My girlfriends grandfather Boris “Benny Itzkowitz was a Holocaust survivor. When he passed away in 2007 he was buried next to his wife Blossom but their son somehow took a refund for his marker. We saved up the money and paid over $3,800.00 for his marker but we have a problem. We want a marker similar to his wife’s with the verbiage across the top but we don’t know what Blossom’s says and no one at the Jewish cemetery can figure it out. We’re guessing its Hebrew but a lot of the symbols don’t match up so it could be another language. Our goal is to put something appropriate in the same language on Boris’s marker. Can you folks please look at the marker and transcribe what those words say? Find it here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/139636176/blanche_itzkowitz just look at the photos and you can see it. From what we have been told this בלומה אביבה בת חיים הכהן translates to Bluma Avivah daughter of Chayim The Cohen We really want something appropriate for Benny. We really appreciate any help we can get.

Shalom, Thank you for your question. What a wonderful mitzvah you are preforming in making a respectful and proper grave for your girlfriends’ grandfather. The Hebrew words are the Hebrew (Jewish) name of “Blossem Itzkowitz” (as you probably know most of the Jews living in America used secular names on a day to day basis, but had a Jewish name they were given at birth (or in the case of a boy, at their circumcision)). Blossem’s Hebrew name (according to the gravestone) was “Bluma Aviva”. The way Jewish names are formed is by the person’s name (or names if they have two, as in this case) followed by the word “Bat” which means “Daughter of”. For a male it would be “Ben”, “the son of”. Then the name of the father appears – in this case “Chaim”. So we have here the name “Bluma Aviva bat Chaim” – which means “Bluma Aviva the daughter of Chaim”. The last word “HaCohen” refers to the fact that Chaim was of the priestly class – a Cohen. (A Jew is either a Cohen, Levi or Yisrael which descends through one’s father). When the person is a Cohen or Levi it is common to attach that title to the end of their name. The name Bluma is a girl's name of Yiddish, (German) origin meaning "flower". This floral name, related to bloom and Blossom, is common in the Jewish community, but not often heard outside it. So, it is not surprising that her English name was Blossem. “Aviva” is a Hebrew name meaning Spring. Thus, her name translates to Spring Blossem. If you want something similar for her husband’s stone, then it will be his Hebrew name. My guess is that it will be Binyamin – בנימין. But you will need to do some research and find out if he also had a second name (perhaps Zeev, which is quite a common second name used with Binyamin – but not always by any means). You will also need to find out his father’s name(s). Then the inscription will read Binyamin X Ben Y (Z). May you have many blessings,