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However these incidents and conflicts were insignificant compared to the active help given by the local Poles to the murderous Germans, in their murdering work of the Frampol Jews in the years of 1939-1944.

Frampol lay between Szczebrzeszyn (on the right), Janow-Lubelski (West), Bilgoraj (south) Turobin (till Lublin) – to the north. Being sandwiched in on all for sides, the shtetl absorbed the characteristics of the surrounding towns. Szczebrzeszyn along with Zamość, were considered to be advanced towns – and how could it be otherwise? I. L. Peretz was born in Zamość, and studied in Szczebrzeszyn with Yankl'eh Frank, an unusual man in our vicinity. A lot is told about him, but his reputation could not be assessed favorably, because of the following incident: This same Yankl'eh would sit and study day and night, and until evening was wrapped in a prayer shawl and wore phylacteries, recognized as one of the great scholars. It was talked about that all of his children converted [to Christianity] and he himself was held to be a great apostate.

It is told that before his death, he called in his pupils who did not distinguish themselves with too much piety (among them also I. L. Peretz) and began to teach them ‘tradition’ with ardor such that the pupils began to cry. Only one, I. L. Peretz did not shed a tear. Suddenly he began to drive them out of the room, shouting: ‘ I worked for my entire life to make sure I would make you into fine people. And now with one burst of ardor, you have forgotten everything. No, nothing will become of you! My work was in vain… Yitzhak- Leibusz [Peretz] remain here with me, I will surely have nachas from you…’

Szczebrzeszyn was known for being a city full of wags. If they accepted someone of weak character, they would make fun of him. I remember that my father ז”ל was to be found in all of the towns, where the Rebbe would come for the Sabbath (Janow, Bilgoraj) but not to Szczebrzeszyn, noting thereby that he does not travel to these jokesters, So, I remember this story on a Sabbath: in the Bet-HaMedrash, where the Rebbe worshiped, a group of wise guys came in. Stood themselves in a row and one after he other greeted the Rebbe with ‘Shalom’ – ceaselessly. The line never ended… they literally tired the Rebbe out with this ceaseless rendering of a welcome greeting in the course of several hours.

In contrast to the east, we also had a west – Janow-Lubelski, with its Torah scholars, the pious and wholly-committed, Hasidim and activists. From the north we had Goraj, a small town, which produced the holy R' Mendel'eh Kotzker, that in later times was know throughout the world. It is also necessary to mention Mott'leh Gorajer, who was considered to be a modest scholar by all in the vicinity.

In short, there was light and darkness in Frampol. Understandably, the method of teaching children was in accordance with the old style, especially up to the First World War, when Jewish children were not required to go to school. The principal responsibility to educate the younger generation was given to a Melamed, who inculcated Torah with the children for eight hours a day, sometimes – more, and also learned a little of secular material writing, arithmetic, etc. All the children who attended a Heder could write a bit, read Russian, Polish, Hebrew and arithmetic etc. I do not know from whence this miracle came – but a fact remains that being together with those who barely knew how to sign their name, they were nevertheless good at mathematics, who would not be ashamed of that they know even in this day. If a request needed to be written to the Polish authorities, there was a Jew in the shtetl (Leibl Redelman), who never attended a Polish school – and despite this, wrote up such requests, and even made a living from it. Christians would also come to him to write ‘podaniehs’ (applications). If a senior official came from Lublin, and one had to present one's self with a good Polish, they went off to ‘hire’ a Polish speaker from among the Frampol Jews, with a beard and sidelocks, among whom not only one spoke a fluent Polish. Gershon Rosenberg (Shyeh's) wrote these with a goose quill.

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Our Heder System

Every boy that was born in Frampol had to be schooled by a Melamed in the shtetl, beginning at the age of three – practically up to his wedding…(nobody even dreamed of secular studies).At first one had to get a taste the leather strap on one's back (and … one's rear end) which belonged to R' Joseph the Elementary-Level Melamed. He began by first inculcation the alphabet into the children with ‘half’ and then ‘whole’ notes, until (with the help of the leather strap) they could be moved on the Hebrew.

The child then went over to the higher-level Melamed, R' Chaim Eliezer Hochrad, he began getting treatment befitting a person, learning the Pentateuch. A big celebration was made at this beginning, and later – in auditing what of the Pentateuch the child had learned. The parents of this Pentateuch-novice treated everyone to drinks and a bite to eat, and sweets that were homemade, which had been prepared in advance. Everyone had prepared questions to ask:

– Little boy, little boy, what are you studying?

– The Pentateuch

– Which (volume of) the Pentateuch? – a second one asked.

– The third one!

Progressing, one finally reached the most senior Rabbi, R' Akiva Meir Kalmanowicz, because after him, one had to go off to a Yeshiva to continue learning, or to the Bet-HaMedrash. His students were grown young men. They felt pride to study under a Rabbi. Apart from Talmud, Tosafot, and Tanakh a little bit of secular material was also learned: Hebrew, Polish, German and most importantly – mathematics. And this was not ordinary learning, because one had to know by heart many poems in those languages. But the most difficult was mathematics: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. One has to admit that, after nine or ten hours of learning from the difficult Gemaras with Tosafot, other studies penetrated one's head only lightly. But the Rebbe already knew how to plant a bit of knowledge in all of us. There were also students with sharp minds who immediately could personally deal with all the material after the Rebbe'sexposition. My brother Joseph ז”ל was one of them as was Joel Weltczer and others. They also helped the weaker students to absorb the difficult lessons.

R' Akiva Meir with his patriarchal appearance and education system, earned the loyalty of the town's youth, whom they had to thank for a good education and a little bit of Enlightenment.

The big Frampol Bet HaMedrash had been open since three o'clock in the morning. There, one found the disciplinarians for learning till midnight. Among them – The little Moshe'leh Baruch ז”לand Gershon Miri'leh's Knoblich ז”ל, who knew the entire Mishna by heart. He astonished all the children: how is it possible to learn such a thick book by heart?

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Around five o'clock the reciters of the Psalms began to arrive, and the Gemara students: After them – those who came to pray. In the meantime one seized the opportunity to talk about commerce and thereby added straight words and jokes. Among the reciters of the Psalms, it was R' Itzik'l Schuster who stood out, and whether in summer or winter would take home with him homeless paupers to spend the night. It was this simple Jew that the elementary school teacher Joseph of Goraj often had to do with telling him things. Those that stood around would be convulsed with laughter when R' Joseph would say to R' Itzik'l: ‘now you are a complete scholar, but were I to get you into my Heder, I will teach you the portion of Balak^[1] with my leather strap…’

On a certain wintry Tuesday, the shoemaker, as was his habit, went off with a few boots to a neighboring village. He had to return tomorrow, After the noon hour on Wednesday, a terrible snowstorm engulfed us. When the members of his household did not see him returning on Thursday, they thought that because of the bad weather he will first arrive home on the Sabbath. Regrettably, he did not return even after the Sabbath. A great wailing went up, and they understood that a misfortune had taken place.

On Sunday, the confused family went off to the village, and asked the local peasantry if he had arrived there. One of them told that on Wednesday evening he was at his place, and despite warnings, he set out for home, saying that he knows the way very well and he won't get lost.

Now there was no longer any doubt, that R' Itzik had been covered by snow. The Rabbi of Frampol ordered that on Sunday, no person, from 18 years on, should leave the shtetl: the Melamdim (To our great happiness!…) should let all their children go home; one should take shovels, shoulder blades, and axes, in order o find the supposedly deceased. After a full day of searching through the surrounding fields and roads, we returned tired and saddened for not having found the shoemaker.

It was only a couple of weeks later, when the snow began to melt, two Christians came to the Rabbi and said, if they would be given a small flask of whiskey, they will indicate where R' Itzik'l lay. They then left with the Hevra Kadisha^[2], a couple of kilometers to the south of the cemetery, on the way to Mariopol, a place known for many misfortunes. R'Itzikl ז”לwas sitting under a tree, his sack was by his feet, and had a carrot in his mouth. That is how he was frozen.

He was brought to the shtetl and they arranged for a substantial funeral. Everyone escorted him to his eternal resting place. The poor people cried, because they will no longer have a place to sleep over the night. The shouts of the confused family, who had lost the one breadwinner, reached the heavens. Only the middle daughter Chava'leh who was in the advanced months [of pregnancy] did not go with the funeral procession. She later gave birth to a boy, and naturally, they named him for his grandfather, Itzik'l.

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Three years later, the elementary level Melamed R' Yoss'keh led him to his Heder and called out all over the street: but my prophecies have come to be, Itzik'l is coming to my Heder. I have gotten him…'

At the end of the First World War, when other winds started to blow and obligatory school attendance was implemented – this was just another decree like all decrees against the Jews. I am reminded of the time, about 1922-23, when the Polish authorities demanded of the Jewish parents that they should send their children to a kingdom volksschule. Jews tried a variety of schemes not to carry out this decree. So the local authorities implemented a registration process of all children of school age, not by forcibly removing birth certificates from the birth records, but rather going around to the Jewish houses, and on the spot document the children of school age. So Jews fell back on an idea, to hide their children in cavities, so they would not be registered. My father did this very thing – and it was in this fashion that I was ‘spared’ from falling into gentile hands.

Meanwhile the statistical office sent out requirements to the Jewish parents to send their children to a volksschule. My brother Zalman had now to go to school, because there was the threat of a money fine, if such children were not sent. The Hasidic community did not give into this so easily. They brought into the shtetl a good Melamed, R' Akiva Meir, who because of him, we were able to get a general education as well. With us, he taught Polish, German and Hebrew, and poetry by heart. Among his students was a youngster, who was thought to be an intellectual genius. This was Shlomo'leh Yaakov-Boruch the Shokhet's son. It was told about him, that at the age of nine his father examined him on a Sabbath day, for his knowledge of his weekly lesson. In the middle of this review of the lesson, Shlomo'leh fell into thought and did not present what he had learned. His father shouted at him, asking why he stopped in the middle, and the son replied, that in this moment he had calculated when the next lunar eclipse would take place. Nobody could understand from where this genius-like skill in computation came from. It was then held that this Shlomo'leh will grow up to be a prominent intellect in the town. Regrettably, he died while still young, he lost his mind. Doctors established that this came from a sharp mind at a very early age. Struggling for a longer time, he gave up his soul.

Our shtetl had yet another good student with a sharp mind. This was Chaim Weltczer, who can now be found in Israel. He was an orphan. His mother, a widow, could not support him. For this reason he was at his grandmother's and studied with Akiva Meir Melamed. He had an inheritance from his father: a very nice set of the Shas. We, the children of his age, who learned together with Akiva the Melamed, literally envied him with his beautiful Gemara in a leather cover, which he would

The BETA”R Branch in Frampol – 1932

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bring with him to Heder, at a time when we had to study from small, torn Gemaras. He did not let any of us look into his Gemara during study, On one half of the open Gemara he would pull over the cover and thereby make it impossible to peer at another page of the book. All his food had to be powdered with sugar. Silently, we laughed at this. This was to make sure he did not notice it. In return he took revenge on us. The Rebbe did not need to review any lesson with him twice. It was sufficient for him to hear it only once. The Rebbe gave him oversight over our studying on those occasions when he had to leave the Heder.

Among others, my brother Joseph also belonged to this cadre of sharp minds. Understandably, when this group grew older, they began to understand that in practical life one has to seek other solutions, rather than the ones in which we had been raised. Also the Zionist idea began to penetrate the shtetl. The leap from the Heder, Bet HaMedrash and from all of the religious tenets about the Messiah and redemption – up to the current Zionist solution of the Jewish problem – was too drastic for the small town lethargy, of that time. So for us it came in a different way, stepwise. A little bit at a time, the thought about organizational life became ripe. We founded a ‘Tze'Irei Agudat Israel.’ The two brothers, Moshe and Nathan Kestenbaum stood at the head. This was approximately in 1927. We rented a location – and with that we wrote a new small page of history in the shtetl. The ‘Tze'Irei Agudat Israel’ was a sort of ‘temporary station’, for leaping over to other movements. The older generation was not sympathetic. What is the use of the organizations with newspapers and journals?

But it did not take very long and even they were pulled into the stream of the ‘Tze'Irei Agudah’ movement.

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We created a minyan^[3] of young people and we gave them lessons. A concentration of pious youth, leaders of services Torah readers, etc. and a few Hasidic Jews (among them – also my father), who began to give lessons there and also learning – and so it became visible that we had a purpose in engaging with individuals who posed some difficult questions which could not be answered with superficial replies, ands as a result began to respect us more honorably seated themselves from the start. Also, our spiritual leader, R' Neta. Th son-in-law of the Rabbi began to understand that our organization was truly the only barrier against the various freethinking [groups] which had begun to influence the Jewish street, and so we began to take an interest in everything that comes into our little world. Indeed, we did study our daily page of the Gemara, but we also began to read a variety of newspapers and books that were also secular. We then organized a presentation of ‘The Sale of Joseph’ which enjoyed a great success. The chief director was not any longer one of our group. He was called R' Yankl'eh, and was good at this job. I played the role of ‘Jacob’ and Abba Bekher played ‘Joseph.’

The times became more stormy. The economic state of Polish youth, especially in the smaller locations, got worse from day-to-day. This impelled us to think more deeply about our fate. About half of the ‘Tze'irei Agudah’ a group of members developed into general Zionists, ‘green trees on guard’ leftist Poalei Tzion, like me – allied with BETA”R, which ran an animated movement, to which it dedicated much of its youthful energy.

The Tze'Irei Agudat Israel – 1930

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The ideological battles in the shtetl led to the result that former comrades became alienated one from another. When Dr. Chaim Arlozorov was murdered in the Land of Israel, not a single member of BETA”R could show up in the street. The discussions in the shtetl were very sharp and often led to blows. When the familiar article of Ze'ev Jabotinsky – ‘Basta!’ appeared, the members of BETA”R became refreshed and began to work with more hope.

It was Shlomo Kleidman who was the living nerve of all the Zionist groups in the shtetl, from the left and right. He secretly arranged to create a library in his home, where not only one comrade of the ‘Tze'irei Agudah’ drew his ideas for progressing his life. Shlomo Kleidman would take a special interest in those who had abandoned the Heder. The books, ‘Ahavat Zion,’ ‘Ashemat Shomron’ literally seized and others, whose content of new ideas, literally seized and awakened even more new ideas.

A group of students at the ‘Bais Yaakov’ School for Girls

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the students from the Great Bet Hamedrash. They would frequently come to the Great Bet HaMedrash and impel the discussion of religious and worldly themes. They especially often had discussions with the R' Neta, the Rabbi's son-in-law, who was difficult into whom they could ‘sink their teeth.’ And as a supplement to this, we, the Tze'irei Agudah Israel, on a nice clear day, specifically also brought two lady teachers, who, at a general meeting and in very nice language, talked about the objectives of the Bais Yaakov School. The gathering was literally inspiring. On the spot, a significant amount of money was raised. We then approached the director of the Ladies Seminary in Cracow, Mrs. Schnierer, who had sent us one lady teacher, who gave our daughters a modern education. In this area, she literally manifested a wonder. As is known, the education of the Jewish girl in the small shtetl stood on a very low level.

Regrettably, it was difficult for the shtetl to support the lady teachers. So we worked out a scheme that for a half-day they should work in the Polish volksschule of the kingdom as teachers of religion. Thereby we attained the result that the Jewish children will have the opportunity to learn the Jewish religion and the teachers could remain in the Bais-Yaakov school.

We then became a shtetl at the same level as that of a progressive/advanced one. The community level grew from the young people. There were continuing discussions on a variety of themes, which became a daily appearance. We discussed even more, when the time came, to hold the elections to the Sejm and Senate, at which time the air above Frampol cleared… Former friends, young people from the Heder, but nevertheless belonging to various parties – became our enemies. Arguments and fistfights became a frequent occurrence, one person would insult another. This was a normal thing to see, we had gotten used to this…

But all this was nothing in comparison to the knowledge that in our shtetl as well, there exists a secret well-organized communist party. People were stunned. The older generation had one – and only one – response: ‘We immediately knew that the various parties will not bring us anything good!’ The younger and better enlightened element, began to think seriously about this situation. This was the time of the Pszytyk pogrom that resulted from a sharpened anti-Semitic incitement, and assaults by the Endekist students. The ‘owszem’ politics of General Slavoj- Skladowski (the Polish internal affairs minister) and in the end – Hitler's coming to power in Germany, which augured frightening times for the Jewish people. So everyone got to thinking about what way a solution can be found for himself and the people. Many joined the Halutz movement, where one went through training and later had a chance to make aliyah to the Land of Israel. Others, by contrast, wanted to find a solution in the place they were, awaiting the world revolution. These ideas were seized upon by the masses and even penetrated into the pious ranks…

We became aware of a communist group by the following fact:

A few days before the election of 1932, near the police station they hung up a red flag. The local police were stood up. They searched and probed intensely to find out who had done this. One had no way of conceiving, that even in such a small shtetl there could be a secret communist organization. At the same time one became aware that a red flag was also hung out in Bilgoraj. There went from mouth-to-mouth, that one could find communist leaflets in the streets. The police did some things but to no avail.

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This is the way it stood for two years – and nobody was detained.

The police wanted to uncover the sympathizers of the communist party very much. On a certain Saturday, when almost all of the young people were out for a stroll in the streets, suddenly police and secret agents appeared, arresting anyone that they put their hands on. It was dark in the shtetl. For everyone of us who was there, this Saturday was etched into our memories as the ‘Black Sabbath.’

There happened to be an itinerant peddler in the shtetl at that time, who was carrying for sale, prayer shawls phylacteries, tzitzit^[4], prayer books, etc. The parent literally besieged upon him and took the tzitzit from him, in order to show that the children were not guilty. They were all held till the following morning, on Sunday. Apart from five men, all were set free. The detained ones were brought before the law and received a variety of sentences, some were let go and today are found in Israel.

Alongside this, it needs to be recollected that the young people who were arrested kept their composure, not looking at the tortures they had to withstand from the police, and they did not reveal/betray their friends. In the time they sat in jail, they learned a great deal and after being releasd – again presented the communist activity, but all informed people the situation from all sides. Accordingly, many gave up their communist affiliation. During these years of the Second World War they were in Russia.

In the end, the Halutz movement took credit as the ones who had given the right way of life for the bewildered young people.

Also the ‘Tzeirei Agudat Israel’ sent several young people for Halutz training, in order to be able to make aliyah. Regrettably, they received no certificates and therefore fell under the hegemony of the Hitlerist-Beast. By contrast, the pioneering movement sent many young people for training and after ending at the proper time (of two years) traveled off to the Land of Israel where they can be found to this day. Thanks to this, they were saved from the tragic fate which befell their brethren, who were not privileged enough to make aliyah.

Let it be said, that there were various circumstances when someone did have the possibility to make aliyah and to be resigned to remaining behind and settle down in Poland. By contrast, there were also instances when a part of the young people did everything, in order to make aliyah – and did not attain their goal.

The stream of emigration did not only go to the Land of Israel. The young people in the shtetl who did not see any success in those circumstances, were seized by the struggle to emigrate. There were instances, when American girls came into the shtetl, married a local young man and immediately left to travel across the sea. The girls gave the boys money, to enable them to emigrate to Argentina, Brazil and other lands. Later, as grown women, they traveled to their husbands.

Not everyone had the courage and means to tear themselves out of the small shtetl. A part of them found out a way out of the bad and insoluble situation by way of getting married, with the hope that they will

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be able to satisfactorily live out the insecure situation, in the hope that they will be able to live out their lives comfortably in Poland. However, this did not happen. All of them became victims of the gruesome fate that befell all of Polish Jewry.

Young Jewish people in Frampol were sufficiently forward-looking and their conscience and literacy worked by themselves without any vigorous help. It was only in getting married, writing up the conditions of such a union, and to discuss possible matches – the larger portion of them followed the old traditional way of their parents. Certainly, in the shtetl their young people had their romances, and in Frampol there were ‘love affairs’ – but the loving couple has forgotten that ‘two dead people don't go to dance.’… Because of the material circumstances of both, or one of the pair, one had to resign one's self to a partnership in life. It was for this reason that the matchmaker played such a continuing role in bringing the ‘He’ and the ‘She’ from the shtetl itself, or from surrounding settlements.

Frampol would often visit candidates through matchmakers in Bilgoraj, Janow-Lubelski and other places. For every candidate, male or female, they had to propose to go under the wedding canopy – and each candidate was portrayed in the best possible light: a distinguished pedigree, money, beauty, a scholar or an observant Jewish daughter, gentle and refined. And the speaking of such praise was poured out like peas.

If it was possible to convince both sides, the core being – the parents of the couple, then Hol-HaMoed^[5] was the time to meet each other, carry out this first get-together, which meant – that we are journeying on an ‘in.’ And not only the future groom and bride traveled with their sets of parents, but the matchmakers in those days were busy with finalizing the matches that had already been talked about, and with the need to start anew. If the matchmaker succeeded, the family was called together, the essential paragraphs were written down, including all of the promises made (even those that were not possible to fulfill). Afterwards, plates were broken, a ‘L'Chaim’ was drunk, and a time set for writing the conditions of the marriage. This is the way every instance of ‘assuming obligation,’ or what was called a ‘Vort’ was ended.

For writing the conditions, one invited a larger circle of family, friends and acquaintances. And only the observant Jews did not forget their Hasidim from the shtibl, with whom they prayed together for an entire year. And to this Mitzvah repast, the Rabbi, Cantor and Shokhet were also invited. The festive occasion, accompanied by nice Jewish dances from the old archive, lasted until late in the night.

An incident occurred once, that Little Moshe'leh took a groom from Bilgoraj for his [daughter] Raizl, who was a student at the Yeshiva of Khakhmei Lublin. During the setting down of the conditions, the putative groom began to say an abstruse and sharp bit of casuistry, which went on literally to become a misfortune. It was not considered appropriate to cut him off, but the fear of having to sit for the entire night, moved the participating Rabbis from Bilgoraj to make a sign that

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he should finish up. The young folk who, with open mouths were listening to the speech of the Yeshiva student, after the exposition was stopped were still swimming in the sea of the Talmud and thought some more about the talk, which was produced with such acuity… Later on when they engaged in a dance with such ardor, all the weekly issues were forgotten instantly. The Holy Spirit rested on the face of the parents, indicating how privileged they should feel to raise such a child and he is at the threshold of getting married…

The reckoning came tomorrow. They had to begin getting ready to lay out the expense, clarify which tailor and seamstress were to be used to make the ‘Wyprowa’ and at which storekeeper it is possible to get the merchandise and pay on time, what should the wedding gifts consist of, and finally, above all – how are the promises documented in the conditions in a moment of merriment and courage… to which the cost of a hall was not so great. The conclusion – was not an expensive one. They relied on the good heart of several Jewish people from Frampol, who had large and comfortable homes: Gershon Yeshay'eh Rosenberg, Mordechai-Joseph Katzev (Waldman), Joel-Ber Schneider, Yaakov-Leib Hochrad, and others. To do a mitzvah, they would turn over their houses to consummate a wedding ceremony.

Also relatives, neighbors and good friends, for a mitzvah took on the baking and cooking, focusing their activities around the wedding, as if it was their own party. This is the way it was done in Frampol: Every Jewish celebration was a matter done in partnership by the whole shtetl, because among the residents there, harmony, friendship and closeness generally prevailed. It appears to me that, in Frampol, they complied with the adage, ‘And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’ was fulfilled in the right way. And every adult resident felt himself/herself as a parent of the wedding couple would.

In the last week, the evening before the wedding, musicians from Bilgoraj were hired, and also the jester from there (incidentally, he is to be found in Haifa today). And since the groom was from Frampol, on the Sabbath he was honored with an ‘Aufruf’ in the synagogue ( a call to participate ritually in the reading of the Torah) or in the Bet HaMedrash. And from there – home to his parents for a Kiddush, where intense joy was expressed. After this came the row of his youthful comrades, the closest friends of the groom, so they could take possession of him. This was called ‘foreplay.’ The groom was treated literally as royalty. Two of his very closest friends escorted him – one on the right side and one on the left side. The singing and happiness extended to the Mincha prayer. There was a custom that for Mincha the groom was led to the Bet HaMedrash, and one of the young people led the prayer for the congregation – which was a rarity here. Later on, the groom was led to his home and there they arranged for Shaleshudes^[6] and a Melave Malka– and often this went on until dawn, and celebrated with a lifting of the soul.

As is known, by the ultra-orthodox Jews, it was taken that from the Aufruf until over the Sheva Berachot, the groom is not left alone, especially on the nights.

If the groom was from out of town, then on the day of the wedding he was waited for on the road the led to Frampol. It is self-evident that only his best friends went out to meet him. When the guest

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appeared, after the celebratory greeting he was taken and seated in our wagon (from Frampol). More than once, it happened that the Christian wagon driver didn't want to let the groom off, unless he was compensated with a flask of whiskey.

The trip into town with the groom took place when there was already the sound of music and singing. Elderly Jews used to tell that at one time, with that type of groom, they would ride around the Rathaus seven times – but I do not remember such an occurrence in my time. When the guest was settled into his place of rest, the bride's parents came to receive him. Immediately after this the jester appeared with the musicians, who played the first march. All the observers suddenly became serious, that felt the elevation of the moment. Women let a tear fall, and the jester spoke and spoke, until he himself felt that he had reached the culmination point – and ordered a freilach^[7] to be played. The audience roused themselves again, and returned to the homey happy music.

Before nightfall, the bride was taken with a great parade through the important streets of the shtetl. Her friends mostly from the girls of the shtetl escorted the bride with happy and encouraging words, dancing and singing. At the time when the bride was marching in the street, the groom and his closest friends sat themselves around a table and made merry. The end of this was – the auction of the groom's lekakh^[8] with whiskey…

When the jester and the musicians returned from the bride, the merriment began around the groom. He was ‘shown’ and ‘told’ how to belong [to the group], and thereby did not forget the two youngsters who sat to his right and left side. Clearly, the talk was accompanied by many quotes of sayings by the Khaza”l^[9]. As the older guests came together to receive the couple, the groom was taken to the bride, a bit at a time over the entire street.

An especially serious moment came at the ‘badeken.’ Here the jester shone and sparkled with his entire talent. His recitation of the names of the groom, the two sets of parents, accompanying people and just plain important guests, was interwoven with sayings from the Torah. He literally put up a whole structure and showed that he is sending the groom on the right path and will therefore never have any regrets. And then after more moving words of this kind – he again ordered the musicians to play a freilach…

I recollect such a wedding when I was a small child. The bride was an orphan and the groom's father – was American. He allowed himself [the luxury] of bringing the famous jester Shmuel ‘Cholent’ who with his words led to a number of women fainting away– and he had to stop spreading his witticisms. The bride and groom cried, and they were talked into accepting that this was their Yom Kippur which comes only once in a lifetime. That is why, at the Mincha service, everyone recited the ‘Al Khet’ with the groom… as if it were the eve of Yom Kippur.

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The musicians stood ready outside and waited for them to lead the groom to the wedding canopy. Before donning the kittl^[10], all the buttons were tied, even that of the cravat. Under the echoes of music, the groom was led to the synagogue, where the wedding canopy awaited him. The crowd accompanied the train with candles held in the hand and from all of the Jewish windows the light of candles also shone in celebration of the joyous event. In those times, the entire shtetl took part in the celebration.

When a wedding of this sort took place in the winter, people threw snow[balls], even coloring themselves – and people had white on their clothing and red-inflamed faces. It was not only once that the police had to intervene to enable the bride and groom to be able to reach the synagogue undisturbed.

For this reason, earnestness and joy ruled at the wedding canopy. This was especially true with the appearance of the Rabbi Gaon R' Eliezer Sholom Feder with the grace of his appearance, and the participation of the 90 year-old Cantor, R' Shmuel Moshe Waldman, who had a long, white beard. Even the Poles who had come to see a Jewish wedding, and possibly make fun of it and laugh over the throwing of snowballs – also became more serious, when the ceremony of the canopy and recitation of blessing over the wine commenced. In general, all of this took place underneath the open sky. First, the groom was brought in, later – the bride, which lasted for several hours because of the marching in the streets with the musicians and dancing. After performing the canopy ritual in accordance with the law of Moses and Israel, the fortunate couple was escorted together for the entire way, dancing and opposite a large lamp in which a wick burned dipped in oil.

The crowd and the young couple would first arrive at the wedding at about midnight. The new couple was given something to taste (eat). After all, they had fasted a whole day… later the golden soup was served and all the guests seated themselves at the covered tables and the feast was initiated, which was accompanied by rhymes and witticisms from the jester and music from the musicians.

The drasha-geshenk was no small experience. This was done as follows in order not to injure or insult anyone's gift if it was not adequate. At a Jewish wedding like this in Frampol, there was no lack of a little mitzvah-dance And then there was a whole order of dances – Hasidic, dances for common folks, carried out by specialists, to which R' Boruch-Moshe Dreszer ע”ה belonged, who never missed a wedding, in order to enliven, for a mitzvah, the bride and groom and the guests. He was already about seventy years old and with great temperament and skill danced several dances.

The ardor grew, and nobody noticed how the bride and groom were stealthily taken out of the room, and taken to the ‘gefeertlaygn.’ Nobody felt the late night hours, despite the stress and tension of the entire day. Only first, when the musicians played a special song and melody, ‘all of you have a good night,’ where they reminded them that dawn had begun to break. The crowd dispersed being both happy and satisfied.

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The Jewish Bank

Frampol had a reputation in the entire vicinity with its nice environment, with a generation of Hasidim with few Mitnagdim, with two ritual slaughterers R' Leibl and R' Yaakov Baruch שו”ב and the Rabbi, the Gaon R' Eliezer Sholom Feder ז”ל, whose blessing on a slaughtering instance was the best in the entire vicinity: [it had] balebatim who every early morning and evening would come to the Great Bet HaMedrash to study. But it was only one thing in which the shtetl had no luck – making a living.

In a word – it was a shtetl in poverty. The reason was as follows – which no one could declare. Apart from the peasantry which came to the Frampol fairs, merchants came traveling from Bilgoraj, Janow, Szczebrzeszyn, Zamość and other places – all of them did indeed make a living from this. It was only the Frampol Jews that had no luck. The egg exporters from Bilgoraj bought their merchandise at the Frampol fairs, and became wealthy from it. By contrast, the Frampol Jews barely made enough to live through the day. The Bilgoraj merchants from Pakula, Lyenen and Konopiankowa had to buy these goods from us, which were of a better quality, in order to mix them with theirs, which suffered from a bizarre color. It was only by this that they earned a significant amount of money. And the Jews of Frampol? They barely got along. Th same was true – with the commerce in grain, leather, manufacture and clothing store operation, which was almost not sold in our stores, but only by itinerant village peddlers, which was exchanged with the peasantry for [agricultural] products. Either that, or at fairs held in the surrounding towns( Monday – by us, Tuesday in Szczebrzeszyn, Wednesday – in Goraj, Thursday – in Bilgoraj), In the years 1928-1929, a crisis broke in the branches, and they began to go bankrupt. One got ‘straightened out’ immediately with the larger merchants. Part of them actually became quite rich. However, with the smaller ones, there was no rush to get ‘straightened out.’ – and they became even more miserly than they used to be.

Additionally a difficult problem was encountered with paying bills, which were sent into Frampol by mail. For the smallest delay or oversight, the bill was submitted for protest, because the post office undertook this infrequently, which poorer Jewish merchant had to additionally pay a few Zlotys into the protest-box.

It was very difficult to obtain a charitable loan, because as mentioned the poor people did not have, and the wealthy – were in no rush to give. Let us mention here the balebatim R' Moshe Steinberg, R' Yaakov Frampoler (Yoss'keh), R' Mikhal Frieling, etc., who always had an open door and open hands. They got more than one Jewish man back on his feet with their loans.

The one Polish bank in the shtetl (Casa Stepczyka) Did not take any Jewish customers. The few Jews who did belong to the bank, for example, my father ז”ל, very rarely took out a loan, which was tantamount to the parting of the Red Sea. It was this that ripened the thought that we should found a Jewish bank, which would solve the vexing problem of credit.

In 1930, a group of crazies (that's what they called us): R' Shmuel Joseph Kestenbaum, R' Chaim Yehuda Harman, R' Yitzhak Steinberg, and my father, took on the initiative to found such an institution. After taking counsel, we wrote to Warsaw, to the central [office] of the Jewish Cooperative Bank and immediately received instructions and formulas, as well as the first 5,000 Zlotys for startup capital from them. At the founding gathering, with the participation of a leader from the Central Office, a management team was elected with a Council. It was with great difficulty

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that we were able to generate the required number of participants, because the first deposit of 10 Zlotys, could not be gotten to become a ‘member’ of the bank. Again, the wealthy did not need such an institution. But when it was seen that the bank is giving out loans of 100 Zlotys, to be paid back over a year's time, the number of new members began to rise from day-to-day. A number also paid in deposits for their wives – and in this way, got another loan.

At first, we had to get professional help from a chief-accountant, who came from Bilgoraj once a week, and did the books. Additionally, the elected bank management – Chaim-Yehuda Harman (later on became the chief-accountant), my brother Joseph Lichtfeld and R' Yitzhak Steinberg – were able to carry on the daily work on their own.

Some time later, we received an additional 5,000 Zlotys from the Central Office and later – an additional 10, 000 Zlotys. This enabled the bank to issue loans up to 300 Zlotys, for a deposit – a sum, which was at that time considered substantive. Also the wholesale merchants from Lublin and Warsaw began to use the bank to cash checks from the Frampol merchants, in place of, up till now – mailing them. First of all, they were interested that the checks should be paid – and not be turned over to protest. The bank, from its side, by a variety of easements was already looking after, that even after the term, that checks were not sent to protest. The gentlemen of the bank – Jews with warm hearts, didn't want that the poor merchants and craftsmen should suffer any harms from the protests. They forgot that a bank, as a financial institution with statutes and laws, assume the specific and the general – and was not ashtibl of the Hasidim, where sentiments are taken into account. If the term passed, and the bill did not go to protest – nobody was in any hurry to pay. This was the beginning of the end. The wholesale merchants looked around and saw that they neither get the protested bills back, nor any money. Accordingly, they stopped sending bills to be deposited. Also, the Central Office found out about this, and stopped issuing credit. The Jewish Bank of Frampol suddenly found itself on the blacklist.

The final death blow was dealt to the bank by an incident, which had no comparable thing happen in any bank. In 1935 a school was being built in Frampol. Its director, H. Dombrowski (a Pole) was really fond of all money operations and processing bills through our bank, like other Polish merchants, for whom the ‘Casa Stepczyka’ was not convenient. One time, he came to ask for cashing of a bill for 1,000 Zlotys, which he was not currently in a position to pay. Since he enjoyed complete trust in the shtetl, they issued the bill. On the following day, he shot himself. Understandably, since this bill was not paid, and the bank was lending out other monies, in order to cover the damage. When the Central Office found out about this incident, it approached the bank to liquidate it. This took place at the end of 1935.

And so, this is how a useful Jewish institution went under, which called itself ‘Spoldzienia Kreditovo- Pozhitczkowa v Frampol,’ where committed individuals put in a lot of energy and work.

A long time after this, the Jews missed the bank, which because of human soft-heartedness and light oversight – had been liquidated.

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The Gemilut-Hasadim Bank

Parallel with the cooperative bank, a group of general activists (my father Abraham Eliezer Lichtfeld, R' Shmuel Joseph Kestenbaum, R' Yaakov Frampoler, R' Michael Frieling, R' Yaakov Baruch שו”ב, began to organize, using other cities and towns as models, an interest-free Gemilut-Hasadim Bank, which should assist poor Jews to get back on their feet with the help of long-term loans for minimal interest.

In the year 1930-31 the first gathering for the foundation of such an institution was held, with the participation of about forty Jews. They elected a management, where the separate branches were represented, as well as – the [political] parties. They began to establish this institution in harmony and concomitant effort. First of all, we approached the Central Office of the Gemilut-Hasadim Bank in Warsaw, from whom we immediately received the first 500 Zlotys. Also, the ‘Joint’ periodically sent money to the Frampol Jews in America, who sent in a couple of hundred dollars every year for Maot-Khitim^[11]. In that, we already knew we would also be able to add another 100 dollars to the bank. Only members could obtain loans, who had made a deposit of 2 Zlotys and later added up to 5 Zlotys. There was a minimal amount of membership dues: 5 Groschen a week. The first loans were very small: 25 Zlotys, to be paid out over 25 weeks. At the beginning, the people related to the bank with a lack of trust. But when they saw that loans are actually being given, the people began to come into the bank en masse. In the year of 1935, it counted 500 members (practically all of the Frampol balebatim) with seed capital of 2,500 Zlotys. With the steady influx of money coming from the American landsleit, and from the ‘Joint’, the bank, in a short time, there was 10,000 Zlotys on hand. For a small shtetl like Frampol, this was a huge amount of money. It had become possible to give larger loans, up to 100 Zlotys, payable over a year, paying two Zlotys a week. But the bank did not only help for productive purposes. Also, when someone fell ill and had need for a doctor, of which there were still none in the shtetl, he had to be brought from Bilgoraj, or Janow, and in this the bank helped. After returning to health, such a Jewish person would pay back the money with thanks.

The number of members grew with every gathering, as well as the number of members of the management and also– the disputes between the [political] parties. But within the management, the elected representatives were able to successfully lead the bank, and it was not a single Jewish family in Frampol that had the bank to thank for its sustenance.

Thanks to the initiative of a group of craftsmen, the very needed institution of Linat HaTzedek was renewed. With its activity, it rescued not only one poor Jewish life and restored to health and not just one breadwinner of a family.

Among others, that I remember, the chief organizer was Kalman-Yokk'l's Weinman, who took upon himself the most difficult work of gathering membership dues, from those who had committed in accordance with their capacity: they sent guardians to spend the night with the sick, and permitted the exhausted and worried family members to get a night's sleep, bought and had sent in good things for the sick, so that they get their strength restored: they worked out a discount of 25% at the pharmacy for those who brought prescriptions signed by the group: to take the sick individual to the

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hospital, with the approval of the Gmina (up to 1935, the Gmina did not have a Jewish representative, and ceased sending sick Jews to the hospital): transfer the poor sick person to a doctor, of which there were none in Frampol.

This is not to discount the deep concern and great material and moral support, that Linat HaTzedek provided to the poor sick and the colossal difficulties that the initiators had in fulfilling their objective.

The arrival and settling of the young Jewish doctor Fliskin (in the year 1936) created a change for the good. At the beginning, the shtetl thought that he will cleave more to the Christians and keep the Jews at a distance. But as it later was seen, he was a person with a warm Jewish heart and a proud Jew, and spent his time only in Jewish society. He would stroll around the shtetl and openly looked into ‘Heint’: he also came into the library: he took an active part in the Zionist organization; visited ordinary Jewish houses, particularly when he needed to be there. When he was needed, he took no money from the sick to whom Linat HaTzedek sent him, but rather he would silently leave a coin, when he saw the sad condition of the sick person. He did not take into account the intent of the Polish community, where the anti-Semitism was widely spread, since this could damage his career and earnings, when they made him a significant citizen – it doesn't matter, if they simply need me… and effectively: he was the only and accepted doctor in the entire area. I recall the fact when the Frampol Jews organized a protest meeting against the Pszytyk pogrom, he then stepped out proudly in the Great Bet HaMedrash, and organized a strike for limiting the businesses to a half day and personally did not attend to the sick who traveled in to see him from the surrounding villages, until the strike ended. Because of this, he had to withstand chicanery and open attacks from the Polish populace – but he proudly overcame it.

Under his leadership the Hevra Linat HaTzedek developed and carried out a hearty level of activity – until The End^[12] came.

In the days after Sukkot in the year 1935, the whole shtetl thought about the impending winter and the need to provide wood for the cold days and nights: about replacing and getting a new pair of boots to withstand the muds that would form in the shtetl, and about traveling to the fairs, which continued until after the Christian holidays… Suddenly an idea spread about that allowed one to forget all worries and troubled: The Rebbe of Lublin, R' Moshe'leh Twersky, is coming to Frampol, not for every normal visit he might make. No, this time, it concerned the wedding of the Rebbe's son (I think that his name was R' Yokhan'cheh) to the daughter of the Rebbe of Belz.

The shtetl Hasidim of the Rebbe of Lublin – R' Shmuel Joseph Kestenbaum, Maness (Itcheh'leh), R' Abraham-Eliezer Lichtfeld and others, began to put together a list of balebatim, who will have to donate something for the wedding. The Rebbe of Lublin was thought to be very poor and Frampol wanted to present to him a bit pf pleasure, and prepare a nice present for the wedding. And so, the Jews who were tapped for money began to bargain amongst themselves about the level of spending,

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exactly like it was done by other community donations (blessing the Etrog, remodeling the synagogue, etc.). Everyone of them complained that he was being levied far too much, and they were in no condition to pay such a large donation. But R' Shmuel-Joseph did not want to hear and talk about easements. His argument was that money never interested the Rebbe, therefore we have to permit him to offer his son with a generous hand. R' Yehoshua Levinger ז”לargued most vociferously, what a truth – not a rich Hasid. He promised that for the Rebbe himself, he will donate the 10 Zlotys with which he was being asked for.

Despite all of these contentions, the entire shtetl waited for the formal reception of the Rebbe. R' Shmuel Joseph began to prepare the large rooms, where the Rebbe had a ‘franchise’ to occupy. The Cantor, R' Leibl שו”ב composed new melodies for ‘Lekha Dodi,’ ‘Mi SheBerakh,’ and ‘HaMavdil.’ Because they also expected traveling guests from the nearby towns (Bilgoraj, Janow, and Turobin) the people of Frampol prepared lodging facilities for them. They waited a whole week in a state of tension for the arrival of the important guests.

On Thursday afternoon two fully-packed big wagons left for the train station at Zwiezhniec, where the Rebbe had to arrive. At the house of R' Shmuel-Joseph, a mass of Hasidim awaited [the arrival of] the Rebbe consisting of those who could not get onto the wagons, and those who did not have the half-Zloty to pay for the ride to the train. With kerchiefs on their heads, the women, with the greatest of respect, also waited for the important guest, at the time that the children buzzed like bees and wandered about on foot.

In the end the Rebbe arrived. The crowd greeted him with great warmth. He was helped to disembark from the train with great respect, and taken into the house, took off his boots, and rubbed his frozen feet with snow. After letting him warm up and allow him to eat a bit, they began to let the crowd in to greet the Rebbe with ‘Shalom.’ Several had already cocked an ear to hear how R' Yehoshua Levinger will request 10 Zlotys from the Rebbe. How overwhelmed everyone became, when R' Yehoshua came out of there beaming, happy, and declared before everyone, if he had been received again with this reception – he would have also paid. That is how inspired he was by the Rebbe…

The whole night from Thursday to Friday everyone got ready to receive the Sabbath. R' Pesach Becker baked a big round bread, as well as 12 smaller such breads. Leah'cheh Shmuel-Joseph's wife, together with the other women prepared the fat kugels – and thereby offered that their kugel will be the finest one. Both slaughterers – R' Yaakov Boruch and R' Leibl, after showing the chosen stock to the Rebbe, went off to slaughter them in respect for the Sabbath.

Because of this, almost in every Jewish home, Hasidim, from the surrounding towns, were put up, and without any doubt had to prepare a Sabbath fit for a King, even if the donating guest was a miser on seven sides. Especially, they did not want to be embarrassed by the wealthy Bilgoraj people who had traveled here, especially those from Frampol, who upon arriving in Bilgoraj, were also accepted in their houses…

The entire shtetl spun like they were on wheels. Every Friday, the stores were closed earlier. Everyone hurried to the bath house, changed their clothing, and snatched a good place in the Bet HaMedrash. The non-religious also knew that the Rebbe would be escorted to participate in welcoming the Sabbath in the early evening hours, and it is not appropriate that he should have to pass

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by open businesses. The Rebbe led the Mincha service from the stand/podium with great ardor, and R' Leibl Shokhet welcomed the Sabbath and produced a sort of ‘concert,’ with his sweet voice, to the point that the entire assembly went into ecstasy, despite the fact that they heard him pray all year long. One did not even feel that this time, the Friday-Night Service had gone on until late in the night…

The speed with which people went home was great, in order to eat more quickly and see everyone coming to the Rebbe's Tisch to hear his Torah. Most of all, these speedy people want to be among those nearest to the Rebbe's Tisch and not lose even so much as a word of his casuistry and question, and later at home, repeat his oration.

The culmination-point was reached on Saturday before nightfall, at the time of Shalehshudes, or as the Hasidim called it: Rava D' Rava in the Great Bet Hamedrash, squeezed into the darkness of twilight, the local and out-of-town Hasidim piled on each other like herring. The songs of Leibl Shokhet echoed far away over the shtetl and awakened the sleeping gentile streets. The Poles also went out of their houses, drew close to the Bet HaMedrash and said to one another:

– Rabbin Psziechol…( The Rebbe has arrived…).

The Rabbi Gaon R' Eliezer-Sholom Feder, the Rabbi of Frampol, himself a Mitnaged^[13], also came to the Bet HaMedrash for Shalehshudes, and seated himself at the right hand of the Rebbe. At Havdalah^[14] the line became a risky one, because everyone wanted to immediately put out the candle flame after the Rebbe put his finger in the fiery drink and smear his eyes as an omen for good luck… It became dangerous to life – until the little flame was extinguished. Afterward R' Leibl performed the ‘HaMavdil’ so as to split the heavens open… The Rebbe was then escorted back to R' Shmuel-Joseph's lodging, with song and dance.

It was like this – for a whole week. Between afternoon and evening prayers the crowd assembled itself at the Rebbe's, and with ardor listened to his Torah lecture, swallowing every word. When the Rebbe would conclude with the ‘uVahleTzion’ prayer – the entranced crowd suddenly shouted out a loud ‘Amen!’ On the last night before the Rebbe's departure, a great feast was organized. This was the time when people began to write a kvittl to the Rebbe – and seeing that there was no lack of troubles for the Jews at that time, every Jew that left the Rebbe's room, manifested tears in the eyes. Some from being moved, some from solace, and those out of sheer hopelessness… It is clear, that each and every person had to pay for such a visit to the Rebbe, in accordance with a special levy (apart from the prior one, to take in the important guest). But this time everyone willingly paid, even the non-believers or the minimal Hasidim.

In the morning, the entire congregation came to say farewell to the Rebbe. The Rebbe himself stood

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up in the wagon and with hands spread out, he blessed the shtetl on all four sides. The women, covered with their shawls, wiped their eyes, groaned quietly, and prayed that a morsel of the blessing by the Tzaddik will fall on them…

The horses gave a pull – and in an auspicious hour, the Rebbe rode away from Frampol, escorted by three large wagons, fully-packed with Hasidim. The shtetl returned to its previous gray life, with the day-to-day worries and troubles.

Frampol talked for a long time about the visit of the ‘Lubliner’. Thereby there was a vigorous discussion: How much money did the Rebbe take out of the shtetl? One said: 12 hundred Zlotys. Then a second person swore that it was not less than 2 thousand. They then found a real witness, who actually saw how the Shammes mailed off thousands of Zlotys. He only added that this must have been together with the total sum, that the Rebbe made in a second shtetl on the eve of his arrival in Frampol.

All of these rumors and talk reached our homey Rabbi Gaon R' Eliezer-Sholom Feder ז”ל, one of the great scholars of that generation, among the Rabbis of Poland. But he was a Mitnaged and added to that, a significant pauper. Without inviting the Evil Eye, into his house. he had many children from his first and second wives. Among them – already grown up, ready to go under the wedding canopy. Especially since he should have done this long ago, the oldest Elka, who additionally was sick. But the Rabbi could not help himself, because he was missing – a dowry of 200 dollars. The Rabbi had a great deal of aggravation from this. I remember, that using his last of his Groschen, he bought himself a ‘quarter’ of a lottery ticket, hoping to win – and in this way toss a stone off of his heart, which tortured him because of Elka. I know for sure, that on the day of the drawing the Rabbi fasted, complaining to the heavens and only prayed that he should be privileged to marry off his sick daughter…

The fact that the Lublin Rebbe was rewarded lavishly, caused the Frampol Rabbi much sorrow. He estimated that, for the money the Lublin Rebbe took out of Frampol, he would certainly have been able to marry off two daughters.

Once, on a Monday market day, when the Rebbe would, as was his custom, circulate in the Bet HaMedrash, dressed in a simple prayer shawl, in order to gather donations for charity for the needy – so everyone gave him something generously, since the Frampol Rabbi had earned it. Except for a young man, who happened to be a businessman, and it was said of him, that he had given the Lublin Rabbi 40 Zlotys – and he gave our Rabbi 5 Groschen. The Frampol [Rabbi] took the donation and was silent. After the market, the same young man came to a Rabbinical Court before the Rabbi, in order to acquire other merchandise. Even before hearing the complaints, the Rabbi asked the young man:

– For your Rabbi you had enough to give him 40 Zlotys and you have the nerve to give me only 5 Groschen. When have you become so knowledgeable and not know how great your Rebbe is?!

And for this, the Rabbi made use of such expressions, that certainly were not appropriate for his

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dignity and position. It can be that someone else would have kept quiet, but the young man left the Rabbi, and was aggravated and seething, and went off to the Hasidim of Lublin to tell them this story. It spread through the shtetl like a fire. The Lublin Rabbi was not told of this incident, but his brother, a Dayan of Warsaw, R' Nahum'cheh ז”לfound out about everything. At a clandestine meeting of the leading thinkers from the Lublin and Warsaw Hasidim, it was decided to draw up a letter of excommunication, that all of them would sign, with the responsibility to no longer use the Frampol Rabbi as a Sandek^[15], for a Din-Torah, arranging a wedding, and other issues. First, the more prominent Jews signed the letter, among them – also Chaim-Yehuda Harman, who happened to be close to the Rabbi. They – the Jews of an entire year, plain people, people who prayed in the shtibl and those who studied in the Bet HaMedrash, who at that time did not associate themselves with the fatal results of such an undertaking.

The shtetl divided itself into two camps. The tailors, shoemakers, wagon drivers, and the poorer people – were in favor of the Frampol Rabbi. Their argument was, seeing that the Frampol Rabbi who was personally a Great Scholar, and doesn't have the means to even get though one day, apparently large sums of money can be found for the Rebbe of Lublin The opposing side didn't have anything special to say about the Frampol Rabbi, and so they intensely praised the Lublin Rebbe – and didn't conceive of rescinding the excommunication.

With good fortune, a little boy was born to [the family of] R' Pin'cheh. The circumcision happen to fall exactly on the Sabbath. The shtetl was all excited at the time, because the Hasidim had just now first saw that in reality, they were unable proceed without their Rabbi. Apart from this, everyone knew that the Frampol [Rabbi] is a great Tzaddik, and it wasn't worth starting up with him. It was discussed that those who had gotten enmeshed with him – have failed. But the greatest compassion was reserved for R' Pin'cheh. He wandered around for a whole week without his mind. He correctly regretted his handling and not only once did ask of others: ‘Why did I have to earn this?’ The stubborn Hasidim sent a card on his behalf to the Rebbe of Warsaw and asked of him what they should do in such an instance. They waited for a rapid response in tension and impatience – but it appears that the mail was in no hurry– and up to the Sabbath there was no reply. The plight became unbearable.

On the Eve of Sabbath, the upper crust of the Hasidim met once again and decided that R' Pin'cheh is not calling the Rabbi to the circumcision ritual, in order not to give him the honor of being the Sandek – and if anything else, let us see. The assembly impatiently waited for the Sabbath day [to begin]. Only one person did not get mixed up in this issue: The Rabbi of Frampol. In the days and nights of this roiling, he was later and at midnight still by his oil lamp studying, not with him, they meant…

On the Sabbath, the tension became acute. Since no one knew the final decision of the Frampol Rabbi, in any case, they arranged for a second Sandek –R' Shmuel-Joseph. It was only first after the completion of prayers in the Great Bet HaMedrash, did the Rabbi approach the Shammes and said loudly.

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– R' Yekhezkiel, take the prayer shawl – we are going to the circumcision ritual uninvited… The assembly was left as if electrocuted, but after the first impression, everyone was seized by a joy. Even the opposition did not dare to open a mouth. In the end the authority of the Rabbi was great. When he and the Shammes entered the house where the circumcision was to be performed, the Hasidim who had gathered already were sitting around the tables waiting for a miracle… After the Rabbi said ‘Gut Shabbes,’ everyone stood up from their places and replied to him joyously. Suddenly, one heard the Rabbi's firm voice:

– I would like to see who will have the nerve to deny me being the Sandek. This is mine according to Rabbinical writings.

A deathly silence reigned over everyone. The Rabbi then sat down on the Seat of Elijah^[16] and the child to be circumcised was brought forward. Afterwards, he took off the prayer shawl and called out:

– R' Yekhezkiel Shammes, we are going home.

The host of the ceremony, was frightened and lost. R' Pin'cheh approached the Rabbi and began to plead with him, that he should remain and partake in the festivities, make Kiddush and enjoy himself. However, the Rabbi answered thus:

How can you invite me to a circumcision, if you signed the excommunication letter? However, the role of a Sandek is mine – and no one has the right and force to take it away from me.

And with a loud ‘A Gutn Shabbes’ he kissed the mezuzah and left the house, leaving everyone in an oppressed state of mind.

This is how the first chapter of this conflict was resolved.

Immediately afterwards, fresh quarrels broke out in the shtetl, and led to the second, and last, chapter of this emotional state of mind.

Being quite impoverished, but a bigger spender, the Rabbi would often stroll to get fresh air, the point being – it was for his weakened state. The walks around the shtetl were accompanied with visits to the orchards of the Polish people, where no Jew was permitted ingress, in general, but out of respect for the clerical individual, they looked upon it as a privilege, that the ‘Rabbin’ comes into the orchard. And sits down with some of his clothing off, and in his weak Polish, supplemented by hand-waving, he made them understand what he meant to say. It looks like the Rabbi told of his plight in the shtetl to the Pole Pawel Kapyca, and this gentile went to the Bet HaMedrash and up on the podium and said the following to a stunned audience:

– Ponowia Starazakongy! As I have understood from the Rabbi's words, [a person] who we Poles hold very dear, lives in a condition of financial distress all this time. How is it that you are not ashamed to let such a great Rabbi go hungry? Instead, look at the way our Ksziondz (Priest) lives.

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He lacks for nothing. In short, I say to you: if you will not improve the situation of your Rabbin and raise his salary, we, your Christian neighbors will get involved…

You understand that the congregation was moved by such a speech, and especially from a person, that no one thought would intervene in such issues. He was promised we would do something, but I do not remember if they kept their word…

You need to be aware that the principal reason for the Rabbi's poverty was his modesty and honesty, not given to flattery, even to the richest of men. He told everyone the truth right to their faces. This kind of posture, and additionally being a Mitnaged Rabbi in a Hasidic shtetl led to the fact that his income got smaller from year to year.

Regarding his integrity it is worth relating the following occurrence:

R' Nathan Hersh-Mendl's arrange a marriage for his son, Yekhezkiel with a relative of a rich childless Jewish man in Janow-Lubelski. A time later, R' Nathan called the young lady to the Frampol Rabbi, in order to nullify the wedding commitment. After hearing from both sides, the Rabbi issued a pardon to Yekhezkiel not to make the wedding. The pleased father, upon leaving, handed the Rabbi 10 Zlotys for his ruling, which in those days was a significant amount of money. It appears that the nullification of the marriage to one of his relatives did not sit right with the wealthy man from Janow. He came to Frampol, went into the Rabbi and shouted:

– Can it be for a mere 10 Zlotys one issues a nullification?

The Rabbi didn't answer a word – but immediately sent Yekhezkiel the Shammes to call R' Nathan and in contrast to the rich man, he asked:

– Please tell us how much you gave me for the nullification!

The other did not have to think for very long, and he answered:

– Ten Zlotys…

The Rabbi strongly ordered the Rebbetzin to give him back the money. The Rebbetzin did not want to hear of it. Additionally, her argument was that the ten-spot had already long been out of the house. However, the Rabbi reminded her that only yesterday, he gave her the same sum, which he had received from a paid out loan – and emphatically demanded to give back the money already, despite the Rebbetzin's protests, and she will no longer go to buy in the stores where she owed so much. After a long period of waiting, the Rabbi got back the money and immediately gave it to R' Nathan:

– Here, you have your money back, that you gave to me for the ruling, but the nullification still stands as a nullification – at my responsibility.

And turning the rich man, he asked him:

– What do you say now?

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Out of shame, the man from Janow could not look the Rabbi in the eyes. Embarrassed, he left the house of the Bet-Din.

This incident was discussed at great length in the shtetl and in the entire vicinity. It was because of this, that people were certain, that his approval of a slaughtering or regarding kashrut was 100% correct, because he took no money for such acts, despite the fact that other Rabbis insisted on a payment of 100 Zlotys. However, because of this, the Frampol (Rabbi) would separate the minds from the bones, of the candidates for ordination, exhausting them with questions, and demanded that they study day and night. The same occurred with the grandson of R' Leibl Shokhet, Pinchas, who learned the art of slaughtering from his grandfather, and wanted to receive [a Rabbinical] certification. He tested him for full days and nights – until the tragic day of Shavuot.

This was the first day of the Holiday of The Giving of the Torah, on a Wednesday after prayers in the Great Bet HaMedrash, in which he led services, the Rabbi went to his home, ate as a holiday-style feast, and after ending it – Pinchas arrived to be further examined. Both of them exited to take a stroll, but no sooner had the Rabbi stepped over the threshold of his house, he fell with a shout of ‘Pinchas, I don't feel well’ – and died right there. A panic broke out in the shtetl and everyone ran to the place of the misfortune. I was still able to see the form of the Rabbi stretched out on the ground, still dressed in his Holiday finery, his shtrymel laying to the side. There was no movement from his eyes that were still open, and no movement from the lifeless body.

The alarmed Dr. Fliskin simply confirmed the death.

Since it was still a Holiday, and no Jew moved himself to leave the shtetl, the news traveled with lightning speed throughout the entire vicinity – and nobody knows how. The Rabbi of Bilgoraj, R' Mottl'eh Rokeach ז”לalready knew to order a peasant that the Rabbi should not be buried until Friday, after the Holiday.

The elderly R' Leibl שו”ב, after hearing this terrible news called out while crying:

–A cedar has fallen in Lebanon… the world will now learn who this Jewish man was.

A feeling of regret took hold of the shtetl, especially the Hasidim, who in their time had signed the excommunication letter. They went about in a state of confusion, half-ashamed, with lowered heads, thinking of themselves as those directly responsible for the Rabbi's death. My father was strongly taken aback, and made nervous. He avoided the glances of others. However, as the head of the Hevra Kadisha he quickly got a hold of himself, and ordered a guard to be placed by the deceased made up only of members of the Hevra. Others, yet again, sat themselves near the deceased and recited Tehilim or studied a chapter of the Mishna, in order to somewhat assuage their stormy consciousness.

Wanting to place a book under his head, I found an apt statement on the frontispiece in the Holy Tongue. ‘My good friend R' Feivusz Sokolover sickened. I went to visit him, but his condition was serious. I wished him a speedy return to health and I made an agreement with him: Whoever of the two of us should depart this world first, will come to tell the second one what goes on there. After

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a short time, my friend passed away. We mourned him according to custom and buried him with respect. When he appeared in a dream to me afterwards, I asked him: Nu, R' Feivusz! What do you hear in the World of Truth? He answered me – Rabbi of Frampol, it is bad. They give you no rest. I asked him: But do they not say in our world, that whoever goes to the Rabbi in the World of Judgement, he can help a person in the World to Come. He answered me: Rabbi of Frampol, you should not believe this. He who comes without having fulfilled mitzvot and performed good deeds, no one can help such a person in the World on High. When I woke up, the dawn was breaking through the window (it seems that in doing so, the Rabbi was designating the dream as true, because then it was believed that whoever dreams before the dawn – is right). Accordingly, I warn everyone of the [people of] Israel to do only mitzvot and good deeds and to engage in the learning of the Torah, because that is the only thing that can save us from a sentence to Gehenna…’

It was only now that we began to understand the greatness of our Rabbi. Personally, he placed no faith in any Rebbe, but for his entire life, he focused on fulfilling the mitzvot of the Torah, and believed in giving charity and in doing good deeds.

At dawn on Friday, the Rabbis and pious Jews of the surrounding towns came traveling – and we went right to work. First of all, we established a Bet-Din of three, consisting of the Rabbis from Bilgoraj, Szczebrzeszyn and Goraj. They needed to engage in fulfilling the will of the deceased, which had been written down 25 years ago and amended from time-to-time with a variety of additions. The principal points of the will were the following:

1. he Rebbetzin and his children were not to escort his remains after the funeral.
2. The purification of his remains is to be done in our Mikva, which was filled with our water, taken directly from the source of living water.
3. There should be no eulogy said.
4. During the funeral, he should be cast off his bed.

1. The children should not accompany the funeral.
2. It was not possible to carry out the purification in the Mikva, because the source of the water cannot be drawn out. Therefore, there is a danger that from then on the women will be afraid to take ablutions there.
3. Because it was Isru-Chag, it is prohibited from saying any eulogies.
4. It is not possible to dignify the deceased and throw him off his bed – this would be a great desecration of the dead, for such a Great Member of his generation. They will stop their procession several times, in order that his wish be fulfilled.

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but more importantly – all of his shortcomings. He was suspect, that he had, God forbid, ‘was swayed by the telling’ because several years previously he had traveled off to Warsaw, to Hillel Zeitlin and took to writing Hebrew poems. Later on, this suspicion was confirmed, because in two articles in the ‘Moment’ Hillel Zeitlin took on the argument from R' Yeshayeh'leh writing in the title: ‘Jews of Frampol, why are you torturing you own young Rabbi?’

In the house of R' Dov Berisz Dunbart, where the Bet-Din sat, there was a great deal of confusion. After long episodes, the Rabbis who had come together, in the end, ruled that Elka will take over the rabbinical chair and they began getting ready for the funeral.

I will never forget the terrifying weeping and the heartrending wailing that tore themselves out of everyone, when the Bet-Din Senior, the Rabbi of Billgoraj, R' Mottl'eh Rokeach who pushed himself through the crowd with much energy, and approached the deceased on the side nearest his head, and put his cane on the deceased and called out:

– Rabbi of Frampol! I, the Rabbis of Szczebrzeszyn and Goraj, the Bet-Din, decree on you to forgive all of those who transgressed against you in life, and signed the excommunication letter. They stand here now, and regret [what they had done]…

With bowed heads and weeping spasmodically everyone of the signatories went to the deceased Rabbi and loudly said: Rabbi of Frampol,

– I beg your pardon!…

More than one of them fainted away from this experience…

The members of the Hevra Kadisha made an ablution in the mikva and after carrying out the purification, the funeral cortège moved to the synagogue, where seven hakafot were made with the bed [on which the deceased lay]. R' Mottl'eh to say, did not deliver a eulogy, but nevertheless in his chosen words gave an expounding. The entire shtetl, Jews and non-Jews, as well as those who traveled from the surrounding places, escorted the Rabbi to his eternal rest in appropriate solemnity.

At the open grave site, the Rabbi of Bilgoraj wished the daughter Elka a Mazel-Tov. About a quarter of an hour before candle-lighting the Good Place was left, and the community went home to receive the Sabbath. On Friday evening and Saturday, R' Mottl'eh conducted a Tisch and called the shtetl to unity. Before Mincha, the Rabbi of Szczebrzeszyn held forth with an oration, interwoven with real occurrences. It was not for nothing that he was considered the best of the orators among the Polish Rabbis. Once again, he appealed to the Frampol Jews to cast away politics, and take to action (by which he meant Zionism). One should not conclude that Frampol was the entire world. His oration left a very strong impression.

After Havdalah, when the Rabbi of Bilgoraj observed the Rabbi's books with notes written throughout them in the margins, which only the Bilgoraj Rabbi could assess their great worth – he was prepared to buy everything and offer a good price. However, R' Yeshayeh'leh, the Rabbi's son refused to sell the books – and, together with the shtetl of Jews, were eradicated during the occupation [by the Nazi Germans].

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After the Sabbath all went their own way – and the shtetl began to think about a Rabbi. Meanwhile, from Zhilkevka, the father of R' Neta, the Rabbi's son-in-law ז”ל – became the Teacher of Direction following an announcement in the newspaper of the Agudah, saying that Frampol is looking for a Rabbi, and enumerated the required qualifications – a number of candidates began to appear. The first one, quickly left the shtetl immediately after his appearance in the Bet HaMedrash,. The theory was that he personally felt he was too weak for Frampol (our shtetl recognized orators!). The second candidate came escorted by his father. The wags uttered witticisms that implied a certainty that the young man was afraid to come alone in his travel… but after hearing his exposition in a fully-packed synagogue, the congregation was strongly inspired and they asked him to remain in Frampol as a Rabbi. However one of the permanently dissatisfied revealed that Elka was sickly – and he left the same way he arrived. The third candidate was a weak orator, and he remained. After wedding Elka it came to pass that with the participation of the Bilgoraj Rabbi, the Principal-in-law, because nothing was done in the shtetl without his approval – he was crowned as the Frampol Rabbi. I remember the great triumph-tower that our Jewish residents erected on the Janow Street, along which the new Rabbi was supposed to arrive, accompanied by his suite and musicians. Even the two sons of the pharmacist who had photography equipment, rode in on horses to receive the Rabbi – and for this reason kept on taking photographs.

The wedding ceremony took place on Saturday night after Havdalah, and a sumptuous feast was arranged in the Great Synagogue, which was supported by the brother-in-law of the deceased Rabbi (who had previously never visited Frampol), The Rabbi of Tomaszow and wealthy man, Rabbi Aryeh Heller ז”ל. After the repast we began to make merry. The congregation danced the ‘Mitzvah-Tentzel’ and the jester inundated everyone with jokes and poetry segments. The leader of the Bilgoraj orchestra, R' Chaim-Boruch, then exhibited great talent. First the congregation came together in a light fashion, and finally they assumed a great transgression against the Rabbi of Frampol, the Scholar Eliezer Sholom Feder ז”ל.

As I later learned, the young Rabbi and the Rebbetzin were killed by the murderous Nazi Germans, together with the entire Jewish community of Frampol.

Honor their memory!

As far as my memory reaches back, the fundamental education for a Jewish child in the shtetl was one and only – the Heder. When the little one reached the age of three, he got a haircut, was wrapped in a prayer shawl, and led off to the elementary-level Melamed, so that he could begin to learn the alphabet. In my day, Joseph Melamed was the first address for such beginning children. but in reality this was just a tradition, a sort of ceremony. Actual learning began in year 4, when R' Joseph could, and was permitted to, use his disciplinary rod, if only to inculcate the ‘kometz-aleph’ in the young student – a half trope, and later – the whole trope (to this day I do not know the meaning of the ‘trope’… it is possible that this refers to the joining of letters to form words.

Teaching followed a given timetable: from Passover to Sukkot, and then from Sukkot to Passover. If the student made progress, he was transferred over to R' Chaim-Eliezer Hochrad, to learn the Pentateuch from him. Also, the start of the study of the Pentateuch was transformed into a bit of a

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holiday – first for the parents, for the family of the student, and then for everyone else – [meaning] all the children in the Heder. And once again, the same thing: when the student ‘surpassed’ what he had learned (that is what was said about a capable student) in the course of two or three periods, then he came into the row of Rabbi R' Akiva-Meir Kalmanowicz.

R' Akiva-Meir's Heder was already a sort of gymnasium. Apart from a page of the Gemara with Tosafot, on learned to read and write Yiddish, Polish, Russian and German (depending on the authority the shtetl found itself at the time), as well as arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. As part of the arithmetic study one learned to hurry and show up. In a class of R' Akiva-Meir, it was required to learn a Hebrew poem by heart, and every Wednesday and Thursday, there was an ‘exam’ on the Gemara. Passing such an examination part of the time came on like yeaning for a grave – but at the bottom line all of this gave an impetus to further learning.

From him (Akiva-Meir), one went already to the Bet HaMedrash, where one had to make progress, and get through a page of the Gemara on his own capability, by working through such a page of Gemara. You understand that this was dependent on individual skills and inclinations.

Frampol had approximately 25 Heders serving about 500 children. When the implementation of obligatory education was done, our small children had to learn in the Polish (powszechnie) school instead of the Heder., the syllabus was entirely different. This was because the study of Torah in the Heder stretched out for an entire day – from morning till night, with a recess for ‘eating’ from 12 to 1 o'clock and ‘warm food’ from 4 to 5 before evening. In the winter, students sat in the Heder until 8 o'clock at night, and in the summer – till sunset.

All of our melamdim were very poor people, even though they received a teaching salary of 3 Zlotys a week, and had about 20 students. Another emphatic sign of the poverty was the fact that the Heder was conducted in the same room where the Rebbe lived with the Rebbetzin and their children. It was not rare that the kitchen was also found in the same room…

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The ‘Yavneh’ School in 5696 with the teacher, Shimshon Lilienstein in the center

The teacher Lilienstein implemented a process whereby every Sabbath, a different student had to recite the ‘Maftir,’ but using a Zionist accent and in the Litvak style. Apart from this, he had enough energy to direct plays that left a strong impression in the shtetl (I want to remark that one of his students is today a professor in the Parisian Sorbonne). A new process was the relevant dress of the ‘Yavneh-students’ and the distributing of merit certificates at the end of the school year, where the achievements or shortfalls of the student were recorded in his studies. While actually attending Heder, it was sufficient that the Rebbe should tell the father of the child in the Bet HaMedrash about the child and what progress he is making in his studies.

The very religious parents looked around, and saw that with the old, obsolescent Heder, they are not going to be fortunate enough to fight against the upcoming school-methods that used the new methods of upbringing. They approached Cracow to the central office of the Bais Yaakov school for girls in Poland – and it didn't take long till Frampol became enriched by an orthodox school for girls.

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The founder of this school came to the opening of the school, Sarah Schenirer, with the very talented teacher, Menucha Pines. When the strictly religious Jews heard the happy words from these two women, interwoven with words from the Torah, they fell into it with great ardor. A Jew like R' Yaakov-Baruch שו”ב with great energy gave the opinion that only this force will be a bulwark against the atheistic and Zionist schools…

In the Bais Yaakov school there were about 50 girl students, while the extremely religious still did not want to trust giving their daughters to such an institution, where girls learn Tana”kh which is, according to the very strictly religious, a way – forbidden to them. The school struggled with difficulties, there even was no money with which to pay the teachers. Thanks to the fact that the teacher was given a supplementary position to teach Jewish religion in the Polish ‘Powchenie’ school, it became possible to leave the Bais Yaakov school in Frampol, and hopefully assure the Bais Yaakov school of further existence.

In the year 1922, the winds of the Enlightenment penetrated Frampol. Several young people (Mekhl Ehrter, Mekhl Frieling, Leibl Zitrinbaum, Shlomo Kleidman and others), founded a library, and with a great expenditure of energy and stress they managed to get a hold of the first couple of hundred books. There was not a strong call [for books]. Whatever came to the hands – was given over to the library. Despite this, the archive of books had the best work form the world literature, Yiddish classics, and also scientific books, and those of belle lettres. The books were changed over during two evenings of the week. There were a few readers who impatiently waited for the evening when the library would be open, so they could get new books to read. From time-to-time, new books were bought and added to the collection – and the archive of books steadily grew.

With the founding of ‘HeHalutz’ in Frampol (1930), this organization also created a library. In general a lot of organizations and societies got involved with a library, if one wanted to have an influence to grow the ranks. Also, the professional society with its support created for itself a book archive of about 700 books, with many socialist works, novels od the working life, etc. The founders of this library were: Shlomo-Eliezer, Yehoshua Flisswasser, Hersch Zilber and the young Yekhezkiel Brofman, Meir Weltczer and Berisz Levinger.

Even the Agudat Yisrael had its own library of about 300 books (of a religious character). The thirst for knowledge among the young Jewish people of Frampol was so great, that a library was the best means of attracting and winning patron over as sympathizers to the movement. Without a library, a party had a meager outlook for exerting influence.

In Frampol, as was the case in all small towns in Poland, the libraries could sustain themselves thanks to performances of plays, which were put on by a variety of Drama Circles. Every new play created entry into the library. And in this way take care of an outstanding debt and buy books. No

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library could sustain itself from just the membership dues.

In the year 1924, the society of ‘Tarbut’ established a drama circle, led by Mekhl Ehrter. Of the plays that were presented at that time I can recall: ‘The Insane Asylum,’ ‘The Dybbuk,’ ‘The Romanian Wedding,’ ‘Tzipkeh Fyer,’ ‘The Sorceress,’ ‘Between Day and Night,’ and others. On the day of such a presentation, the shtetl was all heated up, it felt like a Holiday time in every respect. It was not only the artists who survived their nightly appearance on the stage, but also their near and distant relatives, friends and comrades, who waited tensely and impatiently until the curtain was raised…

However, until the curtain was raised, there was – get this! First one had to approach the office of the Starosta, who had to legalize the play. In that office the text and content of the play was thoroughly examined, because they always suspected in the ‘kramolyeh’ of camouflage and revolutionary or anti-monarchical propaganda. Also, the renting of a hall was not one of the easier tasks. The Gmina, the actual owner of the fire-fighting station, had to give its permission to use it. In the great space were the tools used to extinguish fires, and the available unused space reserved as a place for the public to sit. Except, the hall as better suited as a place to perform theater plays. Polish institutions and organizations also used the space for storing fire-fighting equipment, for the simple reason that there was nowhere else in the shtetl to be used.

We put on our plays on Saturday nights. The tickets were already sold well before this. The hall was always over full. And after the presentation –discussions, expressions, impressions about the performance of specific artists, talk about the contents of the play, etc. And immediately, on the spot questions were asked about when the following performance would take place.

The professional society also created its own drama circle, and also in the same place political interactions took place about rivalry and an ambition to outdo the opponent. Even when it came to renting this hall, there were disputes sometimes for use on the same Saturday night… The Gmina used this as an opportunity to raise the rental cost of the hall. The presentations made by the professional society also had great success.

With the establishment of ‘HeHalutz’ in Frampol, another drama troupe was formed simultaneously. This time – made up of younger stock, led by Kalman Ehrter and Janek Bendler. Their plays were completely national, suffused with Zionist spirit. The revenue from these presentations were set aside to help and for use of needy members wanting to make aliyah to the Land of Israel.

I will end my overview of social and cultural life in the shtetl with a few short words about the different parties and organizations, who had an impact on Frampol with their presentations, in the period between the two World Wars.

No matter what, the first place goes to the Tze'irei Tzion movement. Immediately afterwards, the religious party called ‘Shlomei Emunei Israel’ formed their youth group, which they called ‘Tze'irei Emunei Israel.’ whose activities were directed mostly at the young men in the Bet HaMedrash. With the establishment of ‘ HeHalutz’ (1930), many young people began to get training for eventual aliyah.

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Within ‘HeHalutz’ there was a broad range of possibilities to achieve this goal, while you could get either training the ‘or aliyah itself, it was harder to attain. In 1932, the ‘HeHalutz HaTza'ir’, at the outset, numbered 80 members.

The Frampol Zionist Histadrut in the Thirties

The Second World War eradicated Jewish Frampol and together with it – all parties, organizations and institutions.

Translator's footnotes

1. A chapter (parsha) in the Book of Numbers. Return
2. The Burial Society of a community. Return
3. The minimum quorum of ten required to formally run prayer services. Return
4. Fringed garments worn by observant Jews who followed Scripture laws. Return
5. Interim holidays for Passover and Sukkot where ritual was somewhat relaxed. Return
6. A Yiddish elision of the Hebrew shalosh seudot, meaning the third and final feast of the Sabbath. Return
7. A lively and joyous dance. Return
8. A general word for a snack, or a bite. Return
9. A Hebrew acronym for ‘Our Sages, of Blessed Memory.’ Return
10. A white overgarment worn by the groom, in this case. Return
11. Monies from charitable donations made at Passover time, to support the needy in the community. Return
12. One of many euphemisms for the Holocaust. Return
13. From the Hebrew word for someone who‘opposes.’ It is used to indicate a Jewish person who does not accept the onus of being a Hasid, and does not accept the sacredness of any designated Rebbe. Return
14. The ritual ceremony used to designate the end of a holy period and the resumption of something else. Return
15. An honorific for someone accorded the honor of holding the male child during the ritual of circumcision. Return
16. The name of the chair in which the Sandek sits, while holding the child during circumcision. Return
17. I am aware of the fact that in the United States, this was often changed to Zimiles. Return

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