In 1966 and 1966, when I was 10 and 11 years old, my father was a neighbor of Mr. and Mrs. Adlerblum (Nima Adlerblum and Israel Adlerblum). My father lived in the first floor garden apartment and the Adlerblums lived immediately above him. The apartment complex was in Long Branch, New Jersey, directly across the street from the ocean. Every morning shortly after dawn, rain or shine, snow or heat, Mrs. Adlerblum would walk across the street to swim in the ocean. (Perhaps not on shabbat, though.)
She and her husband were very sweet and kind. When my sister and I would visit our father (our folks were divorced), she would come downstairs and invite us to a "banquet" in our honor in her apartment. She was warm and affectionate, would greet us with beautiful smiles, hugs and kisses, as if we were her own grandchildren.
Like any elderly "relative," she would ask us where we planned to attend college. As the Hebrew language held my interest even at that young age, I would always reply "the Hebrew University in Jerusalem." She beamed with pleasure.
Among my father's friends were Bernard and Anna Cohen of Philadelphia - strong Zionists - who moved to Israel in the early 1970s. They, too, became good friends of Mr. and Mrs. Adlerblum. On my first trip to Israel in 1975, they took me to see Mrs. Adlerblum's grave on the Mount of Olives.
It was only recently, when I came across a book by Nima Adlerblum among the books in my late mother's estate, did I realize that the warm Mrs. Adlerbloom of my childhood had an impact on the intellectual life of the Jewish world of the early 1900s, and knew another of my heros, Eliezer Ben Yehuda.
What an honor to have known this wonderful woman. I wish I had known at the time that Mrs. Adlerblum had led such an interesting life, but she was more interested in encouraging younger folks.
In 1966 and 1966, when I was 10 and 11 years old, my father was a neighbor of Mr. and Mrs. Adlerblum (Nima Adlerblum and Israel Adlerblum). My father lived in the first floor garden apartment and the Adlerblums lived immediately above him. The apartment complex was in Long Branch, New Jersey, directly across the street from the ocean. Every morning shortly after dawn, rain or shine, snow or heat, Mrs. Adlerblum would walk across the street to swim in the ocean. (Perhaps not on shabbat, though.)
She and her husband were very sweet and kind. When my sister and I would visit our father (our folks were divorced), she would come downstairs and invite us to a "banquet" in our honor in her apartment. She was warm and affectionate, would greet us with beautiful smiles, hugs and kisses, as if we were her own grandchildren.
Like any elderly "relative," she would ask us where we planned to attend college. As the Hebrew language held my interest even at that young age, I would always reply "the Hebrew University in Jerusalem." She beamed with pleasure.
Among my father's friends were Bernard and Anna Cohen of Philadelphia - strong Zionists - who moved to Israel in the early 1970s. They, too, became good friends of Mr. and Mrs. Adlerblum. On my first trip to Israel in 1975, they took me to see Mrs. Adlerblum's grave on the Mount of Olives.
It was only recently, when I came across a book by Nima Adlerblum among the books in my late mother's estate, did I realize that the warm Mrs. Adlerbloom of my childhood had an impact on the intellectual life of the Jewish world of the early 1900s, and knew another of my heros, Eliezer Ben Yehuda.
What an honor to have known this wonderful woman. I wish I had known at the time that Mrs. Adlerblum had led such an interesting life, but she was more interested in encouraging younger folks.
Sincerely,
Seth Watkins