From the Wedding by Joseph Levine Chapter 5

From the Wedding
by Joseph Levine
Chapter 5

My father places me under the guidance of Reb Elinke, a Talmud teacher. I acquaint myself with Zeligul Mogilevski.

My father,of blessed memory, enrolled me with a Gemara (Talmud) teacher, Reb Elinke the Lutvak. He was a tall, dark, thin Jew with a long black beard and alert good eyes. His wife Sarah was also very nice, like a devoted mother to the students. When a student complained of a headache, she would immediately bind his head with a cloth soaked in vinegar, put him to bed and cover him. She would even cast a "good eye" on the child. This is how a student overcame an illness and would return home in good health and his parents need not have known of his illness.

Reb Elinke and Sarah behaved so because they were childless. They were no longer young. They had had children in their younger days but they did not survive. When they arrived in Zlotapolia they were already childless. Hence, the great love for the students.

The cheder consisted of 10 boys. Wealthy, decent, chosen boys. Gemara students. There was Chaim Itche Shernak, the Schochet brothers, Yisroel David, and Avraham Yitzchak Hayat who later became my brother-in-law. There was also Zelig Mogilevski. The rest I cannot remember. I have nothing to write of these boys with the exception of Zelig.

First, however, I will describe how the cheder looked in those days so that future generations who may wish a glimpse of what life was like in the small Jewish shtetel would have it before their eyes as I now have it before mine. A small house with grass grown on the lawns so the goats can graze in the summer. Three basement windows on two small walls. If a goat knocks out a window pane while jumping, the window is covered with either cardboard or a pillow. On Friday, lime is spread over the earth and sprinkled with yellow sand. Approximately a quarter of the cheder is occupied by the oven with a lime bench next to it. At one wall stands the Rebetzin's bed with many pillows, piled up high nearly touching the ceiling. In another corner stands a long table with long benches around it. At the entrance stand various instruments: a scoop, a shovel for the coal. There also stands a large pail filled with waste water for the cow, and another large pail with clean fresh water. The pail leaked constantly. There was always a towel next to the pail which was always wet. At the door stood many shelves for pots and pans, sifters, etc., a catch-all for the kitchen utensils. Under the oven there would always be feed for the chickens which were later sold. Calves would also be brought into this room on very cold days or in very bad weather. For the cow there was a small corner reserved. The entrance door was low and one would have to stoop while entering. This is how the cheder of Reb Elinke looked.

There are faces that were created to mystify, faces that say love me when you gaze upon them. Such was the face of the orphan Zelig Mogilevski. A parentless child with a poor grandmother who paid his yeshiva tuition. She was called Sarah the sane one. She was old, small, frail, with black hair. She sat in the market selling potatoes, beets, onions, pears, apples and other fruits and vegetables. This was her livelihood and this is how she supported Zelig.

I became attached to Zelig immediately. I would share my lunch with him daily. We became best of friends. I suspect, on my part, it was because of his beautiful voice and the beautiful way he told stories. No one else could tell or even knew such wonderful stories. Most anyone has stories to tell but to know how to tell them is an art in itself. Zelig was gifted with the special art of telling stories. Where, I still wonder, did this wondrous boy with rosy cheeks and clever eyes get all his stories? With such unique pictures? Did he ever hear these stories being told or did he dream them up? Till this day I still have not figured it out. I know only one thing, the stories poured from his mouth like a never ending waterfall. The stories were as smooth as oil and lengthy like a long satin thread. His voice was so sweet and the language so sweet. His cheeks rosy and his eyes dreamy and misty.

Friday afternoons and on Shabbos afternoons, after the Shabbos meal, or on a holiday, and sometimes during the evenings, Zelig and I would lay down on the grass face down or facing up to the sky and Zelig would start telling story after story. About a king's son and a queen's daughter, of werewolves, and a story of a chandelier in Prague. Each story had its own magical effect. I would have my mouth and ears open, never taking my eyes off this wondrous boy with the rosy cheeks and dreamy, misty eyes, when he would be relating a story.

We eagerly awaited the part of the day when we would be dismissed from cheder, for that is when we were truly friends like David and Jonathan (son of King Saul of Israel, as related in the Book of Kings. Jonathan was accidentally killed. David went on to become the second King of Israel. His son, King Solomon, built the holy Temple in Jerusalem 3000 years ago).

We never dreamed that one day we would part and go our separate ways. At that time we were learning the tractate Bava Metziah (of the Talmud, dealing with the laws of torts) which we clearly understood. We were two of the best students in the cheder. Every day after learning we would mostly take walks around our neighborhood and Zelig would sing. He would sing nice songs which were a true delight, since he had a very nice voice.

During learning he would make cute comments, even the Rebbe couldn't help but laugh too. Sometimes a beggar would come in asking for alms. The Rebbe would immediately declare himself broke so the beggar would turn to us students saying,
"Children, some money?!"

Zelig would throw his arm over the beggar's shoulder and say,
"Can't you see from looking at our faces that we are all very poor?!"

I prophesied about Zelig that he would one day be an actor or a comic and that is what actually happened. One day a chazan visited Zlotapolia. A very nice Jew, his name was Joseph Heller. He had a wonderful voice and davened beautifully. I have never heard such a wonderful davening. he remained in Zlotapolia with his choir and was the chazan in the big shul. One winter night, a few years after the chazan arrived, Zelig and I were walking home from cheder singing holiday songs. The chazan heard Zelig's voice, called him into his house and would not let him continue going to cheder. He taught Zelig Bible, Talmud, to write music and sing. He also clothed him very nicely.

Zelig sang with the choir and became the best singer in the group. When he sang a solo, it was certainly worth listening to and certainly worth admiring. Before long, Zelig was traveling to places like Berditchev and Belz to sing. Later he joined a Jewish group as an actor. He starred in a theater in Adas. When Russia no longer allowed the existence of Jewish theater, Zelig went to America.

When I arrived in America in 1906, I heard Mogilevski was in the Jewish theater. I was planning to see him play, hoping to see him personally afterwards, but then I read in the newspaper that Mogilevski had died suddenly. It was not destined for me to see my old friend once again; the friend in which I was so in awe.