09 September 2014

Tombstone Tuesday: Rachel, Labun Cemetery

In June of 2013 I had the pleasure of visiting Ukraine and Labun (now Yurovshchina; once called Lubin in Yiddish), my paternal grandparents' community. We were able to visit the old Jewish cemetery, which I discussed in an earlier post. Over the next several Tuesdays I will post photos and translations (as I am able to decipher) of tombstones from that cemetery. Most do not feature surnames.


Here lies
A pleasant woman
Yachna Rachel 
daughter of Moshe
Died 5 Tammuz
5671  May her soul be bound in eternal life

A tree had grown around this tombstone and I am actually amazed that as much of it was still readable.

The adjective modifying "woman" on the first full line is cut off by the break in the stone. I am guessing that the full word may have been the Hebrew word chamida, which means "pleasant."

I am do not know what the word before Rachel may be. I am open to suggestions. [Thank you, Israel P, for the suggestion of the name Yachna].

With the Jewish Calendar Conversion application the 5th day of the month Tammuz in the year 5671 would correlate with 1 July 1911 in our (Gregorian calendar) and 18 June 1911 in the Julian calendar, which was in effect at the time of Rachel's death.
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6 comments:

  1. IsraelPSeptember 9, 2014 at 3:36 AM

    The first name is Yachna. That might be a form of Yocheved, but I am not sure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. IsraelPSeptember 9, 2014 at 3:39 AM

    The rows after the first do not seem to be cut off, so I am not sure why you see the first line as broken.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Emily GarberSeptember 9, 2014 at 6:14 AM

      You might be correct about that (now that I look more closely). For some reason I was recollecting that this one was broken, but, perhaps, not. Is chai mem an abbreviation? Thanks for all you help with this.

      Delete
    2. IsraelPSeptember 9, 2014 at 7:36 AM

      Not anything relevant that I can think of. My book of initials lists maybe three dozen possibilities, including the undersigned, greedy, intestinal disease, the prelude to the Mashiah, condemned to death - you get the idea. Nothing I'd want on a mazeva.

      I have a guy who may have an idea.

      Delete
    3. IsraelPSeptember 9, 2014 at 7:58 AM

      My friend R' Dovid Shapiro says "
      It's probably a formula that was commonly used in that locality, and you might find it written out on other matzevos in the same cemetery. For a wild guess I would suggest Choveves Mitzvos.

      (That would be "loved the Commandments.")

      Delete
    4. Emily GarberSeptember 9, 2014 at 8:13 AM

      Ha! "Loved the Commandments" would be the benign choice. I do so like "condemned to death," however. There would be a great story there!

      Delete

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