Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1992-09-03

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The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
"* Sm^' Columbus and the Central Ohio
Jewish Community since 1922
VOLUME 70
NUMBER 35
SEETEMBER 3, 1992
5 ELUL 5752
DEVOTED. TO AMERICAN AND JEWISH IDEALS
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Young and Jewish
in Hitler's Berlin
What is a Jew?
Miriam Yenkin receives
World Congress Award
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page 6
'The Jewish Soil' to be
tofcicofREW
Mayor of Hebron
to lecture Sept. 10
EARLY DEADLINE
Copy for the issue of Sept. 10 is
due in the OJC office no,later than
noon on Thursday, Sept. 3. The
office will be closed on tabor
Day, Monday, Sept. 7*
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Dateline Israel ... •»
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COMMUNITY FEATURE
Jewish memorials symbolize
religion's richtraMttons
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By Ina Horwitz
Comedian George Burns
tells the story about how, for
many years now, he has made
monthly visits to the mausoleum of his late wife, Gracie, to
have long heart-to-he^rt talks
with her.    ;
Carmine Menduni, owner
of Columbus Art Memorial,
which produces about 90 percent of the monuments for the
local Jewish community, tells
a story thai Bums might enjoy. Menduni recalled a man
who had a mailbox installed
beside the gravesite of his
dead wife. Every day the man
put a letter to his wife in the
box as his way of communication. When he finally passed
away, too, the box was removed.
The majority of Hebrew
monuments, however, which
traditionally go back to biblical times, are solemn structures that reflect on the ancestry and individualism of the
Jewisft people. It is this very
deep tradition that often
makes Jewish monuments different from those of other religions, said Menduni, as the
monument is so much a part
of who the person was.
Menduni noted that Moslems, perhaps because they,
too, come from the Middle
East, may be the only other
group which follows many of
the same burial customs as the
Jews, such as having the unveiling a year afler the individuals death.
Recording on the stone the
individual's name and parents' names in Hebrew makes
the memorial unique in itself,
he added, The relationship of
the person to the family is engraved on the monument; for
example, a stone might read
"beloved-father" or perhaps
"beloved great-grandfather."
Menduni,   who   said   he
learned much about Jewish
tradition from,Rabbi David
Stavsky of Beth Jacob Congregation, believes a family relationship is important to note
on a gravestone, especially
since Jews consider it a great
blessing to live.to see their
children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.
The symbols on the memorials are also rich in meaning
and history, he said. In addition to the Torah or a menorah, a stone could have lions
engraved on it — symbols of
power and strength dating
back to David fighting the
lions in biblical days.
Other symbols include the
eternal flame, which repre-.
sents both life and remembrance, and the Star of David,
two triangles interlocked, as
are the Jewish people themselves, making it impossible to
separate them, he noted.
Unlike non-Jewish memorials, which might have all engraving completed in advance,
except date of death, Jewish
monuments are never pre-let-
tered, Menduni explained)1
They are usually placed at ihe
gravesite 30 to 60 days before
an unveiling and kept covered
until the unveiling ceremony.
Jewish people are very individualized and very conscious
of fine workmanship, according to Menduni. "This allows
us to express our artistic quali-
see MEMORIALS pg. 16