\

which he translated as a 'born sales-
man,' an accolade that stuck in his
head and occasionally lit up like a
storefront sign," she writes.
At 16, Aaron sailed for America,
but found living with relatives in the
East Bronx and working as a coal
deliverer not the life he had imagined
for himself. He got work on a boat
headed for Savannah and there talked
his way into working for a Jewish
merchant.
Although he loved the South, he
returned to New York at age 23 to
find a wife and met Reba. Again, he
saw opportunities beyond the five bor-
oughs and convinced his new wife to
move to the South. Aaron lived by his
motto: "Know when you're happy, and
the rest is easy."
Reba, like many immigrant
women, was unschooled in Jewish reli-
gion but deeply attached and deter-
mined to keep some semblance of
Judaism in their Union City life. Fri-
days, she baked challah, lit candles
and served chicken on a white table-
cloth.
She worried a lot about the Jewish
education her children weren't receiv-
ing and felt guilty about the holidays
they didn't observe. Aaron was not at
all pious; he was a merchant first and,
always, a family man.
But although he became one of the
leading businessmen in town and did
much to improve the place, he was
always considered an outsider, never
invited to join the local Rotary Club.
Still, he was-unfazed. Aaron's other
motto: "For a real bargain while you're
making a living, you should make also
a life."
The author says that her unworldly
immigrant parents actually had a lot
in common with their unworldly gen-
tile neighbors and eventually made
many friendships. Their first friend in
town, though, was quite different
from the others.
Miss Brookie, a wealthy woman
from a prominent family, was educat-
ed in the North. The loving and
eccentric spinster, who fought to end
child labor in the town's factory,
sounds like she could be a character in
a Eudora Welty story.
Suberman beautifully captures the
language of the South and the inflec-
tions of Yiddish-speaking immigrants,
and the cross between the two; the
book highlights the strong connec-
tions between language and memory.
When a New York aunt visits and
bristles with the wife of a Jewish mer-
chant from a Kentucky town 25 miles
away, Suberman writes, "When they

spoke to each other, it was as though
they were biting off tough crusts of
rye bread."
In her travels talking about The Jew
Store, Suberman is frequently asked
about the Ku Klux Klan. "I thought the
Klan would never harm us," she notes.
"I knew everyone inside those sheets."
Many times, she heard them say
they "were out to protect the good peo-
ple in our town" and believed them.
Her parents understood differently.
They knew about Leo Frank, the Jew-
ish man lynched in Georgia in 1915.
Once, her father indirectly received
a threat after he promoted a black
helper in the store to a commissioned
salesman; he then hired the man as his
chauffeur. The author reflects that one
of the reasons that the Klan never
marched on their store was that the
owner of the property was a Klan
member. She writes: "Greenbacks beat
back white sheets every time."
Suberman's childhood in Union
City was marked by the freedom and
intimacy of small towns. "I was a
yokel," she says. "I knew nothing of
museums, of restaurants, certainly not
Jewish delicatessens. I was at ease eat-
ing chicken fried in bacon grease at a
neighbor's house."
She admits that she shared the big-
otry of her peers, but adds with hope-
fulness that "people can change. I did."
It was Reba who convinced her
husband to move back to New York in
1933, when Stella's older sister Miriam
was beginning to date and there were
no Jewish young men in sight. As they
were leaving, the Sentinel newspaper
ran a long story about the family.
Suberman, then 11, transferred to a
school in New York and was sent to
speech classes, along with immigrant
kids, to alter her Southern accent.
To Reba's surprise, she missed the
South more than anyone else. Aaron,
with money he saved in Union City
and his natural pluck, bought a garage
in New York and later was involved in
real estate in Florida, although the
author says that he never quite found
himself again. When he died 20 years
ago, the Sentinel clipping was folded
up inside his wallet.
In 1995, Suberman, now a mother
and grandmother, returned to Union
City for the first time.
The main street, where "Bronson's
Low-Priced Store" stood, is little
changed, although the shop is now an
electronics store. Since the book was
published, she heard from a Jewish
man who now lives in Union City and
owns a large department store there.
The town now has three Jews. Li

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Detroit Jewish News

77