June/July 2013 bulletin

General announcements continued‌ REMEMBERING LEAH CROHN MIASKOFF Z�L

BY NATHAN WEISSLER This June will be my maternal grandmother Leah Crohn Miaskoff's 20th yazherit. My grandmother married my grandfather, Leonard Miaskoff, in 1960 and was my mother's stepmother. Sadly, I did not have an opportunity to get to know my grandmother as she died when I was less than one year old, in 1993. As my grandmother's yazherit approaches, I have been thinking about how stories that I have been told about her have inspired my dedication to Judaism. My grandmother was the director of the Bnai Abraham choir and greatly appreciated Jewish music. I very much enjoy Jewish music, and hearing stories about my grandmother's appreciation for Jewish music has inspired me in my own appreciation for Jewish music.

My grandmother was born in 1925 in Detroit, Michigan, which is where she was raised. She was the second of three children born to Lawrence and Jennie Brodie Crohn.

My grandmother had one older brother, David, and one younger brother, Harris. Judaism was a very important part of the Crohn family's life. Lawrence Crohn had several leadership roles in the Detroit Jewish community and he was an active Zionist. David Crohn used the skills that he learned as an American officer during World War II to assist in the establishment of the State of Israel and ultimately made aliya.

Music was also very important to the Crohn family. Harris Crohn became a highly respected professor of piano in Dallas, Texas, and was very accomplished professionally. My grandmother received a Fulbright scholarship to study voice and singing in France. She also sang in Israel during the early years of the State of Israel.

My grandmother graduated from Wayne State University and received a Masters degree in library science from Rutgers University.

My grandmother married my grandfather in 1960, and they initially lived in New York City, and for approximately ten years sang in the Park Avenue Synagogue quartet. Around 1965, my grandparents and my mother moved to Easton, where they joined Bnai Abraham Synagogue. They were active synagogue members and had many friends at Bnai Abraham. I remember hearing family members and people who knew my grandparents talk about my grandmother's loyalty to her friends and her kindness towards others. Additionally, my grandmother worked in several libraries in the Lehigh Valley. I especially appreciate my grandmother's love of books because I also love books.

People have told me about how I gave my grandmother a lot of nachas when I was a baby.

Today, I feel very connected to my grandmother because of the wonderful stories that I have heard both about her and about the joy that I gave her as a baby. I am confident that my grandmother's legacy will be an inspiration to me and my family for a long time. I am very grateful for the inspiration that my grandmother's legacy has given me and many others.

I will always treasure the stories that I have been told about my grandmother.