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To
My Dear Students,
Curtis
Allina just died. Who was he? He created
the Pez dispenser, an iconic candy holder that
has brought a smile to millions for over a half
century, and which is avidly collected today.
Allina,
a Sephardic Jew, was the lone surviving member
of his family after the Holocaust. He himself
endured a succession of concentration camps.
Following the war, Allina moved to New York and
became vice president of U.S. operations for an
Austria-based candy company that sold "Pfefferminz,"
the German word for "peppermint."
Allina transformed that candy for adults that
was sold in tins into a candy for children that
popped out of one of the world's most recognizabel
devices. While the Pez dispenser is hardly
on a par with a great discovery or invention,
I can still recall my Pez dispensers and the enjoyment
they brought.
What a journey Curtis Allina made from his birthplace
in Prague to his death in Washington State.
Along the way, he originated an apparatus that
still brings delight to countless children and
has become a part of popular culture. In
America, more than three billion Pez candies are
consumed each year.
It is often the little things that hold great
meaning and make for pleasant memories.
Not everything in life has to be large or expensive
to be cherished. Sometimes it is those seemingly
incidental things that we remember with the greatest
fondness. What may seem trifling and unimportant
should not be discounted - everything, no matter
how small, accomplishes something. What
does Pez accomplish? It transports me to
childhood and reminds me anew that life can indeed
be sweet!
Shabbat
Shalom,
Your
Rabbi
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