Opoczno, 15 February 1924 To my beloved and devoted grandson (nephew), appropriately named Shloymele, You will surely wonder why you are getting a letter from Opoczno written in your Uncle Wolf's handwriting. Don't be surprised, dear Shloymele. You will find out about every- thing in this letter--about everything and everybody. I will report all to you (and it will be) precisely as if you were here. But, before that, I'll fulfill the request of my dear mother, my sister, my brother-in-law, and finally (I'll write) of myself and of my latest experiences. I happened to arrive at Opoczno at a time when they were reading one of your letters--the one in which you wrote that you had become engaged. I, of course, had already known the good news from a letter of yours received several days ear- lier. Dear Shloymele, you can imagine what joy everyone felt upon learning the good news. But the greatest happi- ness was felt by your dear grandmother when she received that precious letter from you. She is also most thankful for the two dollars which you enclosed for her. Right now, your dear grandmother is sitting at the table dictating to me. Perhaps you can guess the kind of letter whe wants...one that will make you think you are hearing the very words she speaks. Am I, however, in any condition to fulfill my mother's request? Of course not! First of all, I don't have any patience. Second, I can't write for some- one else. Third, you will be satisfied no matter how the letter is written, as long as every word comes from the bot- tom of her heart. When you sent your grandmother, and all of us, the good news that you had become engaged, you gave her a new lease on life. Yes, your grandmother had become so depressed because of your mother, may she rest in peace, that she aged terri- bly. You wouldn't have recognized her. Is it any wonder? Troubles, always troubles. And now, one fine day, we see the spark of a bit of happiness, a bit of hope, a bit of joy. "Oh, would that it could be, Lord," she prays, "that from this day forth our troubles will be over." May Almighty G-d have mercy on her and let her live out her few remaining years in pride and joy. May there be happiness in our home from this day forth. May she yet see the bloom of the fruit that your mother left. She finds comfort in your dear letters. In spite of all her troubles, she considers herself fortunate that at least her daughter left a tree which bears such wonderful fruit and grows so beautifully in such a short time. My dear child, I envy the one who will touch that tree. The one who will taste of its fruit will be healed. Strength will accrue to him who will bind himself to its branches, since its root is from a good seed. More than anything else, we are pleased that you have become engaged to someone whom we know and who is "homey." Someone like one of the family. True, we don't really know your fiancee, but we all know her parents. I remember (Aaron) Isaac Anker as if he were standing before me now, a tall slender young man with brown hair and a small dark beard. He probably doesn't know me. HIs father-in-law, Wolf, and my grandfather went to the same cheder, visited the same rebbe, and drank brandy at the same inn. Even today (in heaven) they are probably good friends. Back to the point! The root is good and all of us, espe- cially your dear grandmother, are delighted with your match. She wants to give you heartfelt congratulations. She blesses you with the blessing of our grandparents and wishes that this may be the match that was made for you in heaven. May you have found that for which your heart has yearned. She yet hopes that she will be worthy to see you with her own eyes. She wold like to bless you in front of the bridal canopy herself. And why not? You don't have a mother; your mother's mother could take the place of your mother. But the broad sea which lies between us prevents this from com- ing about. We must be satisfied with a letter, with a greeting, with a blessing; all from afar, however. She also wants to give your bride something as a gift. But how? At the first good opportunity that presents itself, she will send a ring with someone to your bride. Dear Shloymele, do her a favor and write her a letter tel- ling her that you are getting a large dowry. She simply can't understand that a young man, especially a young man with so many good qualities should not get at least $10,000. Here a lesser and weaker person than you gets 100 billion marks. The difference is that the mark is worth a little less; therefore, the grooms seem to get more. Shloymele, everything in Poland has gone up along with the value of gold. But potential grooms have gone up even higher than gold. You have no idea how hard it is for the ordinary Jew to marry off a daughter. If someone has an apartment, or a business, or a rich uncle in America, then the problem is only half-bad. Without these, things can get quite uncomfortable. My own brother-in-law, Lazer, has four sons. The oldest is eleven years old, the youngest two or three. Nevertheless, if he wanted to get deposits from potential brides, he could have them all engaged. In Poland, however, we don't rush things, since the price of things keeps going up. As I indicated above, dowries have increased more than the price of gold. Don't think, dear child, that I mean to worry you because you became engaged without the benefit of a dowry. No! G-d forbid! One can depend on you! You are a good and able businessman. You certainly wouldn't deal in bad merchan- dise. This is especially true when it comes to a wife, which one acquires only once in a lifetime. The relation- ship that binds you to your wife brings you to the highest plateau. Until you are married, you will not understand what living is. As it says in our Torah, "And he shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife." A wife can fill your whole life, if only you have found the right one. A wife is also a mother. Simply stated, dear child, we all wish that you may find in your wife's heart a mother's heart. Money is round. It can roll away. But a wife is a diamond who becomes suited to you in spirit and whom you must care for as the apple of your eye. You must value her and take care of her, since you only make this alliance once, for the rest of your life. All of us would like the honor of a photograph of you as a groom and of your bride, Miss Anker, of your future in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Anker, and so forth. Also let us know if your father agrees to the match and if he was at the engagement. Further, let us know when your wedding will take place, as well as how your business is going, etc. I'm sitting here thinking of what else to write to you. My sister says that this is impossible, that when I send a letter it always has 10, 12 or 14 pages and for me not to be able to fill up only 4 pages--well, what can I say, Shloyme? I'm in a bind. Save me! You know very well that at a time like this my thoughts cannot dwell on foolishness. I will write you a short biography of my sister. This winter was her twelfth anniversary. For one year my brother-in-law worked for someone else in a small town called Brzeziny. After that, they moved to Opoczno. With the help of his father, he rented a bakery and became a baker. (He soon) bought himself his own dwelling, which is "airy" on all sides so that the rats are able to go in and out quite freely. In the summertime, there is no shortage of bedbugs; in the wintertime, one can freeze to death. Yet, since there is an oven for baking, it also warms the house a bit. The rain comes in, but it doesn't matter; the water comes in handy to wash the floor. He has five children, four sons and a daughter, all of them wild. It would be more fitting for America (than Poland). He can't raise them properly. There is no room. The place is small. My sister, Esther, is so overworked that she for- gets to eat and to live. She doesn't even know that there is another kind of life. She has one job--to bake more and more to satisfy someone else's hunger. She gets no satis- faction from her own life. I do, however, envy her one thing--she has a husband who treats her well. He is good- natured and easily satisfied. He doesn't envy anyone, has a good heart, and takes pity on the unfortunate, believing in the passage from scripture, "And he shall live together with his brother." He would rather assume responsibility than blame someone else. That is why they can't get ahead very fast. Everyone in the shtetl envies him, and everyone wants some- thing from him. He is accustomed to small town living. But one thing (is good)...his livelihood is secure. He doesn't have to look for a new means of support every other day. He literally earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, but his earnings are secure. He's a laborer and nothing more. He has no success in business, and he'll have more children. He would like to go to Israel, but I doubt that he has the money to get there. So, Shloymele, I've filled up this letter with foolishness, but I've done what my sister asked me to do. I have nothing more of import to write. I send you regards. Regards also from your dear grandmother, from your aunt and your Uncle Lazer, from the whole family. A heartfelt greeting to your beloved fiancee with the worthy name of Anker. Regards to your father, to your sisters, to your whole family, and so forth. Your lov-ing grandmother and Aunt and Uncle Chmielnicki All material Copyright 1995 by Marshall L. Zissman and Sol J. Zissman.