Dear HaSafranians -- Thank you so much for the kind words about my mom, Sylvia Firschein. I remember the first time she went to an AJL convention, about 30 years ago. My mom loved being a part of AJL and loved being the newcomer's point-person. She wholeheartedly believed in the mission and raison d'etre of AJL and supported it with her whole being.
My mom was so excited to plan her trip to this year's convention in Montreal. She was thrilled to be attending again after being away last year. It's a great sadness that she won't be there with you all this year. I wrote my mother's eulogy and included her thoughts about Jewish librarians and libraries. Perhaps you also might find it meaningful: When people think of Sylvia, her name is attached to "Jewish librarian" and that's how she was identified by so many. My mother believed that a Jewish education, even as informal as reading a Jewish book, would help keep the Jewish community engaged. That there was always something to learn about the Jewish experience in America, in history, the future of the Jews. She felt very strongly about the Jewish communities of Wayne and Sarasota, that she was giving of herself to help people learn about themselves, their history, their culture. She was bringing people together to talk about their commonalities and experiences. She was expressing the idea that being Jewish wasn't only about prayers. That being Jewish could be about books and film and discussions -- and that the power of Judaism didn't only reside in the religious part, that it resides in our shared and different experiences as Jews. Next month my mother was going to the annual meeting of the Association of Jewish Libraries. She started going to those in the early 1980s. She was the founder of the West Coast Chapter, in 1997. She couldn't wait to go to Montreal. Her passing is a loss to not only everyone who knew her, but to the field of Jewish librarianship and the work the librarians do in strengthening the Jewish community. With best regards, Merry Firschein merika (at) aol (dot) com --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
