3 September—A few days ago, I received a couple of emails from Price Chopper or Market 32, or whatever it’s called at the moment. The subject of the first email was “L’Shana Tova Tikatevu”; the subject of the second email, received about an hour later, was “Correction – L’Shana Tova Tikatevu.”

The contents of the emails were identical:

“Rosh Hashanah is a two-day Jewish Celebration celebrated this year on September 6th through September 8th. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, “Head of the Year,” and as its name indicates, it is the beginning of the Jewish year.

“There are many food items that are used in traditional Jewish meals, many of which can be purchased at Price Chopper and Market 32! These include Kedem Grape Juice, Golden Blintzes, Streit’s Egg Noodles, and more! You can find all of these products in our stores at great prices.”

Then followed pictures and prices of the grape juice, blintzes, and noodles.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I venture up to Market 32 (or Big Y, for that matter) in Torrington only for exceptional promos, of which there are fewer and fewer these days. But that’s for another time. And, for the record, I don’t make a big deal of any new year.)

So, after thanking the nice folks at Golub corporate, the chain owner, in Schenectady for their good wishes, through their website, I asked, “Why did I receive an email wishing me a Sweet (Jewish) New Year? Has that same email been sent to all customers?” (I didn’t ask why any place would be called Schenectady, which always requires extra effort to type.)

I explained, “My loyalty-card profile doesn’t indicate a religious preference—and had I been asked, I shouldn’t have given one—so is there an algorithm that culls out Jewish-sounding names, which may or may not in fact belong to Jewish people? And if not an algorithm, and if the email in question isn’t sent to all customers, just what criteria are used to determine the lucky recipients of the Rosh Hashanah greeting?”

I’m still waiting for a reply. I’ll report when—if—I receive one.

And Price Chopper doesn’t even know my middle name.

Now, Rosenberg is usually construed—in this country, anyway—as being a Jewish name. It’s actually a German word meaning “mountain of roses.” Some Rosenbergs, for whatever reasons, became Rosemont or Montrose, or even Rose or Ross. One, an Oklahoman born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg, became Tony Randall.

But you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Rosenberg. Case in point, Alfred Rosenberg, sometimes called Hitler’s intellectual. He’s the thoroughgoing scumbag who’s largely responsible for the Holocaust. He was tried at Nuremberg, found guilty on all counts, and executed in October 1946. Not soon enough. And not Jewish . . .