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ViewMate Posting VM 1047

Submitted by Carole Lorraine Pivnik

Information Picture Question
Category: Translation - Tombstone
Approval Date: 8/13/2003
Family Surname:
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I found the tombstone of my GGM, on a recent trip to N.Y. State, somthing I haven't seen in over 60 years. Can someone please translate the Hebrew on the Tombstone. I would appreciate it very much. FYI the Cemetary was the Sons of Israel in Monsey, N.Y. (Rockland County)

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On  Response 
2/21/2011 9:37 PM Here lies an important woman
Gitel daughter of Chaim Dovid HaCohen, may he rest in peace.
Died 10 Iyar 5693
May her soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life
12/23/2024 6:40 PM I noticed an error maybe a typo in the translation so I thought to provide another one with some relevant thoughts
top two letters are an acronym for Here is buried or Here rests
An important woman, Madame
Gittel daughter of Reb Chaim Dovid HaCohen,
may he rest in peace.
She passed away on the 10th day of the Jewish month of Iyar in the 5673 (year since the world was created)
The five letters on the bottom row are the initials of a verse "May his/her soul be bound in the bundle of life"
A direct quote from the Book of the Prophet Samuel / Shmuel A, 25: 29, that is traditionally engraved on Jewish tombstones.
Observations:
The words " אשה חשוה ishah chashuvah" used to describe her, don't just mean "important woman," it implies that others held her in high esteem due to her piety, observance of the mitzvos and/or her communal good deeds.
The 10th of Iyyar, 5673 began May 16, 1913, Friday evening at sunset, The beginning of the Holy Shabbos day and ended Saturday at nightfall on May 17, 1913.
The deceased must have been a very special woman, being as she merited passing away on Shabbos. According to our tradition the Gates of Gehenom-hell are closed on Shabbos thus anyone who dies, their souls enter directly into Gan Eden. When that happens, we generally wait until after the Shabbos ends Saturday night after dark or the following day Sunday, to bury the deceased. Burials are not done on Shabbos. According to biblical tradition, Great Pious and Holy Jewish leaders like Joseph, Moses and King David all died on the Shabbos.
Her name Gittel is the Yiddish sobriquet for the Hebrew name Tovah both meaning "Good or goodness."

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