I read with great interest the article in the December 22 issue of the Jewish Journal entitled “Israel’s Flag has a Boston Star.” Actually, Israel’s flag has a North Shore connection as well.

The Rabbi Jacob Baruch Askowith, mentioned in the article as the designer of the flag of Israel, was my great-great grandfather. I was fortunate to have known his daughter, Pearl (Askowith) Yoffa, who I knew as Grandma Pearl. She assisted her father in sewing the flag, and I remember her telling me and my family about the flag’s history. Many people who knew Grandma Pearl called her the Betsy Ross of the Israeli flag. Apparently Rabbi Askowith was a community activist; his flag was first presented in 1891 at a meeting of young Zionists in Boston.

Grandma Pearl’s son, my grandfather, was Fred Yoffa. Fred was a North Shore community leader and he was very proud of his grandfather’s connection to the flag. His first name was Bradium, but he preferred to be known as B. Frederick. Fred was born in Gardner, Mass., and moved to Beverly in his twenties where he married and raised his family. He founded and owned the North Shore Wholesale Grocery Company which sold to, and financed, many of the North Shore’s local grocery stores. He was president of the Beverly shul on Bow Street and Temple B’nai Abraham for a combined total of 14 years; he was one of the founders of Camp Bauercrest, and was involved in several other local Jewish and community organizations. Fred owned a power boat in the forties and was unable to get into Beverly’s Jubilee Yacht Club because he was Jewish. Along with some of his similarly situated boat owning friends, Fred was one of the founders of Marblehead’s Dolphin Yacht Club.

Although I am not aware that any of Rabbi Askowith’s descendants have become rabbis, several of us have become involved in Jewish organizations. I can assure you that we all look very proudly at the flag of Israel when we see it.

James L. Rudolph, Marblehead