Adopt a Bubbie

You only get to adopt a “Bubbie” if you’re in Mrs. Jaffe’s AJSP class. And then you get to visit her every month. And maybe she’ll tell you her life story. And, if you’re lucky, she’ll give you a gold coin as shaliach mitzvah money, just like the one she carried in the war.

At least, that’s what happened to Kayla Siebzener, who–along with her AJSP class–adopted a bubbie to visit each month at Park Plaza. The group goes during class once a month to do an activity with their bubbies and to listen and learn from them.

Kayla’s bubbie’s name is Edith, and Edith told the girls a powerful story about her family and survival. She was going to England before the war, and her grandfather gave her a gold coin as shaliach mitzvah money. She didn’t really know what to do with it, but it seemed as if the coin was protecting her because, while bad things were happening all around her, they were not happening directly not to her. She would see buildings collapse around her, while the one in which she stood would remain standing. Edith carried the gold coin throughout her whole life, and at her grandson’s bar mitzvah she gave it to him to keep.

In December, when the class visited Edith at Park Plaza, she gave Kayla a gold coin to keep with her throughout her life.