I received the Great Neck News today but did not have a chance to read it.
Just now the telephone rang and the executive director of the Great Neck Synagogue, Mark Twersky, called to share the exciting news with me of a letter that appeared on page 13. I ran to get the newspaper while he was still on the phone and I am delirious in my rejoicing that Richard Oshana remembers me after some 45 or 46 years.
I remember him well because he was from an Assyrian Christian family and their native language was Aramaic. He read the kaddish prayer for me in perfect Aramaic. It was exciting for me to hear it being read from a native Assyrian. That kingdom was later absorbed into Babylonia but Jews still recall Sennacherib of Ninevah, king of Assyria, who occupied the southern kingdom of Judah in 702 BCE.
Mr. Oshana’s letter made my day. Perhaps even my life. At 80, I am so happy that a former student remembers me.
Many thanks.
Esor Ben-Sorek, Ph.D.
