• •
The Grandfather
By BERNARD ISAACS
(Translated from the Hebrew by
Joshua Joyrich).
Editor's Note: This story was
not Included in the English ver-
sion of Mr. Isaacs' "Selected
Stories," recently published.
• • •
formed. The fearsome High Holy
days had been terminated — no
more sighs and groans. There was
an end to the anxiety and awe.
He felt as if he had emerged from
the bath-house, cleansed and puri-
fied and is presently ready to sit
in the sukka and enjoy the world
of the Holy One, blessed be He;
his face is soft and pleasant.
Immediately after the Day of
Atonement he would travel to the
esrogim mart. and bring home a
carton of esrogim.
Each and every year, as he
arrived with the case of esrogim
he would look about in the house.
inspecting every corner and seek
a fit and proper place in which
to store the box. No place seemed
really worthy of this honor.
Thus, he searched and weighed
each spot for this respected
treasure, and meanwhile he placed
the box, temporarily of course, on
the table adjacent to the book-
case. There in that "temporary"
place, the box remained .. .
When the box of esrogim was
brought in, the spirit of the holi-
day and its flavor entered simul-
taneously.
a Portrait
to it. In my eyes, this _sukka was
the center of the globe.
And the neighbors, too, loved
grandfather's sukka and would
look at it with a feeling of respect.
The merchants of our neighbor-
hood, who had their sukkot close
to their stores, loved nevertheless
to come into grandfather's sukka
at noontime and have some re-
freshments.
There - is silence in the syna-
gogue. Muffled weeping comes
from the women's section. I raise
And I loved to look at my grand-
my eyes and look stealthily at my
father's face when he was receiv-
mother. She dries her eyes. My
ing the diverse guests. His recep-
father stands motionless, leaning
tion consisted of many grades.
against his stand completely
To me this reception was a sort
wrapped in his prayer-shawl.
of yard stick with which I could
Grandfather is already standing
measure the worth of each guest.
on the pulpit and praying softly.
His voice is inaudible, only at in-
One grade was represented by
tervals he emits a deep sigh.
Nathan the Shohet. He was a
Without words he is saying: It is
simple man, with a short beard,
the Day of Judgment! The dread
from which he would pluck out
and hold the torn-out hair in
of the Day of Judgment permeates
two of his fingers and with utter
all the worshipers, and all depends
seriousness blow them directly
on grandfather. The keys to the
into my face. When he, Nathan.
gates of heaven are in his hands.
would enter, my grandfather
"T'keeah," announced a trem-
would place his handkerchief
bling voice, bespeaking humility
and his tobaccobox upon the
and awe.
open Gemara, he would raise his
eyes, laugh and reply heartily to
The point of the shofar. protrud-
the holiday greeting, direct him
ing from underneath grandfather's
to a chair and enter into a con-
tallit seems to be bearing frightful
versation, and at the same time
tidings. But grandfather blows,
Suddenly, the house was filled
present him with pastry, cake
with various types of men. In-
blows calmly confidently. The
and wine. Afterward. he would
teresting especially were the
congregation ejects in unison a
display his esrog, and both of
pious and scholarly young men,
them would inspect it for the
sigh of relief. The congregants
who
came
to
the
house
to
see
101st time, and enjoy the looks
feel they have someone reliable
and inspect the esrogim, in the
of it as if it had just been
on whom to depend.
morning on the way back from
bo ught.
So it was year after year.
the synagogue with their talit-
Again it is the Eve of Rosh
.sacks under their arms. They I Leib Chaye's was a different
type of visitor. He was an ordi-
just stepped in for a while to
Hashana. Grandfather is wrought-
look at the esrogim that grand-
nary Jew, a dignified looking
up. "God knows if I will be able to
father
brought
this
year.
man, whose white beard was
sound the shofar this year!"
They crowd around the box. reaching down to his bet+. In town,
A heavy cloud pervades the
there was gossip that his wife,
house. All of us feel the approach. Grandfather himself holds one
ing peril. We are steeped in fright. esrog by the ends of two fingers. Chaye, combs and grooms his
beard every morning. As Leib
examines
it
with
pleasure.
Grandfather takes an inquiring
"The choicest of the choicest! Chaye's would enter the sukka,
look at my father and departs
my grandfather would not raise
from the house. My father is A beauty like this has not as yet his
eyes from his book, but he
silent. but his face turns pale.
been seen," he says with admira-
would mechanically take a biscuit
tion.
It is time for the blasting of
from the basket, put a bottle on
the Shofar. It is quiet. All eyes '
He places this esrog aside. This the table, but he wouldn't cease
are turned to my grandfather.
one is already the fourth one to studying even • for a second. Leib
He whispers something to Na-
be laid aside.
would taste a little of the
than the Sholiet. Nathan nods ,
One young man draws an esrog ' and eat the biscuit and recite
his head in the negative. Grand-
carefully from the case, with the loudly the final benediction. Hav-
father approaches my father.
care with which one takes out a ing completed the prayer he
"Nehemiah. you shall blow the
shofar 'today."
fledgling from a bird-nest; he stroked his combed and fixed-up
My father wants to say some- looks at it with soft and pleasur- beard and left.
thing, but he cannot. His lower able eyes.
A third category was a man
lip trembles. There is murmuring
"I will take this one, Reb from the street. When such a man
in the synagogue.
Isaac."
came in to say th
g ov er
There is a young man present in
He is encircled by other ad- the esrog, my grandfather would
the synagogue, the son-in-law of mirers.
, point with his finger to the esrog.
Rabbi Hershel, an excellent shofar-
"This esrog is truly majestic!" which stands ready for the guests
blower! However, is it proper?
And after the big "fair" was ' of such caliber in the corner of
Will he he able to replace grand- over, many esrogim remained the sukka, and paid no more at-
father?
unsold. tention to him.
My grandfather steps forward.
"It was a mistake on my part,"
I liked grandfather's pastries
approaches the young man and says grandfather, "to bring a full
for their special flavor. Even
hands the shofar to him.
case of esrogim. In the market though I had to blow the snuff
No, the young man is not scared. there was quite a shortage of off them. I enjoyed them very
Wonderful! He walks vigorously esrogim."
much.
to the heema (pulpit). The congre-
"And we did not as yet collect
And
ever was a shortage
gation is apprehensive.
even half of the money for the of these pastries in the cupboard.
"Tekeeb-h," signals the an- esrogim we sold."
He would bring them from every
nouncer. The young man makes
"One must not talk that way," brith meela (circumcision). My
an effort. He turns red. His talit declares grandfather.
grandfather was the town's mohel
is sliding and falls off his head.
After the lapse of one year.
(circumciser), and his custom was
Sweat-drops arc rolling and ca-
grandfather's "mistake" of the
not to taste anything at the brit-
reening off his forehead. His
previous year is entirely disre-
party. However, in order to bene-
cheeks blow up. He reddens and
garded. Soon after the culmina-
fit from the mitzva-banquet he
tion of Yom Kippur, grandfather
pales. They take him off the pul-
would take the pastries and bring
rushes
to
the
mart
in
order
to
pit and lead him to his seat.
them home,
purchase a case of citrons, a full
Grandfather blows leisurely,
packed case and fattier b usily
During the seven days of Suk-
confidently, as usual.
engaged in the preparations for
kot my grandfather would sit in
grandfather's trip.
On the second day of Rosh
the sukka as if it were his per-
Hashana, the seat of Rabbi Her-
Grandfather's primary occupa-
into etn /fe 1;iooC7L gelyTrel.(richeacZ
shel's son-in-law is vacant. A lion was the erection of the sukka.
one book for another.
strange anticipation is felt, all eyes He was completely absorbed in
are strained upon grandfather.
My grandfather was engaged in
this holy work; and not only he,
Grandfather approaches my but also all members of the im- the forest business. As he reached
father.
mediate family were busying old age, my father devoted him-
"Nehemiah. take the shofar!"
themselves with this project. Even self to the forest business and
It's quiet. My father chants the the gentile maid would sit in the made a huge success.
prayer designated for the sounder' evenings between Yom Kippur
"It's time to build a new home,"
of the shofar just before sounding and Sukkot, making birds, ganders remarked my father casually
it: "God is gone up with a shout; and fish from colored paper- several times.
The Lord with the sound of the sheets, and hang them on the
"It is incumbent upon one who
trumpet." followed by the bene- beams (poles) upon which the
builds a house to build a sukka
dictions for the blowing of the evergreen branches were laid,
first," retorted grandfather.
shofar. The prayer was inter-
Grandfather's sukka was an
They commenced the construc-
mingled with groans and sighs.
ordinary one, like other sukkot,
tion of the house, and each time
. When the moment for the
but as far as I was concerned,
actual sounding arrived, my fa-
the conversation would end on the
there was no sukka that could
ther was at his best. Calmly, and
subject of the sukka.
compare with it in charm and ;
confidently he sounded the sho-
"This will be a splendid sukka,"
beauty. An extraordinary holiness '
far just like grandfather.
On the holiday of Sukkot, my hovered over this sukka; some they both would conclude joyfully.
"The
sukka will be located on the
grandfather was completely trans- hidden power constantly drew me
second floor and will have glass
walls
. colored window panes,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
41 — Friday, November 14, 1969
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Hebrew Corner
and the roof will be raised auto-
matically by means of a pulley."
"Dad," said father to grand-
father, "you will be able to move
into the new sukka the large sofa,
instead of the couch on which you
used to sleep in the old sukka. In
the new one, there is ample space
for the big sofa."
Those were hours spent in joy
and pleasure.
At the end of the month of
Ta muz, the construction of the
house and the sukka was com-
pleted. The sukka looked like a
palace .
On Yom Kippur night, my
grandfather went over to my fa-
co . ghedatn icl said
id s t r
``Do you k now,
w Nehe ti;n tia eh,
enF
erect also the ' old sukka,"
and continued while coughing:
"Why should the boards of th e
old sukka be lying around in
the shed unwanted and dis-
carded? After all, why should
those boards be wasted? They
had) previously served as a
sick :a. 11
.1 iy not again? It will not
do any harm. Another sukka
will stand, so what?" Grand-
father continued talkin
d - ex-
g an
plaining unlike his usual man-
ner.
l
Father kept quiet. The old sukka
was put up.
Early, the next morning, father
saw grandfather carrying with
difficulty the coue:I. "Let's put
the little couch there No one
needs it." he justified himself be-
fore father. "Please help me put
there a small table and chair too,
and we will also decorate the
sukka a bit, just a little bit,"-
grandfather practically implored.
They furnished and decorated
the old sukka as in previous years.
The maid affixed her colored
birds to the ceiling, and my
mother covered the walls with
embroidered rugs.
But the new sukka outdid the
old one in brilliance, and to add
more charm to the new sukka, a
new crystal candelabrum was in-
stalled.
Grandfather was full of joy.
On the first night of Sukkot, we
were sitting in the new sukka. It
was beautiful, brightly illumi-
nated, spacious, so spacious! and
the sight of the tiny window panes,
reflected in the crystal candelab-
rum—it was marvelous! A royal
palace! Constantly. grandfather
Training Farmers,
Seamen in Israel
After two thousand years of Galuth,
during which Jews had no contact
with the soil the first agricultural
school "Mime Israel" was founded in
1868 to train Jewish Youth in farming.
Mlkve Israel started with five students
from five different countries. The
school now has 750 pupils. Since then
agricultural training has spread. hav-
ing thousands of students. There are
now 29 agricultural schools in the
country with 8000 students. 40 per cent
of them are from villages while 60
per cent are from cities that wish to
prepare themselves for farm life. Be-
sides there are schools in rural settle.
ment areas that have over 8000 pupils.
Here too these schools have 30 per cent
of their pupils from the cities. Farm-
ing is also taught in evening classes
in the rural settlement area, youth
immigration groups and youth centers.
All together about 23,000 pupils re-
ceive agricultural training. '
Maritime training is divided into
two areas: fishing and seamanship. The
"Mevooth Yam" school prepares its stu-
dents for both seamanship and fishing.
The Israeli merchant marine has reach-
ed 1,000.000 tons and needs a great
number of skilled workers. The sea
is our only open gateway to the world.
while by land we are closed in by
the Arab States. It is for this situa-
tion that classes in maritime training
were opened in port cites Eilat, Ash-
dod and Haifa.
Published by the Brit
Olamith
with the assistance of the Memorial
Foundation for Jewish Culture.
is staring on all sides and evincing
his great astonishment. And yet
signs of sadness and disatisfaction
were apparent in grendfather's
demeanor. Everyone could see
that grandfather's gladness is arti-
ficial, unnatural. He sits here as
a guest.
"Do you know, my children I. I
shall sit in the old sukka," he
filtered the words out of his mouth
upon his return from the syna-
gogue the following morning.
"You know very well," he began
defensively, "you know very well,
my children, that I sat in the old
sukka for 40 years, yes, 40 years.
One becomes accustomed to a
sukka in the course of such a long
period. And besides," he chuckled,
"how will I be able to say in my
prayer prior to entering into the
sukka: 'And for the merit of my
exit from my house' . . . How can
I say these words, when to enter
the new sukka it is not necessary
to go outside as it is in order to
get to the old sukka? You, my
children, go upstairs, sit in the
new, exquisite, charming sukka.
There is no other sukka so beauti-
ful!" So long as grandfather lived,
we sat in the old sukka, in grand-
father's sukka.