DECEMBER 19 • 2019 | 39
Schon, now 16, regularly
dons a decades-old piece
of jewelry she received
when she turned 12. It
was a present from her
great-grandma, my mom,
Ceil Liebman, who received
it when she was 12.
The silver, narrow-cuff
bangle bracelet had been
a gift from friends in my
mom’
s Young Judaea youth
group before her family
moved to a new town.
The bracelet came with a
detailed description of how
the dented markings amidst
the filigree metalwork were
the result of my mom’
s pre-
teen roller-skating fall. To
Shira, the scrape makes the
gift even more special. “I’
m
sure through the years I’
ll
add my own story to it with
new scuffs and scratches,”
she said.
The summer prior to my
niece Miriam Liebman’
s
graduation from the Jewish
Theological Seminary in
New York with a rabbinic
ordination and a master’
s
in midrash, her mom came
across a newspaper cartoon
that turned into the most
appropriate gift imaginable.
Titled Non Sequitur, and
created by Wylie Miller, the
cartoon depicts a woman
sitting behind a table with
a cash box and a sign that
reads, “What you’
re doing
wrong: $10.” The caption
reads, “Miriam decides to
turn pro.” My niece, who
laughingly admits she can
be “very judgmental” at
times, found it “
especially
fitting that the character
in the cartoon’
s name was
Miriam.”
After discovering the
cartoon, her mom, Judy,
contacted Miller about
acquiring its original draw-
ing. Not only did she and
Miriam’
s dad, Marty, pur-
chase the artwork, Miller
included a personal note,
written to Miriam. The
framed gift, with the orig-
inal cartoon attached to
the back, was presented to
Miriam at dinner the night
of her ordination.
It now hangs above her
desk, she says, “to remind
me of my graduation, of my
family, and that it’
s OK to
laugh at yourself.”
Gifts like Miriam’
s come
with a descriptive account
of their history. Others may
garner a knowing reaction
but need no verbal illu-
mination. No expounding
is ever necessary when
Miriam’
s fiancé, Akiva
Fishman, wears a special
T-shirt she bought for him
after they got engaged. The
words, “Real Men Marry
Rabbis” quite simply tell
their own story.
LEFT: Rachel Beneson, now 10, with her cousin, Shira Schon, in 2015 the day
Shira received her bracelet. RIGHT: Shira Schon with her great-grandma,
Ceil Liebman
PHOTOS COURTESY LIEBMAN FAMILY
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