Letters from Lida - 66, 67

                                                August 19, Sunday (1)

Dear Fanechka!

 I am very surprised that this Saturday, that is on Yom-Kippur, you left us without a letter, while were we waiting so much for one from you. Thank God, Yom-Kippur is in the past. This day, thank God, passed uneventful for all of us (may God make it so) and we pray to God that He will give us a year of happiness and prosperity. Before Yom Kippur there was a bris at Abram’s and we did it very well. Because of the oncoming Holiday many were not able <to come?> but still there were required number of men. You probably are interested in who was there, and here they are. There were Girsh’s uncle Lejba, Meilach’s uncle Chaim-Abe, Shimshin and Leva <, ?> (2) Moisey with Yuddel and Taiba, Krigel  with his wife, Dovid-Yuddel Tatarsky and Eiser Volinktsky <?> Here they are all. Everybody came about 9:30 in the morning and by 11:30 in the morning the ceremony was over, including the dinner. I was sorry that Olia (3) was not there. It was at our house. The boy is very pretty. How did you spend Yom-Kippur? How are you and what are you doing? I want to know it very much, but at the same time you make us to wait in vain for your letters. Shapiro is taking a boat on 25^th of August to go back home. Look, don’t forget to write us every week. Be healthy and happy by the wish of loving you mama Revekka.

<new page, Frida’s letter>

As I already wrote you it is not a time to get angry with you, you are too lonely, it is not a time for arguments.  Fanechka, make a decision at last what are you going to do. It is not right to stay in Palestine while you don’t feel too good. Besides, take care of your eyes, eyes are a very important organ in the human body, do not go to a charlatan, but go to a good eye doctor. Fanechka, I wrote you few times already that everybody at home is waiting for your arrival impatiently, but my personal opinion that you always can return home, just don’t miss this opportunity with the journalist, try to ask him (you even can write him a letter because it is not good to miss work often) to talk with Shapiro if he would send you to America to study something (you will choose your specialty). Maybe even Froebel classes. I know for sure that students are allowed to enter America with the condition that they will leave the country later, but we should not think now about what is going to happen in few years. Give <him> a reason that it is bad for you to stay in Palestine because your health is not good, not just bad <to stay in Palestine> but impossible. Fanechka, I understand you completely, how even now it is hard for make yourself to study, but think: you are only 19 years old, and even if you were be able to get into medical school or dental school, where you  have to stay for 3-4 years, you will graduate at 23-24. You will have everything ahead of you if only he gives you this opportunity, then you won’t need better happiness. Try very hard to convince the journalist, explain to him that you cannot demand money from home, just the opposite, when you will graduate from some school you will be able to help. I don’t want to write in detail, who else but you would know better how to convince him.  I am very surprised that you left us this week without a letter.  And may God make it that by the time you receive this letter all the bad things of this year will have passed, and in the new, coming year,  life will be brighter, for you and for all of us.

We started this year with a big celebration, imagine that in the <unclear, 1^st?> day of the new year we had Piden-Aben <?>, unusually successful morning. I will describe how it was: <unclear>. Vodka, very tasty prepared fish, fry <unclear>, I have never tried such a tasty good one, tsimes and kompot, Meilach sent beer (4), there was plenty of everything, just like a wedding. May God make that all year will be no less happy than this day, and that morning will be a good beginning for festivities in our family. I was very sorry that we did not make a picture of everybody sitting at the table to send to you, but Abram thought of t it too late. You are probably surprised that nobody came to Pidel-avem from aunt Guti’s house – I will explain this to you. A few days before that day there was a horrible argument and family quarrel, and it was all because “I said, you said.” I am not in a mood to write you about it now, maybe I will write next time, For now I will write you only that I was very good with Olia, maybe I loved her because she was with you for a whole year, and I feel about you very strangely, sometimes I imagine that you are not my sister, but my daughter. Does it happen because I took care of you or because we were friends I don’t know, and don’t want to get into details of it and don’t want to be distracted. I started to write you about Olia. Now I am aware of her and very much so, but don’t think that we are arguing. This is how it was: once in the evening I was sitting with Dora and she bugged me to tell her how do they live with each other at Mania’s because I stop by often. I said that not too good because it happens that Mishulia would bring a sausage, sit down and eat it all by himself without offering any to anybody, but just because of this nobody can say that they don’t live well with each other. I am telling you all as it was, literally, word by word. It seems, as soon as I left, Dora told Olia, and Olia went and told that to everybody at Poliacheks. Imagine how I look now. Besides that, I was told that she made it sound even worse…

<file 66>

you can understand yourself <as fun a vort us gevarum a kvart - Yiddish>, so you understand that after that I did not go ask her “nuden-aben” <Yiddish> because later she was at our <Yiddish or Hebrew> , so she expressed that she is sorry that she did not come, she sat <at our place> the whole day and felt something, but I did not express a thing towards her. I am very far from gossip, as you know. She was very pleasant and entertained me the whole time and when I prayed she even asked a permission to join us. I sure agreed but did not tell her anything besides that, and I was rather cold towards her. Fanechka, she made couple more of bad things to me with her gossips, her head is to empty <af ci arcun us> too good also, that is she does not have any worry. I even don’t have enough time for that, and I did not expect it from anybody, especially from Olia, because before she told me too much and she got too far with her secrets. And she even now, probably is sure that I am not going to say to anybody neither about you, nor about her what I should say. She does not have to worry about it <because>  I want to be above all this gossip. Be happy. Write how you react on all this, if you want to, and try to settle somehow already. I wish you a lot of happiness, Frida.

<Notes along the edges of the letter:>

1. It is possible that Marusia will visit me, I will write you then.

2. Have a happy and joyful Holidays! Today is Sunday and on Wednesday we are going to have Sukkoth.

3. I did not stop by Mania’s for more that 2 months, it is still hard to stop by now after that.

4. For Sukkoth I also invited Mina Borodovskaya, possibly she will come, and then I will write about everything, but then you follow my example <and write about everything>.

5. Heartfelt regards from Dira.

(1) Olia is back, so this must be 1927.
(2) Chaim-Abba, Shimshon, and Lev were all Rebekka’s brothers-in-law. Why she refers to them as Meilach’s uncles is unclear, but another set of brothers with the same three names would be quite a coincidence.  Some of the other attendees must have been Kaplan-side relations, or  Mirsky relations [Abram was married to Shayna Mirsky].
(3) Olia Zajczyk, who was the recipient of some of the letters.
(4) This Meilech is most likely Kalman’s uncle Meilech, who ran the brewery, which is why he had beer to contribute.