- She is the granddaughter of Sholom Aleichem, the greatest of all Yiddish authors, whose stories about Tevya (1939) the dairyman were made into the musical Fiddler on the Roof (1971).
- As a rookie schoolteacher, it was difficult for Ms. Kaufman to get fully certified by a byzantine school bureaucracy. The examiners had her explain a sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and told her afterward she had given "a poor interpretation." Having been blocked once before because of a trace of a greenhorn accent, she refused to be stopped a second time. So she did what any true aspirant would have done: she wrote a letter to Ms. Millay and had her evaluate her interpretation.
"You gave a much better explanation of it than I myself should have," the poet wrote back, and the chastened examiners saved face by urging Ms. Kaufman to try for the license again. - Is fluent in the Russian language.
- On the board of directors for the Shalom Aleichem Foundation.
- Awarded plaque from the Anti-Defamation League, as well as the United Jewish Appeal.
- Named to the Hall of Fame of Hunter College.
- In the 1940s, she wanted to sell a story to Esquire magazine, which took a dim view of submissions by women. She began signing her work with the more androgynous first name Bel.
- She is survived by her partner of more than 40 years, Sidney J. Gluck. They were never technically married.
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