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Information on tombstones #belarus
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Susan Chernin <Susan.Chernin@...>
My cousin Rachel and I took advantage of a long visit over the Passover
holidays to visit various cemeteries in the Philadelphia Area. We have the following questions Several of the men in our family as well as other male graves had two hands engraved on them, sometimes palms up and sometimes down with the fingers grouped in two distinct groups. Can anyone tell us what this means? Several male tomb stones had five distinct Hebrew letters at the bottom. The letters were the same in each case. Does any one know what this means. We also saw this on the stones of men who were nol in our family thank you Susan Chernin susan.chernin@...
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Eleanor Lind <kbx62@...>
The hands you describe indicate that the person was a Cohen.
The five letters are the first letters of a memorial blessing, the exact words of which I have forgotten-I am sure someone wil know. Eleanor Lind kbx62@... London UK EleanorPlatt@...
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Eddie Meltzer <edm@...>
I believe the grouping of the fingers, somewhat like Spock's hand sign
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greeting on StarTrek, is the sign of the Cohanim when they would make a blessing. Verify this with someone more in the know though. Ed Meltzer Searching: Meltzer/Melzer/Meltser >from Vilna/Volozhin/Rokov Sukon >from Wilno
-----Original Message-----
Susan Chernin wrote: Several of the men in our family as well as other male graves had two
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Eddie Meltzer <edm@...>
I believe the grouping of the fingers, somewhat like Spock's hand
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sign greeting on StarTrek, is the sign of the Cohanim when they would make a blessing. Verify this with someone more in the know though. Ed Meltzer Searching: Meltzer/Melzer/Meltser >from Vilna/Volozhin/Rokov Sukon >from Wilno
-----Original Message-----
Susan Chernin wrote: ...snip...
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Warren Blatt <wblatt@...>
"Susan Chernin" <Susan.Chernin@...> wrote:
My cousin Rachel and I took advantage of a long visit over the PassoverThe answers to these questions can be found in the JewishGen InfoFile "How to Read a Hebrew Tombstone" at http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/Tombstones.html. Warren Warren Blatt Boston, MA <wblatt@...>
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Stan Goodman <geneal@...>
The deceased men were Kohanim. This is the meaning of the hands, held in
the manner in which Kohanim bless the congregation at particular points in worship. The letters at the bottom are initials for a common formula meaning: "May their souls be bound up with those of the living". The simplest explanation of this expression is the hope that their memory will persist in the minds of their descendants. Others will give you more mystic explanations, so I must justify my own, as follows. The word usually translated as "soul" is "nefesh". It's real meaning in Hebrew is simply "self", and so it is is Arabic as well ("nafs"); the mystic idea of "soul" is a Christian (probably pre-Christian European) one. On Thu, 1 Jan 1970 01:59:59, Susan.Chernin@... (Susan Chernin) wrote: Stan Goodman, Qiryat Tiv'on, Israel Searching: NEACHOWICZ/NOACHOWICZ, NEJMAN/NAJMAN, ROKITA: >from Lomza Gubernia ISMACH: >from Lomza Gubernia, Galicia, and Ukraina HERTANU, ABRAMOVICI, LAUER: >from Dorohoi District, Romania GRISARU, VATARU: >from Iasi, Romania See my interactive family tree (requires Java 1.1.6 or better): http://www.hashkedim.com PLEASE NOTE: Messages to the "From:" or "Reply to:" address of this posting will be not reach me. Please remove the "NOSPAM". Messages containing HTML-formatted text will be deleted automatically, unread; if you want to write to me, send plain text only.
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Phyllis Cole <phylliscole@...>
Eddie and Susan,
from Arthur Kurzweil's book >from Generation to Generationp.350-351 on tombstones. Sorry, I don't have Hebrew fonts. get a Hebrew dictionary. Fay-nun =for a man Fay-tet= for a woman Fay-hay nun/kauf/vav/resh = meaning "here lies" fay-hay tet/mem/vav/nun/ha = meaning "here is interred" abbreviated taf/nun/tzadee/vav/~hay= T'hi nishmo tz'ror bitz-ror ha-chaim This is a verse >from I Sam 25:29, "May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life" There are other explanations for days and months. I recommend this book there is a lot more information on tombstones and other things. I have no monetary interest in this book. As for Dr. Spock alias Leonard Nimoy, is Jewish and probably a Ko-hane. Phyllis Cole River Edge, NJ
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Yoram Cohen <ynep@...>
TNTzBH = May his or her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life.
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David Garth San Francisco Shimshelevich, Feingold/Finegold, Yedlitski/Jedlicki
From: Eleanor Lind <kbx62@...>
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Michael Press <press@...>
i believe that the letters are tav, nun, tsade, bet, heh, standing for
tehi nafsho tserurah bitsror hachayim, 'may his soul be bound in the bonds of life', which is >from I Samuel 25:29. michael press
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Scott Noar <sman@...>
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Ofer Cohen <oferco@...>
Susan,
Regarding the two hands - the hands engraved on tombstone is a signed the the burried person was a Cohen. The two positions of the hands are two forms of the blessing of the Cohanim. The 5 Hebrew letters are "Tav Nun Tzadei Bet Heh", standing for the Hebrew idiom, wich is engraved on all the tombstones I have already seen, and its brief translation is "be his soul packed in the package of the living ones". Ofer Cohen Israel
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Gene and Ellen Sucov <genellen@...>
Dear Susan, First,with regard to the 5 Hebrew letters at the bottom of the
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tombstone. Ofer Cohen, in his posting yesterday, gave the translation and meaning of those letters as follows: "the Hebrew letters: Tav Nun Tzadik Bet Heh" which stand for Tehe Nishmato Tzrura Bitzror Hakhayim - may his soul be connected to the living ones - is written on all the Jewish tombstones." Second, with regard to the symbol of two hands. The fingers of the hands are arranged with the thumb separated >from the other 4 fingers; the 4 fingers are in 2 groups, 2 fingers in each group. These form loosely, the Hebrew letter "shin". The symbol is used to signify that the deceased was of the priestly class, a Cohen. In Orthodox congregations the Cohen, or descendant of a Cohen, was granted special priveleges. He was called to the read >from the Torah first (out of the 7 men so honored on Shabbat) and secondly, he and other Cohanim were authorized to chant the priestly blessing over the congregation. During this chanting ceremony, the Cohen would cover his head and arms with his prayer shawl (tallit) and stretch his arms out over the congregation, making the sign of the double "shin", and recite the blessing (with prompting >from a Levite). You can find more information on these and other practises of Orthodox Jews in any basic book on Jewish customs. Sincerely, Gene Sucov
----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Chernin <Susan.Chernin@...> To: JewishGen Discussion Group <jewishgen@...> Cc: <belarus@...> Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 5:20 PM Subject: Information on tombstones
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