Rabbi Lillian A rare book. A love story. A jewish story. A family story. A story of working hard, moving much, getting married, gaining and growing, raising brains, a family suffering many of life's tragic calamities: marrying out of the faith, deception, robbery, deadly assault, losing it all by betrayal, the courage of love, deaths to young and old. An immigrant family moves to america to join the teeming thriving diaspora known as the new york melting pot. They strive & thrive and put down roots but after the second world war the lure of california becomes a family tranplant. Who wrote this book in a style of her own, one of a kind, a blend of accents hebrew yiddish polish russian german english most of all american and brooklyn? Lillian Gefter, a tender heart also known as the rabbi. A real rabbi? A real rabbi. When her father died Lillian age 14 dropped out of school, where she learned the palmer method of handwriting and where spelling is taught by EYE. All her life she's read books, she also wrote thousands of letters in the same legible hand. Only letters, until this book. Behind her unique often humorous spellings there's a practical common sense. Certain words she spells by EAR (what she hears) or by TONGUE (the way she speaks). Here's a sprinkling of her flavor: "we had a CERKOMCISION" "it was a BRAN new building" "I was very EMBAREST" "I had HEMORIGED" "we all insisted that they make a SEASEREAN" "took all old MERCHANDICE" "she sold her MORGAGE" "a SLITE smile" "until his MOTORCAID passed us" "to ease the TENTION," among dozens of examples. Lillian Gefter came for a longer visit than usual, with a blank notebook and a pen, on the first page in the upper right hand as if shewas dating a letter she wrote the year 2000 and the first sentence, "Now that I have reached the ripe age of ninety it's time to write the history of my family and my being, of things my family told me and also things that I remember."