This week's Yizkor book excerpt on the JewishGen Facebook page

[BDrake@pewresearch.org BDrake@pewresearch.org]

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Yizkor books are filled with the wrenching accounts of the dark side of
the history of the European shtetls - the Holocaust and the pogroms,
persecutions and anti-Semitism that preceded it. But they also preserve
the flavor and texture of daily life among the Jews of these towns,
through accounts ranging from loving descriptions of the food people
ate to the folklore passed down through generations. Such an account
comes from the Yizkor book of Chrzanow, a small town in southern Poland
a little under 40 miles west of Krakow. It is similar to chapters I've
published here before, recounting old sayings, beliefs ... and humor:
"Rabbi Naftoli used to say jokingly that he wasn't afraid of the dead,
because he always had two dead men right next to him. Yukl Dodek was
always dead hungry, and Tall Yoske was always dead thirsty."

URL: https://business.facebook.com/JewishGen.org/posts/1535305126491637

Bruce Drake
Silver Spring, MD

Researching: DRACH, EBERT, KIMMEL, ZLOTNICK
Towns: Wojnilow, Kovel
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[BDrake@PewResearch.org BDrake@PewResearch.org]

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A long chapter in the Yizkor book of Czyzewo, Poland - a shtetl sitting on
a railway line between Warsaw and Bialystock - provides a rich snapshot of
daily life. The full chapter is titled "A Regular Market Day," something that is
the subject of chapters in many Yizkor books. But the part of the chapter I thought
I'd share is "The Order of the Wedding Ceremony," an account that almost makes you
feel you were there.

URL: https://www.facebook.com/JewishGen.org/posts/1542206559134827

Bruce Drake
Silver Spring, MD

Researching: DRACH, EBERT, KIMMEL, ZLOTNICK

Towns: Wojnilow Kovel

[BDrake@PewResearch.org BDrake@PewResearch.org]

X-No-archive: yes
Last week, I posted an excerpt in the Yizkor book of Czyzewo, Poland subtitled
"The Order of the Wedding Ceremony," a wonderfully detailed step-by-step account
of the celebration of a marriage. This was part of a much longer chapter titled
"A Regular Market Day." It, too, is beautifully written - full of detail,
portraits of the people, what was being sold, the haggling and humor - so I
couldn't resist posting it.

URL: https://www.facebook.com/JewishGen.org/posts/1545461205476029

Bruce Drake
Silver Spring, MD

Researching: DRACH, EBERT, KIMMEL, ZLOTNICK

Towns: Wojnilow, Kovel

[BDrake@PewResearch.org BDrake@PewResearch.org]

X-No-archive: yes
Many cultures have their stories of singular women, inspired by heavenly
visions, who made a mark on their communities or countries by thrusting
themselves into roles not traditionally accepted by society. "The Maiden
of Ludmir" is one of those and her story is told in the Yizkor book of
the small town of Volodymyr Volynskyy which, during the time she lived,
was in the Russian Empire, afterwards passed to Poland and now is in
northwest Ukraine. She was born Khane-Rokhl Werbermacher, a birth that -
according to the story - came about after her mother, seeking to avoid a
divorce after ten childless years of marriage, traveled to Chernoybl to
ask a "great righteous man and wonder worker, who was known to bless
barren women" to intercede for her with his prayers. Said to be born in
1806, "The child awed all who saw her. She had an angelic face, and as
she grew up, her spiritual graces increased." The YIVO Encyclopedia says.
"She apparently was intensely pious at an early age and her biographers
state that in her teens she had a heavenly vision during which she claimed
to have received a 'new and lofty soul.' From that point on, the Maiden
acquired a reputation as a healer and miracle worker." The tension in her
story was captured by the vision she had after falling ill. She had
appeared before a "heavenly court, which would decide whether she would
live or die." The prosecutors said that she did not behave in the way that
wise men had ordered, that she performed commandments that women were not
commanded to perform, that she had taken upon herself the yoke of the study
of Torah and observance that were required of men, and since her love was
that of a woman and she had been created a woman, she was desecrating the
honor of the Torah." The court was persuaded to ask her to speak and she
said,"I shall not die but live, and tell the deeds of God." Her request was
granted and her soul soared higher.

URL: https://www.facebook.com/JewishGen.org/posts/1552628538092629

Bruce Drake
Silver Spring MD

[BDrake@PewResearch.org BDrake@PewResearch.org]

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The shtetls of Eastern Europe were filled with all sorts of characters whose
occupations made them stand out, and I have to admit I never heard of this
one until I came across a chapter from the Yizkor book of Kielce, Poland -
a "badchan" or jester. They were a staple at weddings in the old country,
moving things along with their jokes and commentary. I probably haven't
gone to enough weddings, but I see online that the tradition exists among
Jews in the U.S. and elsewhere as well. So, here is the story of Josel the
Badchan whose performances were received by audiences "as if the air was
saturated with laughter, and it broke to pieces in the thunder of laughter.
People would forget their problems and sufferings at such a time, and their
worries and give themselves over to the laughter."

URL: https://www.facebook.com/JewishGen.org/posts/1558871820801634

Bruce Drake
Silver Spring, MD