Starting a New Mother's Day Holiday Tradition 

By Attorney Philip J. Kavesh, President

In honor of Mother's Day, I was asked to write a special cover article. Almost instantly, the following story came to mind.

My daughter and I recently traveled to Florida and visited my mother (whom my daughter affectionately refers to as "Mom-Mom"). It was a beautiful and wonderful event. My daughter, having grown up far away here on the West Coast and almost always going on family trips together with her twin brother, rarely had the opportunity to spend time by herself with her Mom-Mom.

Phil, His Daughter & His Mother

My daughter, now age 20 and a young woman, was able to speak with and relate to her Mom-Mom in new, different and deeper ways. It was a real joy for me to see them stroll the mall together and chat about so many things, comparing notes about where they are and have been in their lives, as well as their different fashion senses!

The most interesting and thought-provoking conversation occurred innocently enough one morning over the breakfast table. My daughter was curious about her Mom-Mom's family history, something which she had rarely talked about. I, too, was all ears as my mother answered her granddaughter's probing questions.

Mom-Mom launched into numerous lengthy and detailed stories of her family's past, many of which, to my surprise, I had never heard before!

The most moving story was about her own mother and grandmother (my daughter's great grandmother and great-great-grandmother, if you're keeping track).

My mother shared how her mother, Sylvia, was raised in a small, rural village in the Ukraine. One day when she was about 8 years old, Sylvia's mother hurriedly called her into the living room. Sylvia's mother told her she had an important message to take to all the villagers - - that a visiting Rabbi had just warned her mother that the Cossacks were coming! This immediately pulsed great fear throughout Sylvia's small body. Like all Jews living in that region, this summoned up the image of horrifying giant men on horseback, with long swords, whose evil intent was to slaughter Jews.

Sylvia was told to go through the whole town, amongst all the Jewish families' homes one-by-one and warn them to take cover. She was further instructed that once she reached the other end of town, she was to go to the home of a Christian woman, whom her mother knew and would give her shelter for the evening. It was almost nightfall, would get cold very soon and there was precious little time to waste with the terrible galloping horsemen rapidly descending upon the town. Sylvia, though small, was selected for this big task because she was very athletic and a fast runner (now I know where my Mom got her athletic skills from!).   

Sylvia immediately sped off on her mission.  She successfully reached every Jewish home, spreading the word so people could hide (many had fake basements below the floor boards or underground storage bins in nearby fields). Tired and scared, Sylvia finally arrived at the Christian woman's house on the other side of town. Moments after explaining to the lady why she was there, a loud knock and harsh voice were heard at the front door. The Cossacks had arrived!

The lady told Sylvia to go upstairs and stay with her two daughters. Then the door burst open and... READ MORE

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