Reflecting on Fanny and Rosa Sonnenschein (Yom Kippur 2021)

On this Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish faith, I am reflecting on my ancestors.

Having said this, I should mention that I was not brought up with any practices in Judaism. I knew nothing about my Jewish roots until I was in my thirties and living in New York City.

Getting back to my ancestors, Fanny 'Wink' Sonnenschein, my father's grandmother, and my great grandmother, had an eye afliction. One of her eyes performed so much less than the other that it caused it to turn completely inward; and she was ultimately nicknamed Wink, by her mother, Rosa Fassel Sonnenschein.

Images of both Fanny and Rosa Sonnenschein are featured in the collage atop this entry.

Fanny is at the left, Rosa is at the right. Rosa Sonnenschein was the "flamboyant editor and publisher of The American Jewess, the first (1895) independent American Jewish magazine, published by a woman" and dedicated to issues concerning women. 

I am not certain if Rosa had poor eye-sight and perhaps if she had an affliction, she hid it. However, from what I understand about Rosa Sonnenschein, she was not shy about who she was or what she stood for. This is evidenced in a description that is on the backside of the image I've included in the collage atop this entry.

I realize that text is hard to decipher so I've taken the liberty of posting a copy of it directly below:

Yom Kippur 2019

I don't want this Tuesday to pass without my mentioning that I'm thinking of the Jewish community with this evening's onset of Yom Kippur which will began at sunset this evening.

Today's Friday (September 29, 2017) Facts: Tashlikh ends. Yom Kippur begins at sundown.

Earlier today, I published a post re some interesting facts that I had learned about a Muscovy duck (who turns out is named Jewel) whom I initially met on Wednesday, September the twentieth, when I spent time on a pier which is on The Hudson River.

Last evening when I went down to that same pier to visit the birds, I saw Jewel on an adjacent pier in the company of Mallard ducks and pigeons, as evidenced in the image atop this entry. While I was there, someone pointed out to me that lots of bread varieties had been dumped in the river as evidenced in the next picture.

This included whole club rolls (indicated by light grey arrow), whole semolina loaves (indicated with white arrows), whole kaiser rolls (indicated with black arrows), whole bialys (indicated by yellow circles), as well as a whole bagel (indicated by an orange circle), as seen below.

The person who pointed this out to me was deeply disturbed, for she knows how dangerous it is for wild birds to eat most breads.