memory

Marsha

Today, Marsha Gruenberg Kreuzman, a Holocaust survivor, will be buried alongside her beloved Robert. Marsha spent decades telling her story and teaching others so that we will not forget the atrocities of the Sho’ah. Please read this reflection & share it — in order to honor Marsha’s memory. These reflections here include the broad outlines of Marsha’s story. The more detailed account is accessible through the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive: http://vhaonline.usc.edu/viewingPage?testimonyID=18431&returnIndex=0#. Marsha and her husband Robert recorded their testimonies as part of the visionary project created by Steven Spielberg.)

Marsha and her mother.

Marsha Gruenberg was born in Krakow, Poland. She was the only Jew in her class and stood out as a redhead. She was persecuted and taunted with the cries of “Jew – Jew – Jew.” Continue reading →

Establish the work of our hands!

She was a weaver. Coming to it late in life, her footsteps were no longer steady, but her fingers delicately managed the small loom in her living room, balls of yarn beckoning from the nearby basket. One of her last days, I came to see her. Her daughters handed me a small, soft package, wrapped in tissue — a narrow jewel-toned scarf unrolled, marked by a label with the weaver’s name. Continue reading →

Keep Hugging the Bowl

Hug the mixing bowl. Yes, really hug it. If you don’t, it will fly across the kitchen. Actually, with liquid batter, the mixer works just fine, most of the time. But with dough, the bowl goes flying off the base, ingredients with it. If you hug the bowl while it mixes, it will stay on the base. So, I keep hugging the bowl.

“Why?”

Because it was Grandma’s. And when I bake with the KitchenAid 4C that is as old as I am, Grandma is in the kitchen with me. She is telling me to use the best of ingredients. She is baking alongside my three children, at least one of whom is already taller than her. All of this is a neat trick, since Grandma died 22 years ago. Continue reading →