 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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