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52 LUBOML
tears and their lips whispered the prayer Elohei
Avraham. They did not forget, of course, to drop
a few coins into the tzedaka box on behalf of R.
Meyer Baal HaNes, or other charity boxes that
hung in a corner of the room.
With evening there was the impressive sight
of hundreds of men, in their Sabbath best, walking
with their children to the synagogues and
shtiblach of all kinds. And only on the nastiest
days, when the rain poured without let-up and
the streets were filled with muddy puddles, did
the residents of the outlying streets stay home
and make their minyans [prayer groups of the
required ten men] there.
During the early morning hours, many rose
and came to the bet midrash to say psalms or went
to the mikve for ablutions there. At about 8:00 or
9:00 in the morning, after reading and studying
the Torah and a page of Gemara at home, they
flocked to the synagogues for prayers, even the
women.
The simple folk, who prayed quickly in the
bet midrash or their own little shuls, would finish
before the Chasidim in their shtiblach. Especially
well known in our town were the Radziner
Chasidim, who, in addition to identifying themselves
by the blue thread in their tzizit (fringes),
were known to begin their Sabbath prayers late,
not until after 10 o'clock.
Sabbath Zmiros [songs] were heard in the
courtyards and in the streets in front of many
homes on Sabbath afternoons, and it was especially
pleasant to hear the melodies of certain
families who had particularly nice voices.
After an afternoon nap, students and Torah
scholars made their way to the bet midrash to
study a page of Gemara and the simple folk
studied Mishnayos and Ein Yakov. The children
went to their teachers to study Pirkei Avot in the
summer, and Borchi Nafshi in winter. Women
stayed at home and read Kahal Chasidim, Tz'ena
U'rena, and others.
In summer many workers and young people
took a walk on the Polish Street and in the nearby
grove to get a breath of fresh air. Very pious Jews
refrained from taking walks, for they were afraid
of overstepping the limit of the distance they
were allowed to walk on the Sabbath.
More than once the townspeople suffered the
misfortune of having the eruv [boundary within
which observant Jews may carry items on the
Sabbath] break. In these instances Avrom the
Lame, of blessed memory, who was one of the
most observant people in the town and was in
charge of putting up the eruv and seeing to it that
it remained without a break, would make the
rounds of the synagogues and announce an emergency
situation, where it was forbidden to carry
anything outside of one's house.
On these Sabbaths, children under 13 would
carry their parents' prayerbooks and shawls to
the synagogues and back. This also applied, of
course, to the Sabbath cholent [a stew that cooks
throughout the Sabbath, on a stove that remains
lit], which they put into their neighbors' stoves,
and which they were usually allowed to carry on
the Sabbath.
From the beginning of the Sabbath until
early Sunday morning, no non-Jew was seen in
the main streets of the town, and the marketplace
was still. A non-Jew who forgot what day it was,
and came into town by mistake, turned around
and left in shame.
When a Child Is Born . . .
It is worthwhile mentioning a typical custom of
our townspeople, in the days when children
were brought into the world "in a good and
fortuitous hour" in their parents' homes, with the
help of grandmothers and aunts who drew their
knowledge from the births of their own children
or of others in the family, or with the help of the
midwife (sans diploma) of the town, known as di
bobe (Granny)
When a woman was ready to give birth, a
curtain was drawn about her bed that would
divide her from the rest of the house for reasons of
modesty and against the "evil eye." The women
would paste up on the door lintels printed copies
of the Shir Hama'alot psalms. Some also put
under the woman's head a copy of the holy book
The Angel Raziel, as a talisman protecting mother
and child against bad spirits, devils, and all sorts
of evil forces.
If a son was born, the beadle would announce
this festive event to the congregation at