pdf available - Multiple Choices

Avromele Blushteyn was one of the few followers
of the Jewish enlightenment among the Jews from
neighboring villages who came to reside in Luboml
and contributed considerably to the spread of
enlightenment among the youth and to the many
different cultural activities in our town.
Among these "immigrants" was Isrulik
Helfant from the village of Rakovitz, who organized
and directed a drama group that put on a
play, Hertsele and the Aristocrat, which was well
received by our community. Another man, Buzia
Steinberg from the village of Horodno, gave private
lessons in Russian on a very high level.
Avrom Blushteyn, originally from the village of
Pervis [on the Bug River, around 11 miles from
Luboml) moved to our town in 1918 when he was
in his late twenties. He lived on our street, not far
from our house. After a while his neighbors got
used to hearing the sweet sound of the violin that
drifted out of his bedroom window.
It was n ot long before I became a permanent
guest in his room. I would sing folk songs to him
and he would catch on quickly and play them on
his violin. In those days Hershl Chasid produced
a play that was written by Goldfaden called Bar
Kochba. Avrom participated in the play as the
head guard of the walls of Jerusalem during
Roman rule. As I remember it, Avrom sang a song
in the play that was written for the occasion:
(solo by Avrom):
The righteous God
Looks from there upon us
AVROM BLUSHTEYN
By Yisroel Garmi
198
Don't you sleep, guardsmen,
Guard the place well
(sung by the soldiers in the choir):
We hear you, we hear you
We hear you well
Fall asleep
We will not!
After a while Avrom produced for the stage a
play called Scattered and Dispersed, a story by
Sholem Aleichem. Avrom played the part of
Meyer Tchulent, the hero of the play, and performed
with incredible talent.
Avrom supported himself through his photography
studio, which had a good reputation in
the area. Avrom was also very talented in Hebrew
calligraphy. The pictures shown here are proof of
that talent.
Avrom Blushteyn married a woman from our
town whose name was Faya Sfard. In 1930, he
moved to Montevideo, Uruguay. He had two
sons, Sela Emanuel, a painter, and Saul Blushteyn,
a draftsman-photographer. Both his sons moved
from Uruguay to Israel and built their homes
there.
In 1963, Avrom Blushteyn visited Israel in
order to attend the opening of a showing of his
son's paintings in Haifa. There he was reunited
with many of his friends from Luboml.
Avrom Blushteyn died at a ripe old age in
Montevideo. His daughter, Hannah, and his wife,
Faya, continue to live there. May his memory be
blessed.