Of tombs and tombstones

The first tombstone mentioned in the תנ"ך is the מצבה that Yaakov put up over the grave of Rachel

ויצב יעקב מצבה על קברתה היא מצבת קברת רחל עד היום (בראשית 20:35)

and so throughout the ages it has been the custom to erect a tombstone over the grave. The main purpose was to mark the position of the grave for fear that a כהן might become unclean .
The custom of inscriptions and Jewish symbols was adopted at a later date. Presently the custom is to erect and consecrate the stone either 12 months after death or after the שלושים.
Not much remains of the rich Jewish cultural life that existed in Eastern Europe except for Jewish tombstones with Hebrew epitaphs and this can be a wonderful source of genealogical and cultural information.
Grave inscriptions are very interesting as they teach us all sorts of facts about the life of the deceased – his occupation, his charitable personality, dates and places of birth and death, names of parents. Often the stone is the last contact a Jew might have with his ancestors who have departed this world.

As I was rummaging around among the photos in Aba’s famous cabinet I came across a small envelope, brown with age, in which I found a few equally old photographs of two tombstones. On closer inspection they appeared to belong to our great grandmother and great grandfather on the Sturm side. The pictures were grainy and unclear. I took them home and scanned them in to the computer. By playing around with the contrast, size and brightness I was able to read the inscriptions very clearly. And this is what I discovered.

Following is the original text
Words in brackets are my additions.

פ"נ (פה נקבר)

איש חם וישר מזה
יהושע אליה' שטורם בר' אברהם יצחק שטורם מעיר גארליצא
נפטר ב' שבט תרע"ו לפ"ק (לפרט קטן)

י דיו ולבו לא' אמונה
ה לך בתום נשא ונתן באמונה
ו קבע עתים בתורת ה' תמימה
ש ומר עצמו מחטא ולא התגאל במאכלו
ו ענה בדרך כחו להנות מיגיע כפו
ע בודת השם ראשית דרכו וכל מגמתו
א ת בניו אתריו צוה
ל שמור דרך השם ככה
י רנן על משכבו בכבוד
ה וד והדר יעטרו למאוד
ו שכר לפעולתו בגן עדן תמצא נשמתו

Elias Josua Sturm
Gest. 7 Januar 1916

Sheindel’s gravestone was harder to decipher because the photograph was dark and unclear but here it is.

פ"נ

האשה מרת שיענדל בת שמואל דב הכהן ז"ל
אשת ר' יהושע אליה' שטורם מעיר גארליצא

ש מונים שנה ימי חייה
י געה ופעלה טוב כל ימיה
נ ועם מעשיה יגידו כל מכריה
ד ורות ארבעה חבקה מזרעותיה
ל הודה ויראה הדריכם בנתיבותיה

נפטרה בש"ט (בשיבה טובה) ביום ש"ק (שבת קודש) כ"ד לחודש ניסן תרצ"ב

Scheindl Sturm
Geb. April 1852
Gest. April 30 1932

The words are beautiful and the tradition of inscribing a poem with the letters of their name is lovely.
A few interesting details you might want to note are that Scheindl was a widow for 16 years and she lived to the ripe old age of 80 – which was quite a feat in those days. Moreover her father was a כהן – a fact I was not aware of. It appears that they both were born and died in Gorlice (south of Krakow) although there is no mention of Josua’s birth date.

It is unclear as to how Opa acquired these pictures - did he travel to Gorlice in the 1930's from Munich and visit the cemetery or were they sent to him by his brother or other relative who remained in Poland? This will remain a mystery!

Or perhaps not!

Dina Hahn (my cousin) with whom I share these great grandparents is now traveling to Munich and has asked the local Rabbi to check the cemetery. It is her opinion that they were buried in Munich as 3 of their sons were living there before 1916. The question remains where they died? Great grandmother Scheindl surely died in Munich but I dont think great grandfather Elias did?

I hope to unravel the mystery soon.

A letter to Ima

Dear Ima
Last week we all gathered at your gravesite. Have 18 years really gone by since you left us? It seems like yesterday.
As the years go on and I get older, I watch my children grow up and I have the joy of witnessing a new generation. I think of you alot. Sometimes I seek your advice and imagine how you would have solved a problem.
You’ll never believe how they’ve all grown up. Yair has been married to Hadas for 5 years now and they have 2 (a boy and a girl) very sweet children. Naama is our wonderfully idealistic university student taking after her father and studying archaeology and modern history. Adi (Shlomit) who you never met has just turned 17 – attractive, outgoing and challenging. And our youngest Nadav at 14 is growing up fast both in length and temperament.
Ima you are missing so much – the bar mitzvas, the weddings, the grandchildren and now your great grandchildren – 14 of them!! וכן ירבו
You should know that they all get along wonderfully and every new addition is welcomed in to our wonderful family.
Lately I’ve been helping Aba sort through papers and photographs. It’s a shame you aren’t here to help us – you always were super efficient and what’s more you’d recognize the people in those grainy black and white pictures. We are having such a time figuring out who everybody is.
I’m working on a family tree now – it’s grown so big!
Aba is truly amazing. You needn’t worry – his optimism, alertness and sense of humour encourage us. The great grandchildren rightfully call him “Saba Motek”.
Shavuot is approaching, and 2 days of it. I will scramble through my tatty recipes and find you’re old and tried “Ima’s Cheese Cake”. It’s absolutely the best!!
Ima – you’ve left a big hole but you’re always in my heart and my thoughts.
Love Rachel

Ima's cheese cake

2 9% tubs of cheese
4 eggs separated - beat whites stiff
1 shamenet
1 cup sugar
lemon rind and juice
2 tbspns flour

Crush biscuits for the base and drizzle with melted margarine
Mix all ingredients together , then fold in whites
Pour onto crushed biscuits
Bake in slow oven 170 for an hour.

Frieda Tiefenbrunner-Sturm 1924 - 1991

Frieda was born in Munich Germany in 1924 to Gisa Sima Blasbalg and Avraham Isaac Sturm. She married Monju Moshe Tiefenbrunner and had 4 children. She died in 1991 in Jerusalem
.פרידה נולדה במינכן גרמניה ב1924 לגיזה סימה בלסבלג ואברהם יצחק שטורם. היא התחתנה עם משה טיפנברונר ב1947 וילדה 4 ילדים. היא נפטרה ב1991 בירושלים
My mother Frieda was fondly known by all as Friedel . She was born in Munich in 1924 to Gisa and Izaak. Her brother Ossi was born 7 years later and a year later Sula (Shula) arrived. She spent her former years growing up in Germany until the age of 14. In 1938 when the Nazi's came to power and life became unbearable Izaak decided to move his family from Germany to Switzerland and then move to England. Only months before war broke out the family managed to escape over the border to Switzerland.They remained in Switzerland for 6 months while he organized his affairs in London.I don't know many details about their trials and tribulations getting to know a new life and language but one thing is for sure they were not alone as thousands of refugees were attempting the same thing.Frieda patchily continued her education but when war was declared between Britain and Germany and bombs were dropping on London all the children were evacuated to the countryside.Friedel insisted that she should be kept together with her brother and sister. This was no mean feat as not many families were keen to have 3 children staying especially as they knew hardly a word of English. Ima often related how awful the family that took them in was. The lady of the house used Ima as her housemaid and made her do all sorts of housework . She had to explain to the family in broken English about "Kashrut"! and was offered English tea with milk and burnt rice. She had many stories to tell about her time away and none of them very joyful. Eventually they were all allowed to return home to London and she refused to return to the countryside.