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And he tumbled out of bed,
took the grogger out of doors, and it
spread its wings. The flag became a
propeller and, as the wings were
gently lifted from the ground,
Haggai sat between the wings and
rode up to the sky on his airplane.
Over hill and vale he flew. The
propeller whirred. In a minute, they
had soared over the sea and were
in foreign lands.
Haggai threw down some
rockets. They fell to earth like great
falling comets, like arcs of bright
lightning. In every land, the children
of Israel came out into the streets,
men and women, old and young,
children with their groggers in their
hands. They all stood gazing up at

"We have no boats, but
we have groggers. You
will be the sailors. Don't
be afraid, sit on your
groggers and ride out to
sea. We'll reach port by
morning."

the sky where Haggai sat on his
grogger in a pillar of light.
"Listen," called Haggai,
"Listen, dear children of Israel.
"How long will you live
oppressed in these lands?
"Arise! Be brave and leave the
lands that oppress you. Our land is
waiting for her sons, her builders.
Our land is beautiful. In the
Valley of Jezreel a new life is
blossoming. On the hills of Galilee
the shepherd plays his flute. In
Sharon the Hebrew worker rejoices.
"Why do you remain here, in
the lands where Hitler oppresses
you?
"Arise and come with me!"
As Haggai finished speaking,
he lit a flare. Brilliant sparks shot
out in all directions in great arcs of
light. Below, the people stood
gazing up. Only the children, boys
and girls, turned their groggers,
their eyes shining.
"We are free," they shouted,
"we are free!"
Their voices were still ringing in
the air when Haggai lit another
flare.
"Whoever is brave," he cried,
"come with me!"
The children answered, "We'll
go singing in our land."
Then, from every land the

children, in great columns, came
marching. The earth trembled
beneath their feet. On and on they
went, while Haggai rode above
them on his grogger-airplane.
When they reached the
Mediterranean Sea, they stood on
the shores and asked each other,
"What shall we do now? How can
we cross without ships?"
"We will cross," cried Haggai
from his pillar of light. "We have no
boats, but we have groggers. You
will be the sailors. Don't be afraid.
Sit on your groggers and ride out to
sea. We'll reach port by morning."
"Hurrah!" shouted the children.
And they plunged into the sea
astride their groggers. They
whipped out their handkerchiefs and
quickly tied them to the groggers for
sails. The stars in the sky were the
lanterns. Strong winds rose and
spanked the sails. By morning the
children had reached port.
Shouting with joy they jumped
ashore and ran toward Tel Aviv.
Down came Haggai on his grogger,
down to earth, his eyes shut against
the wind. His feet touched ground
and he opened his eyes.
He was lying in his bed.
Grandmother stood at the stove,
blowing the fire. And grandfather,
just home from synagogue, came
into the room.
"Why are you lying there so
quietly, Haggai?" he asked.
"They're starting the Purim parade."
"Lying there quietly!" cried
Haggai. He jumped out of bed.
"You are right, grandfather, I
shouldn't be lying here. I have work
to do, lots of work." Haggai pulled
his shirt on over his head.
"I'll get my friends together, all
of them. No, grandma. I've no time
for breakfast. Well, maybe just one
hamantash. We have work. Trees to
plant, fields to till." Haggai struggled
into his jacket.
"We've got to have things
ready when they come here. The
land must be beautiful, every bit of
it."
"When who comes, Haggai?"
asked grandmother.
"The children of Israel, of
course."
And Haggai dashed out of the
house, his shirt tails flying, in
search of his friends.

Reprinted by permission from
The Purim Anthology by Philip
Goodman.

Good As `Golda'
In These Surnames

Jared Goldenberg of Beth
Shalom Religious School requested
information about his surname.
Goldenberg / Goldberg / Gold /
Goldbaum / Goldblatt / Goldmark /
Goldblum are all names of
matronymic origin. These names
came from a female ancestor
named Golda. There is a place in
Silesia, Poland, which still exists
named Goldburgh. Some former
residents of this city may have
adopted these names, which are the
most commonly used Jewish
surnames. In the United States,
more than 60,000 people answer to
one of the above mentioned names.
The Jewish Encyclopedia has
Goldenberg biographies from 19th
Century Poland and Russia.
Michelle Auerbach traces her
name to German origin, and it
the
depicts a geographic location
town of Auerbach, Germany. This
was a very scholarly family
descended from Moses Auerbach,
court Jew to the bishop of
Regenesburg, Germany, 1497.
Another branch of this famous
family moved to Austria. The
Encyclopaedia Judaica has a
genealogy. This family was related
to many rabbinic families —
Katzenellenbogen, Wahl, Lipschitz,
Anschel.
Miller is a name derived from
the occupation of the same name.
Millman and Milstein were names
also adopted by ancestors who
owned or operated mills.
Ringle/Ringele/Goldring are all
names adopted by goldsmiths who
made wedding rings. The Universal
Jewish Encyclopedia has an article
about Michael Ringel, Polish Zionist
leader 1880-1939.
Bemstein/Borenstein are
Ashkenazic names used in
Germany, Russia, Poland and
Hungary. These names were often
taken from ancestors named Ber,
Beret or Berek. Some Bernsteins
may have had an ancestor who
dealt in amber, since Bernstein in

—

Next Month

Passover, the holiday of
freedom, will be the focus of our
March L'Chayim. There will be
special features, games, stories
and, of course, the monthly
favorites ... from DuRedst
Yiddish and What's In A Name
to Pen Pals and New Editions. It
will be a truly memorable
edition!

German means amber. Berenstein
may also be another variation of
this commonly used surname. All
the major Jewish encyclopedias
have histories and biographies
about these families.
Rabinowitz / Rabbinowicz /
Rabinovitz / Rubin / Raben. These
are Ashkenazic names indicating
descent from a rabbinical family.
The Jewish Encyclopedia,
Encyclopaedia Judaica and the
Universal Jewish Encyclopedia have
many biographies, all from 19th
Century Russia.
Citron comes from an ancestor
who was a seller of lemons. In
German "zitrone" means lemon.
Dresner is another Ashkenazic
surname adopted by people from
Dresden, Germany.
Kramer / Cramer / Dremer —
Ashkenazic names of German
origin. Kramer in German means
merchant. The Central Archives for
the History of the Jewish People in
Jerusalem, has a family tree dating
from 18th Century Germany.
Nagler was often adopted by
carpenters as a sign of their
occupation. Nagel in German
means nail.

Betty Provizer Starkman is the
past president and founder of the
Jewish Genealogical Society of
Michigan.

Trivia Answers

(From Page L-2)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

365 B.C.E.
127
180
13th Adar
14th of Adar
Persia/Shushan
Hadassah
Bigtan and
Teresh/Mordechai
9. Haman
10. Memuchan
11. Zeresh
12. Charbona
13. Hashem
14. Four: Hearing the Megilla,
sending mishloach manot,
giving matanot l'evyonim
(gifts to the poor) and
enjoying a seuda (feast).
15. We have a mitzvah to blot
out the memory of Amalek.
Haman is a descendant of
Amalek and we, therefore,
blot out even the mention
of his name.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

L 7

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