Dew of Your Youth

Tonight, the 7th of Iyar, is the 82nd yahrtzeit of Shmariahu (Sam) Shore — my great-great grandfather, born in Talne, Ukraine in 1868, died in Providence, Rhode Island on April 30, 1944. May his neshama have an aliyah. Two years ago, I wrote a fuller account of his life for his 80th yahrtzeit — his role as the first president of Sons of Jacob Synagogue, his founding of the Hebrew Free Loan Society and the Hebrew Free Sheltering Center in Providence, his frescoes and paper cuttings, and the tall tales (some more plausible than others) that followed him through family memory. For a fuller picture of who he was, I’d point you there first.

A findings-focused guide to three years of Saranduk / Shore family research — what we now know, what was newly discovered, and what remains open.

A jog up Tel Yarmut sparks a reflection on the tension between halachic categories and the lived reality of Jewish destiny.

A beginner-friendly Turkish phrase list with IPA cues, early pronunciation notes, and why Duolingo basics miss what you actually need first.

Family recollections about a missing Rambach portrait by Fred Green, his early work with Boston police photography, and his boxing ties, recorded as oral history pending documentation.