FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 5

essay
Legacy: The Yellow Violin
F

lemington, New 
Jersey, was stop 
number one on my 
three-week August concert 
tour some years back. Half 
of the buildings in this 
Delaware River 
town are on 
the Register of 
Historic Places. 
Masterfully 
restored 
19th-century 
Victorians 
resplendent 
with sumptuous flower 
boxes line each side of the 
main boulevard. This is 
not just another exit on 
the turnpike— its claim 
to fame is the immense 
Greek Revival courthouse 
built in 1828, the site of 
the Lindbergh “Trial of the 
Century.” I was staying in 
a quaint bed-and-breakfast 
just a block away. All these 
niceties have little to do with 
what made this event so 
special. Here’s the story:
In 1925, Chaskel Frand 
and his wife and kids left 
Dubiecko, Poland, for the 
“Golden Medina,” armed 
with his sole source of 
income, a violin. He had to 
bid farewell to his extended 
family of musicians, the 
Frand Klezmorim. Packed 
in his violin case was the 
handwritten music they 
performed for weddings 
and for visiting dignitaries. 
Tragically, after the war, 
Chaskel was anguished to 
discover that all his relatives 
had perished at the hands of 
the Nazis.
In 1955, Chaskel decided 
to move to Israel so the 

imminent arrival of the 
Messiah wouldn’t require 
that his bones roll all the 
way from New York (yes, the 
rolling of the bones is a part 
of Jewish tradition). 
 At the airport, he learned 
he was only allowed one 
carry-on item. His daughter 
convinced him to choose 
his tallis and tefillin over 
the violin — he could buy 
another instrument in Israel. 
He reluctantly handed it to 
her, and she stashed it in 
her basement for the next 
several years. At one point, 
a cousin came to visit from 
California. He had just 
started playing the violin and 
requested his grandfather’s 
instrument. Eventually, the 
violin floated from house to 
house and much of the Frand 
sheet music portfolio wound 
up framed and hung in the 
homes of various relatives.
Fast forward to 1996. My 
dear friend Sharon Brooks, 
Chaskel’s granddaughter, 
had a 5-year-old daughter 
who wanted to learn violin. 
Sharon tracked down 
Chaskel’s instrument and had 
it sent to New Jersey. It was 

in such a state of disrepair 
she had to splurge to have it 
restored. When word got out 
that the violin was back in 
use, relatives sent Sharon the 
Frand music so the priceless 
pieces could be played 
once again on the family 
heirloom.
In 2009, Sharon made a 
trip to Dubiecko to explore 
her roots. Even though 
Jews made up over half the 
town’s population before 
the war, now there was 
no sign of their presence. 
The Jewish cemetery was 
in shambles and the mass 
grave unmarked. Nazis 
had used ancient Jewish 
headstones to pave a road. 
In a moment of inspiration, 
Sharon realized how to make 
“lemonade out of lemons:” 
The recovered music of the 
Frand Klezmorim would be 
the very vehicle to restore 
the cemetery and honor the 
memories of her ancestors.

MAKING LEMONADE
Upon her return, Sharon 
called to ask my opinion 
regarding what to do with 
this portfolio. She sent me 

copies, and I worked my way 
through the arrangements, 
soon recognizing the 
uniqueness of this treasure 
trove. I recommended she 
have them professionally 
transcribed so they could 
be performed by a modern 
ensemble, and we discussed 
the logistics of throwing a 
debut concert as a fundraiser. 
Before long, she hired 
klezmer flutist Adrianne 
Greenbaum to create usable 
charts out of the Frand 
ensemble’s hieroglyphics and 
we put a concert date on the 
books.
After much preparation, 
the big weekend arrived. 
The entire community came 
out for every aspect of the 
special Shabbaton. We found 
capable klezmer musicians 
to fill out the band for the 
Saturday night concert, and 
I hired one of my favorite 
studio drummers from 
New York. After a set of 
my songs, we presented the 
melodious and quite complex 
klezmer from the Frand 
catalogue. This Eastern 
European folk music is not 
intended to be listened to in 
a passive manner; Adrianne 
enthusiastically led the 
audience in various dances, 
and we jammed late into the 
night while everyone sang 
along.
Thousands of dollars 
were raised to restore the 
Dubiecko Jewish cemetery. 
New music was launched 
in the klezmer world. The 
JCC of Flemington enjoyed 
a Shabbaton they would not 

Sam Glaser

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