This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page the stage was set for a very important meeting in Israel this past May the true genesis for this meeting had begun some 80 years ago but he was obviously very close to my father The man spoke with my father for a while and presented a book the “Sefer Rypin,” describing the life and people of my parents’ pre-war town in Poland The book provided a new world of discovery for me I saw pictures of relatives I had never seen before One section had been written by the town’s former rabbi who later became chief rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and father-in-law of Rabbi Israel Meir Lau A document reproduced in the “Sefer Rypin” naming Rabbi Frankel as the town’s rabbi included my father’s signature Our house was quiet after the man departed My mother called my older brother and me close to her and that my father had lost his first wife My mother showed us a photograph of the four children beautiful children who were murdered in 1942 My brother and I had previously known nothing of my father’s lost family I felt heavy and guilty hearing this story We were told not to discuss this and my father never spoke to us of the man or the meeting My mother had participated in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising My father had served in the Polish army and was taken captive in the blitzkrieg The Germans later freed the captured Polish soldiers but both my parents were later interned in various German concentration camps When the Jews returned to Rypin after the war a large house that had once belonged to my mother’s uncle Poles were killing Jews who returned to the area Tante Helen had immigrated to the United States in the 1920s working and saving for eight years to bring his family to the United States Tante Helen sent a letter to my father imploring him to join them This connection with Tante Helen and Uncle Moshe brought our family to America I wanted to identify and connect with surviving relatives and build relationships All of these people had lost many relatives and all but one of the cousins I met were from my mother’s side of the family I wanted to know more about who I was and who my parents were I was able to track down a man named Fishel Blum whose photo had been in the “Sefer Rypin.” I remember my parents talking about him as a distinguished citizen of Rypin; he became involved in the city government of Bnei Brak told me stories of my paternal grandfather my parents visited Israel for the first time he quoted the stirring statement made by Jacob in Genesis 48:11 when Jacob saw his son Joseph after he was presumed dead for 22 years But now G-d has even shown me your children.” I arranged to meet with Rabbi Yitzchak Yedidya Frankel whose rabbinic document my father had signed in the 1930s Rabbi Frankel suggested I come to Mincha one Shabbos afternoon when I was staying in Tel Aviv “The Rav wants to see you.” I walked home with Rabbi Frankel and he invited me inside He inquired after my father and showed me the original document my father had signed Rabbi Frankel had also written an essay in the “Sefer Rypin” about the different kinds of Jews there and how their love and desire for Israel permeated the town He likened their love of Israel to the splitting of the Red Sea when the various tribes vied to enter the water Rabbi Frankel wrote that the Jews of Rypin felt that same enthusiasm about going to Israel Esther and I learned of Rabbi Lau’s autobiography “Out of the Depths,” as we were researching books for the Southwest Torah Institute’s Women’s Academy I was riveted to realize that I was connected to Rabbi Lau through his father-in-law and the family associations to Rypin he stated that this was a meeting that had been arranged 80 years before I asked for words of inspiration and strength from the Rav Some members of our group were grieving great personal losses and one person was recovering from major medical treatments eloquence and blend of vast worldly knowledge and penetrating perceptions of Torah He outlined the potency of Jewish continuity over the centuries describing the various leaders and cultures of the nations He illustrated how Jewish life has survived while all other cultures have disintegrated how those nations still may have descendants he imagined Julius Caesar returning to the Rome airport today Caesar and modern Italians would be total strangers exchange greetings of “Shalom Aleichem” in the same language and share the same visions and aspirations There would be a complete connection between the two men Rabbi Lau’s example is true of Jewish life the world over Jewish texts that were written millenia ago are as alive today as when they were first written Our Torah learning and our culture are alive and thriving Rabbi Lau and my parents survived the Holocaust He and my mother married shortly after the war My father lived to attend the wedding of the first of his grandchildren to marry who emerged as the youngest survivor of Buchenwald to become chief rabbi of Israel and influence world leaders Esther Becker will hold a women’s book brunch on Lau’s biography, “Out of the Depths,” on Sunday, Sept. 21. For details, go to www.tucsontorah.org or call 747-7780 Coveris has agreed to acquire a Polish manufacturer of high-quality flexible paper and films packaging Following its recent acquisitions of packaging sites in Hungary Coveris’ acquisition of Hadepol Flexo will mark the company’s fourth acquisition in CEE and the continuation of its strategy to invest in selected geographies and markets Coveris said it has achieved its strategic goal to better balance the operations footprint and become a leader in the CEE markets The acquisition is subject to customary regulatory clearance and is expected to close towards the middle of Q2 2024 Hadepol Flexo operates two production facilities located in Rypin Poland and specialises in paper and film-based packaging for bakeries and supermarkets “I am delighted that despite the turbulent times in the overall industry we manage to continue to follow our growth strategy We again prove that we are capable of expanding our service and offerings and thrive together with our customers,” said Coveris CEO Christian Kolarik “Hadepol Flexo represents a perfect fit with our existing production network that will allow us to materialise synergies and broaden our service and packaging solutions offer for European bakery and confectionery customers.” Coveris’ corporate office is in Vienna and the group has 30 sites in the EMEA region Printweek welcomes informed debate, but please read our House Rules before posting Printweek is the premier website for the print industry Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.