2
THE JEWISH' CHRONICLE
of night by the silhouette of old
Old Zelig was eyed askance by
Zelig in nightdress, sitting up in
his brethren. No one deigned to
bed and counting a bundle of bank
call him "Reb" Zelig, nor to pre-
notes which he always replaced
fix to his name the American equiv-
under his pillow. She frequently
By Benjamin Rosenblatt
alent—"Mr." "The old one is a
upbraided him for his niggardly na-
barrel with a stave missing," know-
ture, for his warding of all re-
ingly declaml his neighbors. "l le
quests outside the pittance for
(Reprinted from "The Bellman."
household expense. She pleaded,
never spends a cent ; and he be-
exhorted, wailed. I le invariably
longs nowheres." For "to belong,"
would soon contract his heavy answered: "I haven't a cent to
on New York's East Side, is of no
This tale MIS selected by Edward
slight importance. It means being J. O'Brien, of Boston, as the best brows into a scowl and emphasize my soul." She pointed to the bare
a member in one of the numberless short story published in America the last with a heavy thump of his walls, the broken furniture, their
congregations. Every decent Jew during 1915. Its author, Benjamin sizzling iron. beggarly attire."
''Our son is ill,'' she moaned.
Society for Burying Rosenblatt, is a young . Russian Jew
When the frightful cry of the
must join "
massacred
Jews
in
Russia
rang
"I
le
needs special food and rest
a
Its M embers," to be provided at liz4ng in New York City. Ile is
least with a narrow cell at the end student in the New York lillii"CrS- across the Atlantic, and the Ghetto and our grandson is no more a
of the long road. Zelig was not ity, and this story aws rewritten of Manhattan paraded one day baby ; he'll soon need money for his
even a member of one of these. three times as a class exercise in through the harrow streets draped studies. Dark is my world ; you
"Alone, like a stone," his wife often the magaL.ine writing class of the in black, through the erstwhile are killing both of them."
Zelig's color vanished ; his old
I.Tnil•ersitv's Department of Jour- clamorous thoroughfares steeped
sighed.
nalis ► . 117 hen the man uscr i p t in silence, stores and shops bolted, hands. shook with emotion. The
In the cloakshop where Zelig reached the editor of "The Bell- a wail of anguish issuing from ey- poor woman thought herself suc-
worked he stood daily brandishing
looked as though it had ery door and window—the only one cessful, but the next moment he
his heavy iron 00 the sizzling cloth,' man" it
done much journeying to and from remaining in his shop that day was would gasp : "Not a cent by my
hardly ever glancing about him.
orifies. " Zelig" is said to old Zelig. his fellow workers did soul . "
The workmen despised him, for
not call upon him to join the pro-
be the author's first story.
One day old Zelig was called
during a strike he returned to work
cession.
They
felt
the
incongruity
from
his shop, because his son had
after two days' absence. Ile could
of "this brute" in line with mourn- a sudden severe attack ; and, as he
not be idle, and thought with dread visitefl . his eye. Only one thought
ers in muffled tread, And the Gen- ascended the stairs of his home, a
of the Saturday that would bring survived in his brain, and one de- tile watchman reported the next neighbor shouted : "Run for a doc-
him 11Q pay envelope.
v,
sire pulsed in his heart ; to save day that the moment the funeral for ; the patient cannot be revived."
I I is . very appearance seemed money enough for himself and dirge of the music echoed from a A voice as if from a tomb sudden-
alien to his • brethren. His figure family to hurry back to his native distant street, Zelig snatched off ly sounded in reply, "I haven't a
was tall, and of cast-iron mold. village. Blind and dead to every- the greasy cap he always wore, and cent to 111V soul."
\Vhen he stared stupidly at some- thing, he moved about with a dumb, in confusion instantly put it on
The hallway was crowded with
thing, he looked like a blind Sam-
again. "A ll the rest of the da Y .
the ragged tenants of the house,
son, tits gray hair was long, and longed for home. Before he found the Pole related with awe, "he mostly women and children ; from
it fell in disheveled curls on gi-
gantic shoulders somewhat in- steady employment, he walked daily looked wilder than ever, and so far off were heard the rhythmic
thumped with his iron on the cloth cries of the mother. The old man
dined to stoop. IIis shabby with titanic strides through the en- that I
feared the building would stood for a moment as if chilled
clothes hung loosely on him ; and, tire length of Manhattan, while
the
both summer and winter, the same children and even adults often come down." from the roots of his hair to
But
Zelig
paid
little
heed
to
tips
of
his
fingers.
Then
the
neigh-
suunx into byways to let him pass.
old cap covered his massive head.;
what was said about him. He hors heard his sepulchral mumble :
I le had spent most of his life in Like a huge monster he seemed,
dedicated his existence to the say- "I'll h ave t o borrow somew here ,
a sequestered village in Little Rus- with an arrow in his vitals.
ing of his earnings, and only feared beg sonic one," as he retreated
In the shop where lie found a
sia, where he tilled the soil and
that he might be compelled to spend down the stairs. He brought a
even wore the national peasant cos- job at last, the workmen feared
some of them. More than once his physician ; and w h en the grandson
tunic. When his son and only him at first ; but, ultimately finding wife would be appalled in the dark
(Continued on page 3)
child, a poor widower with a boy him a harmless giant. they more
of twelve on his hands, emigrated than once hurled their sarcasms at
to America, the father's heart bled. his head. Of the many men and
Yet he chose to stay in his native women employed there, only one
village at all hazards, and to die person had the distinction of get-
there. One day, however, a letter ting fellowship from old Zelig,
arrived from the son that lie was That person was the Gentile watch-
sick ; this sad news was followed man or janitor of the shop, a little
by words of a more cheerful na- blond Pole with an open mouth and
ture—"and your grandson, Moses, frightened eyes. • And many were
Over her wedding gift if you buy her a
goes to public school. IIe is al- the witticisms aimed at this un-
piece or set of "Community", "Rogers" or
most an American ; and he is hot couth pair. "The big one looks
Ehrlich Silver. There's nothing a "near wife"
forced to forget the God of Israel. like an elephant," the joker of the
dotes on more than fine silverware, and when it's
He will soon be confirmed. His shop would say "only he likes to
of the very latest pattern, guaranteed for fifty
Bar Mitzvah is near." Zelig's wife be fed on pennies instead of pea-
years, her happiness is supreme and her appre-
wept three days and nights upon nuts."
ciation of the donor is assured for all time.
"Oi, oi, his nose would betray
the receipt of this letter. The old
My special exhibit of "Community", "Rogers 1847",
man said little ; but he began to sell him," the "philosopher" of the shop
and "Rogers Bros." Silver is the largest shown by any
chimed in ; and (luring the dinner
store in Detroit off Woodward, and the "Moe Ehrlich
his few possessions,
h
Plan—Pay As You Can" makes it easy for you to se-
To face the world outside his hour he would expatiate thus:
"You see, money is his blood. He
lect from the superb showing NOW and pay for it later
village spelled. agony to the poor starves himself to have enough
at your convenience, without any delay, "red tape", in-
rustic. Still he thought he would
terest
or increase over regular cash prices.
get used to the new home which his dollars to go back to his home ; the
son had chosen. But the strange Pole told me all about it. And why
Cut Glass
should he stay here? Freedom of
The
largest
assortment
on the East Side at a saving
journey with locomotive and steam- religion means nothing to him, lie
of
25
to
35
per
cent
from
"Downtown"
prices.
ship bewildered him dreadfully ; never goes
to Synagogue; and free-
and the clamor of the metropolis.
into which he was flung pell-mell, (loth of the press? Bah—he never
even reads the conservative Tage-
Make Your
Make Your
altogether stupefied him. With a blast !"
Watch
Watch
new for
vacant air he regarded the pande-
new for
"Busiest East Side Jeweler"
Old Zelig met such gibes with
$1.75
monium, and a petrification of his
$1.75
EIIRLICII BULDG.
Adams and Hastings
inner being seemed to take place. stoicism. Only rarely would he
"Right on the Corner"
He became "a barrel with a stave turn tip the whites of his eyes, as
missing." No spark of animation if in act of ejaculation ; but he
SELIG
The
JUNE BRIDE
Will Go Wild
"akel2A- k&