sweaters. There were always the
coats of newcomers to America in this
hallway; my grandparents' home was
a halfway house for immigrants
landsleit
friends,
relatives,
(hometowners) — who stayed here
until they got established in America.
To the right of the hallway was a great
dining room with a gigantic table and
intricately carved dark furniture which
looked like ebony.
Here was the location of the largest
seders I have ever seen. Thirty to forty
people. One table added to another
table added to another table — as
many tables as required. I can still
remember Uncle Hymie presiding
over the children's section, as both
instigator of mischief and policeman.
Here was the room where we gath-
ered to plod endlessly through every
word in the Haggadah before all my
cousins and I, with our voracious
appetites, could get something to eat.
Often the service would be inter-
rupted to talmudic arguments be-
tween my grandfather and one of his
sons.
A narrow passageway that led from
the dining room to the kitchen was
lined with linen closets — they were
often the source of the little surprises
my grandmother had hidden away
for me: an embroidered handker-
chief, a colored hair ribbon, a
package of fruit-filled candy.
The kitchen had a walk-in pantry,
always filled with enormous pans of
strudel and mandelbread, and pots
for cholent (Sabbath stew), for
knaidlach (dumplings), for soup
large enough to use as baby baths.
The only bathroom in the apartment
was off the kitchen and had an over-
sized tub on clawed feet. On Friday
nights, you could see lengths of pre-
torn toilet paper draped over the
radiator in preparation for the Sab-
bath. I always wondered what we
would do if they had not prepared
enough paper, but that never hap-
pened.
At the back of the kitchen, past a
closet for potatoes and onions, and
up two steps, was the yard with its
wooden swing big enough to seat
four, and a special corner reserved
for the building of a sukkah each
11
8 OHS
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IN DECORATOR LAMINATES
HIGH
QUALITY
FORMICA ...ALWAYSATA GREAT DISCOUNT
UNIQUE IDEAS IN
7 2:11
77
.:W"/"
•
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Wood
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SPECIALIZING IN
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It Doesn't Have To Cost A Fortune —Only Look Like It
LOIS HARON 851-6989
SPRING '89
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