The Mystery of My Mother’s Prayer Book

It started with an email. The subject line: “Sylvia Kanner’s Siddur.” Kanner was my late mother’s maiden name. Siddur is the Hebrew word for prayer book. I was, to say the least, intrigued. The sender explained that she had purchased several Judaic items on eBay. One was a small, leather-bound prayer book. On the inner…