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He was also a member of the Chevra Misaskim
[Actions Society]. Thus, on the eve of Hoshana
Rabba [the seventh day of Sukkot, when the fate
of every Jew is supposed to be sealed in heaven],
the society would meet in the shtibl at tables set
with lekach [honey cake], whiskey, and fruit, and
say a memorial from an old pinkas [register book]
for all the past members of the Action Society for
centuries back. In 1926, he took sick going to the
funeral of one of the members. After a lengthy
illness, he died at the age of 62.
Jews of Long Ago
Pinye der Alter (the old one) jumped out of bed
like a young man, poured water over his nails
(rite of washing hands), dressed quickly, washed
himself from a copper jug and put on a kettle of
water to boilall while saying his morning
prayers. A bowl with crumbled old challah was
already set on the table. He added a spoonful of
rendered goose-fat and a bit of salt, and poured
hot water over it from the tea-kettle. The dry
challah swelled up from the hot water, reaching
the brim of the bowl.
Pinye sat down at the table and began to work
on the bowl, till he reached the bottom. He then
proceeded to empty the remnants of "yesterday's"
cholent from the pot. He had no difficulty in
chewing the dried up kugl [potato pudding] from
the burned pot, for his teeth were very strong.
He was called "der alter" because he was
nearly 90 years old. He would laugh at the 60year
old tzutzikes (little darlings) who pampered
and doctored themselves constantly. Not only did
he have all his teeth, but he also walked straight.
In truth, his beard was half-gray, but his senses
were younger than he was.
Even on the coldest days, Pinye would start
out for the neighboring village on foot to repair
the peasants' fur jacketson foot, upon my word,
a sack on his back, a stick in his hand, and off he
went, on his way!
Pinye knew his territory very well. He had
been dealing with the village gentiles for more
than 50 years. They loved him for his witty tales
and for his honest dealings. He had definite
places where he could have a night's lodging and
then continue on his itinerary. That was his way
CHARACTERS AND PERSONALITIES 193
of life, day in and day outfor all of 50 years.
Friday eve and the Sabbath was the time of peace
of soul and of saving up a bit of spirituality for his
whole prosaic week among the gentiles.
Such were the Jews of the past generations.
Avrom Shmilyukes
A very old factory was situated in a private house
on Kusnishtcher Street, across from Moyshe
Konyuch's house, which stood next to Abba Klig's.
This was the small factory of Avrom Shmilyukes,
who manufactured handles for whips.
A person who entered the big front room
would immediately see wooden handles lined
up along a wall. Pliable and of different widths
on the bottom, they tapered toward the top, the
tip of which had a carved little head for tying a
piece of rope to make it a whip. Avrom produced
the handles in the second room, which had all
kinds of bottles and brushes and dishes with all
kinds of colors to paint these whip-handles.
The Shmilyukes' oven was so big that half
of Kusnishtcher Street used to put up their pots
of cholent there for the Sabbath. The long prizbe,
a sort of seating arrangement (like a bench), extended
along two walls. Sand was heaped up and
enclosed by five or six wooden boards. The top
was covered with sun-dried sheets of clay, forming
a sort of bench. The prizbe served as a seat
for the women. After their Sabbath nap, they sat
there and talked about everything in the world,
until it was time to say "God of Avrom" [a prayer
at the departure of the Sabbath].
Avrom's clothes always reeked of paint and
turpentine, and his nails were ever lacquered
from working on the whip-handles.
When I left my hometown, Avrom was no
more. I do not know what became of his family.
Binyomen Etyes
For a few years, the house of Binyomen Etyes was
a sort of institution in our shtetl.
Theirs was a large family and many of them
lived in the same house, doing together many
different kinds of business. But the biggest business
was the tshechralnye, a machine for carding
sheep's wool, making yarn for spinning from the
soft wool sheared from sheep. The yarn was used