The Portraits

Two large portraits of Aharon and his second wife were painted in oil from life and have passed down in the family through the generations. For many years they graced the home of Nathan and Sadie Friedman, my grandparents. From my earliest childhood memories, my parents, Robert and Edith Friedman displayed them in their homes; and for the past three decades they have been in the possession of my late sister, Rachel, and her husband Michael Albert.

We know that Aharon's first wife, Rebecca Liberman, my great-great-grandmother, was a relatively young mother with several small children when she died under tragic circumstances. This is described in Hebrew on her gravestone in Brooklyn. (I shall share the inscription in my next posting.) My father was told that Rabbi Aharon was compelled to take a second wife to care for his youngsters. Dad did not know this lady's name. Perhaps a reader of this blog can help with more information.