Letters from Dotnuva

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Letters from Dotnuva (cont.)

Translated by Yocheved Klausner

Dotnuva Saturday night, 7 December 1935

Dear sister-in-law Mary and dear brother-in-law Morris,
My dear daughter Freida !
Friday we received your letter, and were very glad to read that you are well, thank God. May we always have good news from you. Here there is nothing new, everything is still as it was when you left. We are all well, we often receive letters from the children: Moshe, Reizele and Lea. They are all well, thank God, they always ask about Freida, how she was and what she wrote. Just now we are writing letters to Reizele, Moshe and Lieve. Last Thursday we wrote to Lea, we sent her the letter that you had written from the ship, she will send it to Moshe, so that all of us will read your letters.
Be well. Wishes you your brother-in-law and your father, Shlomo Shapira.

Shalom Freida my dear,
As you can see, we are constantly writing letters, the correspondence is growing and growing.
I am just back from Zelda Kushelevski, she showed me the wedding picture of Eli and Pearl, I shall describe her to you: she is tall, blonde, long face, high forehead with long lines. She is supposed to be a very interesting person. They say she is a beauty, but I don't know. She seems to me a strange type, we don't find such characters here – she is a real oriental type.
Eli looks very nice, it seems he has a good life. They are living with her parents. They are very rich, and live a beautiful and enjoyable life. His in-laws are providing for him and he studying all day, without any need to worry about making a living*. He is very successful. He suggests that Zelda should come, and she is preparing herself to go. I think she will manage very well, otherwise she would not have planned it.
Now I am in a hurry and must finish.
Yours, Miriam

My dear sister and brother-in-law, my dearest daughter Freida,
We received your letter, which we awaited with impatience, although your telegram set our minds at ease; still we wanted very much to receive a letter as well.
I hope, my loved daughter, that you are getting used to the American life and are adapting quickly. When you don't know the language it is difficult at first. You need to have patience and hope that everything will turn out well. Please do not worry about us.
Dear sister, I thank you very much for the warm and wholehearted way you have welcomed my daughter. May God give you good health, and may her arrival bring you only good luck. May we hear good news always.
Freida'le, please write us about the health of aunt Mary, how did you find them compared to the time they visited us here? Write about all our other relatives, did you meet any of them? Are they all there?
We have written a letter to our brother Yitzhak, is their son happy in his marriage? I want to know about everyone.
Be well and happy.
Wishes you your sister, sister-in-law and mother, Nechama

* It was common for newlyweds to spend a year or two (sometimes several years) in the home of the bride's parents (if they could afford it). The wealthy father-in-law would provide for the young couple and the husband would spend all his time studying the Torah and Talmud. It was an honor for the bride's family to have a son-in-law who was a Torah scholar – a “Talmid Chacham”

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Dotnuva	Saturday night, 7 December 1935

Dear sister-in-law Mary and dear brother-in-law Morris, My dear daughter Freida ! Friday we received your letter, and were very glad to read that you are well, thank God. May we always have good news from you. Here there is nothing new, everything is still as it was when you left. We are all well, we often receive letters from the children: Moshe, Reizele and Lea. They are all well, thank God, they always ask about Freida, how she was and what she wrote. Just now we are writing letters to Reizele, Moshe and Lieve. Last Thursday we wrote to Lea, we sent her the letter that you had written from the ship, she will send it to Moshe, so that all of us will read your letters. Be well. Wishes you your brother-in-law and your father, Shlomo Shapira. Shalom Freida my dear, As you can see, we are constantly writing letters, the correspondence is growing and growing. I am just back from Zelda Kushelevski, she showed me the wedding picture of Eli and Pearl, I shall describe her to you: she is tall, blonde, long face, high forehead with long lines. She is supposed to be a very interesting person. They say she is a beauty, but I don't know. She seems to me a strange type, we don't find such characters here – she is a real oriental type. Eli looks very nice, it seems he has a good life. They are living with her parents. They are very rich, and live a beautiful and enjoyable life. His in-laws are providing for him and he studying all day, without any need to worry about making a living*. He is very successful. He suggests that Zelda should come, and she is preparing herself to go. I think she will manage very well, otherwise she would not have planned it. Now I am in a hurry and must finish. Yours, Miriam My dear sister and brother-in-law, my dearest daughter Freida, We received your letter, which we awaited with impatience, although your telegram set our minds at ease; still we wanted very much to receive a letter as well. I hope, my loved daughter, that you are getting used to the American life and are adapting quickly. When you don't know the language it is difficult at first. You need to have patience and hope that everything will turn out well. Please do not worry about us. Dear sister, I thank you very much for the warm and wholehearted way you have welcomed my daughter. May God give you good health, and may her arrival bring you only good luck. May we hear good news always. Freida'le, please write us about the health of aunt Mary, how did you find them compared to the time they visited us here? Write about all our other relatives, did you meet any of them? Are they all there? We have written a letter to our brother Yitzhak, is their son happy in his marriage? I want to know about everyone. Be well and happy. Wishes you your sister, sister-in-law and mother, Nechama

* It was common for newlyweds to spend a year or two (sometimes several years) in the home of the bride's parents (if they could afford it). The wealthy father-in-law would provide for the young couple and the husband would spend all his time studying the Torah and Talmud. It was an honor for the bride's family to have a son-in-law who was a Torah scholar – a “Talmid Chacham”