, overwhelming condemnation in the U.N. and the International Court of Justice, and by extension, anti-Iran War sentiment.
We Jews and Americans have a steep hill to climb to attain a level playing field, and the sooner, the better. Time is not on our side.
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park, N.J.