HOLIDAYS

ou say I'm a beautiful
person, young lady?
An old woman with a
face like a frozen apple —
beautiful? You have just
earned a big mitzvah, for
which you will be forgiven for
telling a kind lie.
So, your Hebrew teacher
said you could learn some-
thing in this old-age home.
Not to let your teacher down,
I'll tell you a story, from the
old country. And since it's
almost Purim, a Purim
story. . .
In America, Purim is a lit-
, tle half-holiday slipped in be-
tween Chanukah and Pesach.
In Sebiryakov, my shtetl in
Ukraina, Purim was not a
half-holiday but a holiday-
and-a-half! For a whole year
we waited to see the Purim
shpieler — the maskers. The
snow still covered the ground
and cold wind swept over the
houses, but was it freilich!
Imagine it, young lady. It's
already nighttime and freez-
ing. Suddenly we hear the
shrill fiddles of the klez-
morim. Right behind them
come the shpieler in masks
and costumes prancing and
dancing! Last of all, Queen
Esther bundled up in a great
coat rides in an open cart.
This was an honor reserved
for important ba'alabatim,
not the plain people. One year
a miracle happened. Our
Queen was Zlotye, the wife of
Berel the wagon driver! This
is a story.
Zlotye was a plain, skinny
young woman with straight
hair and face pale as straw.
Besides that, she was so poor
that the best she could do for
a husband was a ba'alagole, a
wagon driver. But Zlotye and
Berel were both nice people —
he was big and strong and
kind — and for a time, Zlotye
lived very happily with Berel.
Then, one evening, Berel
was having a glass of wine in
Reb Hirsch's tavern. A pas-
kudnyak who hung out there
— a real loafer, I tell you —

like me, they would starve,"
said Reb Hirsch.
"Of course," agreed Velvele.
"A pity we Jews of Sebiryakov
don't properly honor a man
like you."
"How? What do you mean?
Not properly honor?" de-
manded Reb Hirsch, sitting
up straight in his chair.
"Have you heard something?"

y

Yaacov Luria is a writer in
Florida.

A Purim Miracle

Every year in the shtetl, a Queen Esther
was chosen -- an honor reserved for
the wife of an important man.

YAACOV LURIA

Special To The Jewish News

thought he would have a lit-
tle fun by making Berel feel
bad. He said to Berel, "If you
have a mirror in your house,
throw it out right away. Your
wife Zlotye's face could break
the mirror, and then you'll
have seven years of hard
luck." Just a silly joke.
Soon children — you know
how they repeat what they
hear — began calling after
Berel, "Your wife's face is a
disgrace, for seven years
you'll have tears!" It didn't
bother Zlotye but Berel took
it to heart. He loved Zlotye,
and he couldn't bear that
children should make a joke
of her.
One day he said to Zlotye,
"If I had the money to go to
America, we would say sho-

lem to Sebiryakov. As the pro-
verb says, 'Change your place,

change your luck.' "
In time, Berel's unhap-
pinesss took hold of Zlotye,
too. Soon, both of them went
about with their faces drag-
ging on the ground, which
came to the attention of
Velvele, Sebiryakov's match-
maker. It troubled him be-
cause he had brought Zlotye
and Berel together. When he
made a match; it was as if he
were a tailor who had put
together a coat. If the match
was an unhappy one, Velvele
was unhappy, too.
What could Velvele do? He
wanted so much to make
things better for Zlotye and
Berel so one evening, over a
cup of tea and a -lump of

sugar, Velvele asked Berel,
"Can I do something for
you?"
"Get me a slice of the
moon," answered Berel.
"Tell me honestly," insisted
Velvele.
"Then get me not a slice of
the moon, but the same thing.
I need 50 rubles to go with
Zlotye to America."
When he was sure that
Berel meant what he said,
the matchmaker went off to
Reb Hirsch's tavern.
"Purim is, blessed to God,
more near than far," Velvele
said. "Then before we can
turn around the poor people
will start worrying where
they will get money for wine
and matzos."
• "Without charitable people

Said Velvele, "I mean only
that your wife, Shprintze,
should be our Queen Esther.
You deserve it."
"Of course I deserve it. But
how can I get it away from
Gedaliah the cattle dealer?
Every year he snatches the
honor for his wife."
"Would you like to beat him
this time?"
"If that stubborn goat
didn't have his way even once,
it would give me joy."
"I have an idea. Spread the
word among your regular cus-
tomers that they should walk
the streets crying, `Zlotye for
Queen Esther! Zlotye for
Queen Esther!' "
"The ba'alogole's wife? A
skinny, homely woman.
That's meshugge."
"Don't you see the point?
It's a slap in Reb Gedaliah's
face. The people will be say-
ing that even Zlotye makes a
better Esther than Reb Geda-
liah's wife, Tzippe."
"That never entered my
head," conceded Reb Hirsch.
"One more thing," said
Velvele. "It's a great mitzvah
to give gifts on Purim, isn't it?
So send a nice present to
Zlotye. It would make her so
happy!"
"Maybe," mused Reb
Hirsch. "What do you think
would be a nice present?"
"Twenty-five rubles. That's
exactly right for a Queen
Esther who happens to be a
poor woman."
"Twenty-five rubles! Well,
I'll think about it," Reb
Hirsch promised.
"Charity saves from death,"
Velvele reminded him.
The next evening, Velvele
dropped in on Reb Gedaliah,
who looked like Reb Hirsch's

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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