Worlds Gone By

A Memoir by Dr. Chaim Yakov Epstein

CONTROVERSIES IN KEIDAN

Once the kloyz' rabbi, the late Reb Berl Mazik, announced that Jews were absolutely forbidden to carry anything on Sabbath, while the rabbi of the shul said otherwise. Comical it was to see young boys from the shul group, carrying tsholents for the kloyzner families. Only in the cemetery did harmony prevail, under the undisputed control of old Itse Moishe Yudes, the sexton of the burial society, better described as the "Tsar of the corpses."

THE KHEDER AND THE BARRACKS

Grinfeld, the colonel of the Fifth battery, and Golestsapov, commander of the Sixth, drilled their soldiers and we were the spectators. The older youths, including engaged couples, also spent hours watching and admiring the soldiers' heroics. For their part, the soldiers played up to the audience. A soldier once burst into tears when commander Golestsapov slapped him - not from the pain, but from the shame of being degraded within sight of his youthful admirers. So it was no wonder that our main pastime was playing soldiers. And when we were immersed in that play, nothing else mattered to us. Kheder, home, food - who thought of such things? What mattered was showing how brave we were, how high a barrier we could climb. We were overcome with heroism and daring. We hated Golestsapov for his cruelty, but we forgave him every Saturday when his band performed outdoors on Langer [Long] Street. We rarely had the chance to hear music, except when the Keidan Jewish band led a wedding party to the synagogue yard, or when Count Totleben's visits to Keidan were celebrated in the castle courtyard with music and fireworks.

THE DRAFT

The mood was ugly during the draft days. First they would examine the non-Jews and everybody would breathe easier when that was over, because these same hoodlums who would run around the town and start fights with everybody were changed completely after the draft. Those who were drafted would walk around glumly with their heads down; those who were rejected would get out of Keidan as fast as they could and run home. Then came the Jewish examinations. The whole town lined up on Langer Street by Mote Liptse's house to hear the results. Every few minutes a youth would stick his head out a window and run a hand across his throat - he had been slaughtered! - and his friends and relatives would start wailing.

The Keidan police force, which consisted of two Jews - Hershel Bul and Motke the Constable - never interfered with the crowd's hysteria. Who could blame them? Hearts were full of bitterness! But then there would be a comic scene, when a young man heard the magic word, "Rejected!" and ran outside the building half naked, holding his trousers in his hand, to escape before the board could change its mind.

SHABBOS PROMENADES OVER THE BRIDGE

Of course, boys and girls would not walk together; in the first place this would be shameful, and in the second place, wise-guys would make terrible fun of those who tried. They would call out that the couple must be drunk, and the laughter would echo the length of the bridge. So the boys strolled in groups of two or three; so did the girls. Here come the F. sisters, both dressed alike. Everyone stares. Meeting them, we greet them in Russian - "Zdrasvytye!" We move on, tipping our hats to Sh.'s beautiful daughter. To stop and talk with any of these ladies is naturally out of the question; people would talk.

THE YEARLY FLOODS

When the water was already above the door several young men would have to rescue the school teacher Noach Rubens and his wife Rashe through a window. Naturally everyone was very concerned and tried to guess how high the water would reach this year. The same flooding occurred on the other side of the river, but it all lasted only for a day or two and then everything returned to normal.

THE KEIDAN FIRE BRIGADE

After one of the larger fires, in which Smilga Street was destroyed all the way to the small shul, the young people in Keidan decided to organize a fire brigade and volunteers from all classes signed up. A firefighter's uniform consisted of a military helmet with a shiny visor, and the brigade on parade was like a proud, victorious army. Naturally, the wealthy people were the officers who would give the orders to pour barrels of water on the fire. Everyone had a fixed job and there was a ready routine.

So what did God do? There were no fires! One day the commanders came up with a plan. The brigade would build a hut of old boards and straw, far out of town, on the other side of the river, and one day right after evening prayers and after everyone's supper, the hut would be ignited. As soon as the fire scout spotted the fire he would blow the signal on his trumpet and the whole brigade would run to extinguish the fire and this would clearly demonstrate the ability of the brigade. Of course, the whole plan was to be secret.

On the scheduled day the leaders of the brigade walked around very pleased with themselves. They fantasized how the dark sky would be lit up with flames while the townspeople would run about frightened and amazed at the speed with which the fire-fighters extinguished the fire!

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, "Man plans while God laughs." Well before afternoon prayers some troublemakers torched the hut. And when the trumpeter was told to blast his signal he would not believe there was a fire and he ran to the bridge to convince himself. By the time he blew his trumpet and by the time the firemen gathered up their gear and reached the fire, it was all over. All they could do was to pump water on the smoldering embers and ashes. That was a dismal night for the Keidan fire brigade.

THE HIGH HOLIDAYS AND SIMCHAS TORAH

Near the synagogue, by the river, where the Smilga joins the Neviasha, barrels of pitch were piled up ready for use. Young people had also accumulated quantities of kindling. As soon as it became dark the barrels were ignited and their light illuminated the whole city. Everyone watched with great pleasure, shouting and dancing, until the fire burned itself out. Then the crowds went to the synagogue for the ceremonial parade of the Torahs.

The synagogue was packed full. Women joined the men in their downstairs prayer area - an exceptional event that would be unheard of at any other time. Reb Lazer the shames [synagogue manager] was busy supervising his assistant about the proper placement of candles in a chandelier suspended low over the center platform. Young boys in the balcony helped adjust the chandelier. Then followed the yearly ritual of someone shouting out: "The blessed flock!" which was answered by the children bleating out in unison: "Meh-h-h."

The prayers were led, not by the usual cantor, Reb Dovid Feinzinger, but rather by a layman who started out with the melody of Kol Nidre ordinarily used on Yom Kippur eve. But this melody, which on Yom Kippur evoked the saddest emotions, became on this night a remarkable source of great merriment. Then leading citizens, who had negotiated for the privilege earlier in the day over whiskey with the Rabbi and Sexton, led the chanting of Torah passages, and each performed in his own joyous style. The passages were repeated one by one by the congregants in loud, raucous voices.

There seemed to be a small democratic wind in the air. Even the big shots sitting by the prestigious eastern wall seemed less pompous than usual. And even when Reb Dovid Yitzhak went through his charade of singing a Hassidic song in a mock-drunken style, urged on by the youngsters, there were no objections. On the contrary, Reb Dovid would be officially called up for the reading of a passage, which would calm him down and made the crowd feel that the holiday belonged to everyone!

Then began the parade of the Torahs led by the property owners, followed by the youths, and finally the little kids with their paper flags and carrots with lit candles stuck onto sticks. The parade circled around the prayer platform seven times with everyone, including the women, stretching to kiss the Torahs as they passed by. Newly-married young men, still living with their in-laws, would playfully trick young matrons into planting a kiss on their hands instead of on their Torahs. This did not anger the young women, who merely lowered their eyes shamefacedly.

When the prayers were over, people proceeded from house to house, singing and dancing en route, enjoying drinks and refreshments at each place, until late into the night, savoring the holiday as long as they could.

DOCTORS AND FELDSHERS

Yeftekhovski was not at all bad for a goy, which is to say he was willing to accept a bribe. Doctor Layne, who was not popular as a doctor, had a sideline: He made small loans, taking pawned goods or i.o.u's if your credit was good, and requiring weekly payments at high interest rates. The whole town detested him as much as they depended on him. When his daughter married the police captain it became especially important to stay on his good side. At Passover all his Jewish debtors brought him matzos and all kinds of treats, meanwhile cursing the apostate in their hearts with the "blessing" that he should "enjoy" the bounty in misery and sickness.

Though the two "real" doctors were not satisfactory, several excellent Jewish feldshers helped to meet the medical needs of Keidan.

Because Jews were barred from Russian medical schools, the use of feldshers - barber-surgeons or folk-doctors - was very common.

Reb Velve, Reb Gavriel and Reb Hirsh Lieb, despite their lack of official medical certification, were esteemed as experts with abilities far beyond those of the certified Christian doctors. Moreover, Mina the midwife, whose husband dealt in lumber, attended to all Jewish childbirths. By these various means did Keidan have its medical needs met.

I could go on endlessly with many stories from the various layers of Keidan society of those days - the drivers and coachmen who played a dominant role in the city and in the synagogue; the big merchants and the small market-people, with their whisk brooms hanging under their coats; the cloth merchants and the small dealers in pastries. Their lives, their aspirations, their grand ideas and their petty accomplishments; the Keidan intelligentsia, the graduates of the secular school and their educator Ptashkin. However, most of this was not peculiar to Keidan, but was part of the life-cycle of most towns in Lithuania.