20 | NOVEMBER 21 • 2019 

who come to Poland and the 
death camps to memorialize 
those who died and show we 
rose up from the ashes and 
rebuilt,” she said.
Prior to her trip, 
Morse tried to locate her 
grandmother’
s burial site 
with the cemetery. When she 
arrived at the graveyard, a 
helpful worker was able to 
find the spot.
“My grandmother was 
buried at 1 p.m. on May 3, 
1939. I found her grave on 
the same date, May 3 – at 
1 p.m.! It just happened 
to be the day our tour was 
scheduled to go to the 
cemetery.”
And that was only the first 
of the fantastic things Morse 
would experience. 
“We continued searching 
the grounds and then found 
my great-grandmother’
s 
grave. I’
m named for her: 
Rivka Esther. 

“Then, a Chasidic man 
came up to us and started 
speaking in Polish to the 
cemetery worker,” Morse 
continued. “I noticed he was 
carrying a bag from Israel, 
so I spoke to him in Hebrew. 
He wanted to know why I 
was visiting this grave, so I 
showed him the death notice 
for my grandmother. He got 
very excited and asked, ‘
Are 
you a Frommer?’
 (a family 
name). I said yes. He grew 
more excited and asked: ‘
Do 
you know who your family 
is? Come with me!’
“He brought me to a huge 
headstone and explained 
it was the grave of my 
great-grandfather Avraham 
Yitzchak Frommer. He 
showed me the words written 
on the stone indicated that 
Avraham Yitzchak was the 
great-grandson of the famous 
tzadik (righteous person), 
Rav Ephraim Fishel. 

continued from page 18

Ohel of Rav Fishel Ephraim under construction

Jews in the D

“Two more religious men 
came by, and the Chasid 
tells them who I am!” 
Morse added. “I found out 
they’
re involved with an 
organization that’
s restoring 
the gravesites of influential 
rabbis throughout Europe, 
and they’
ve begun work on 
an ohel (a structure built 
around a grave indicating the 
deceased’
s prominence) for 
Rav Fishel!”
Coming from a 
distinguished ancestor has 
definitely impressed upon 
Morse the meaning of family 
continuity.

“Prior to discovering this 
important ancestry, my 
mother always told me her 
emunah, her belief in God 
and her Jewish spirit, is what 
gave her strength during the 
worst of times. I, too, have 
that strong emunah and 
spirit.
“I feel a responsibility 
to carry on the legacy as 
a matriarch of this very 
important dynasty,” Morse 
said. “I am thrilled about 
the ohel being built. I’
m 
following and supporting the 
process and hope to visit the 
ohel upon its completion.” 

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