Alfieri= (wish Periodical airier Friday, September 27, 1946 CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, OHIO DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle Page Three A SOLDIER OF CZAR NICHOLAS By ROBERT SEELAV I came within a hair's breadth p DONOR OF $50,000 TO YESHIVA UNIVERSITY showed colorful evidence of his indulgence. On his lap was a large tome of the Talmud but he appeared to be always concentrated on one page for a full day. I never saw him turn the page and I marveled. I stared at grandfather, presuming that he had heard the reference to him. He returned my gaze and I suffered with impatience, silent- ly. He had heard the directive but he hid not fully awakened to the task before him. "Jacob," he finally uttered, "mother Is right, absolutely right. We live in a land where'the cus- toms, after thousands of years, are still foreign to us. But we must observe, in order to know what to expect, and avoid trouble, so far as possible." "Czar Nicholas believes that all Russia and all the Russians be- long to him. The Russian people do not deny this idea and there- fore Czar Nicholas is fully con vinced of It. And if the Russians are serfs and property it should follow that our people are still lower in his esteem. But that is where our grasp of the mind of Czar fails us. He extends to us certain privileges which the serfs do not have. Do not try to un- derstand this perplexing situation. Just accept it as a phenomenon without brains." Grandfather paused, staring at me as if to follow the reaction upon my. mind of his great wis- dom. But I was as troubled as he was and my mind as blank as apparently that of the Czar. The great luminary and God, the Czar, began to shrink In my esteem. "A Czar must have soldiers," he continued and as all persons belong to him the Czar just takes them; that is right, he takes them into military service. And for 25 years! The Russian must go, and at a very early age, same as yours and even younger. "Here we have a slight ad. vantage, for some unknown rea- son. Our children are not ordered of being drafted Into the famous brigade of the Soldiers of Czar Nicholas. That was a notable mili- tary group serving the great "White" Czar, Nicholas the First. I suppose you have never heard of it or the adventures of any of k its members. Such is the brief life of Fame that, only a few generations away, and their mem- ory is as ancient and archaic as the arguebuse. The soldiery I speak ot was a noted institution. It was—but let me present the story in my own personal way. I was a mere child rely eight years old, residing in the un- known, small township of West!. kov. No one but the tax collector had any idea of its location, the railroad was many miles away and the whistle of the locomotive was an indistinct sound in our ears. We lived humbly and .poor. None , The late Enrico Cards, Ambassador of the few publications of the out- of San Marino to the French Republic, side world ever reached us. But donor of annual $1.000 Mordecai Ben we all knew one another; each David Award to an American Jew "for family claimed kinship to its patriotism and noteworthy achieve. neighbors, for all or almost all of ment." for which purpose he coo. tributed $50,000. Winner of this year's the residents were descendants of award "for indefatigable and self.sae. the noted lumber merchant that rificing devotion to duty and note. first laid its foundation there. worthy achievements," is Dr. Joseph Tradition was that the first set- J. Schwartz, distinguished alumnus of University, who is chairman of tlers came from Spain after the Yeshiva the European Executive Council of the expulsion by the Inquisition and American Jewish Joint Distribution that someone, now unidentified, Committee. had the Letters of Descent to verify it. But tradition and gos. on the return could not see sip hive no defined line. In any a step ahead in t„1: total black- event all this mattered little. The ness. Food was brofight to us so township was like one large fam- that we do not lose a moment of ily. Everyone attended the festive study — never mind the wasted affairs, followed to the grave bodies. every deceased person, entered any On this occasion the summer home without a formal announce- was at its peak and we reached ment and settled all their differ- our homes earlier. ences without garbed judges. "Mother,” I asked, "may I go There were no sharp social lines in Wasilkov. The only persons of over and play with my cousins?", "Oh, no, child. There is real distinction were those of greater learning, be they artisans, work- danger. Two towering men have ers or men of affairs. The Ignor- been seen lurking near the bridge, ant lout was not respected. Aris- just outside of the town. This tocracy was limited to those who forebodes evil." "And what would they do to 4 propounded wisely the words of the Sages or translated into com- me, mother? My walk is only HOLIDAY GREETINGS mon Yiddish the sophistries of across the alley. If they called to me I would run, fast. And it is the Talmud. We laid away our dead in sim. not dark yet." "Ask grandfather. He will tell pie grave; the rich and the poor alike, one next to another without you all about it." I turned to grandfather, who distinction and with no special or was seated in his usual place. To decorative markers. In the syna- COAL and COKE gogue a few had the privilege to me it seemed as if he never moved an inch from his steady position, stand nearer the Ark of the 1 7 4 0 0 RYAN ROAD Covenant but in general all min. in the same place. He smoked his pipe occasionally, but more often glad freely. TW. 2-3 5 30 My little friends and I sat on he drew in his snuff, a bit loudly, and every hair in his beard rough wooden benches at school rags and velvets together; we shared our meals often and after ,4 VERY JOYOUS ROSH HASHONAH TO ALL a while this became a "right" and not a "charity;" we played our "games" and annoyed the Rabbi, as have all the generations CATERERS back for untold years. UNiversity 4.3997 MILE ROAD 8620 WEST SIX The school hours were long and we knew from infancy the hard- Prices Reasonable, Food Excellent, Service Prompt ships of life. In the winter, at a tender age, we made our way to the school through darkness and RYAN COAL COMPANY SPRINGLE'S FINE FOODS to join. They wait until they have frightened. reached maturer years and then, ''Can they take me from my possibly, after legal proceedings, home?" I asked. they may be drafted, and for a "No," said grandfather reas- shorter period. suringly. 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