[Page 26]

Another source for education in town was the liberal Yiddish journalism evident in Russia and Poland at the time. The Yiddish newspaper, “The Friend”, was published in Petersburg. It was informative and excellent especially when it spoke about Jewish life in Russia and the rest of the world.

A second Yiddish newspaper was “Today” – the most popular in Poland. The Hebrew newspapers “Hatzfira”, “Hashachar”, and “Hashiloah” were received in the homes of distinguished Zionists and scholars. Intellectuals who knew Russian obtained “Vozhod” “Razesviet” – Zionist journals and ”Jewish Life”- a journal about Jewish life in general. Other important newspapers, in many homes, were “Odessa News” and “Life in Bessarabia” that disseminated scholarship among the Jews of Russia. Others were “Russian Word” from Moscow and “Russian Purpose” from Petersburg. They were liberal newspapers and influenced life in Russia in those days. The illustrated journal “Sky” was rich in content. It was beloved by students since there were contributions from the top leading Russian writers such as Andreyev, Artzivshov, Gorky, Chekhov, Block, Yassnin, Apokhatin and others.

Savings and Loan Bank in Bendery (The Little Jewish Bank)

As is the custom all over the world, there is one outstanding person in any group. In the enlightened group the leader was a fine, aristocratic and special person. He was David Abramovitch Natanzon. His parents were not among the wealthy traditional crowd. He reached cultural heights on his own. He was highly involved in Russian culture and was a acute writer on current affairs. He wrote for “Odessa News” – one of the largest liberal newspapers in South Russia. It was popular among the liberal intelligentsia. Many of the leading educated people wrote for this newspaper. D.A. Natanzon also wrote for “Life in Bessarabia” – one of the most popular and advanced newspapers in Bessarabia. It was published in Kishinev. Its editor was Zhakovskaya from the movement Volaya Naroda. In 1910 or so Natanzon established and edited the newspaper “Yuzhni Kray”. He attracted the best Jewish correspondents who wrote in Russian. One of them was the dentist Hein who was an extraordinary columnist. The public avidly read his columns.

Natanzon, in addition to his newspaper and journalism, did not forget his Jewish people. He was always involved in establishing institutions for ordinary people and he took care of them. He was not involved in the Zionist movement since he believed that when a change of government came to Russia the life of the Jews would improve. In those days there was a contradiction between the two ideologies. He did not even participate in any other community activities.

Natanzon was one of the founders of the first fund to assist small Jewish merchants and craftsmen. All his life (too short, to our great sorrow) he headed the fund. His helpers were the ritual slaughterer Moshele Svredik (Sever), pharmacist Vineshneker, Alexandrov and others. All those who were involved in public Jewish life were warm-hearted Jews who worried about the needy. This fund was referred to as “The Little Jewish Bank”.

Students at the Train Station 1920

The enlightened people in town were active on the managing board together with the Hassidim and the religious personnel. There was constant friction between the two groups. The enlightened wanted closer supervision of the Korovka and other departments. These were “clothing of the poor”, “Food for the Poor”, “weddings of Poor Brides” and “Caring for the Dead”. Those among the liberals who were most active on the managing board (until the Zionists intervened) were the brothers I. and M. Immes, Vineshneker the pharmacist, Leib Blank from the flourmills, Alexandrov and Haim Fustman. Among the ultra Orthodox were the beadle from Agudat Israel, Shebt'l Berman, Avremel Wertheim, Shmuel Immes and others. Of course, Zalman, the chimney sweep, always contributed.

Community life was not run by the board only. There were some public figures who each concentrated on their special areas of interest and were devoted to it. We must mention Haim-Hirsh Weisman- a respected and educated merchant. He was involved with the people and gave his children both a traditional and secular education. He was a caring Jew and would not rest until he could be of help to others. Weisman came to Bendery from Proskarov, Ukraine. He was involved in activities dear to his heart. He was especially devoted to ordinary people and took care of the children attending the Talmud Torah.

One of Weisman's sons, Pinhas, was my close friend. He was a young man with good looks, a good heart and loyal to his friends. He cared for his fellow human beings. He was blond and blue-eyed. I still see his smiling face in front of me. We both dreamed of publishing a youth journal in Hebrew. We forced ourselves to speak Hebrew only. It was a difficult task. In 1917-18 during the Kerensky upheaval he was the first Bendery Jew who wanted to do physical labor although he was unprepared for it. He chose to work as a mechanic on the train locomotive. Many of the youths envied him. He was an idealist and that's how we knew him. Unfortunately, to our great sorrow ,he died after a short illness at a young age. His death left a strong impression on his friends and everyone mourned him. May his memory be blessed.

The leaders of the Jewish community of Bendery- as much as I remember- according to tradition handed down by our parents, were those who founded the community and led it in the previous century. They were: Itzy Nissenboim, Velvel Immes, Mordehai Kalman Fenitch, Shimon Sultan and I. Perlman.

They were ultra Orthodox, wealthy and charitable merchants. They were the leaders and the spokesmen for the community. Itzy Nissenboim was at the head. I remember him, but I only heard about the others from my parents. He was a man of merit, kind and charitable. He cared for the poor as he would for his own children. When the water carrier`s horse fell he turned to Itzy for help. The same was true of the wagon owner, the driver, and the bride lacking a dowry. Where else could they go? A widow who could not afford tuition for her children also would come to him. No one came away empty-handed. When funds were collected for the poor he would say: “I will give double of what you collect from everyone else! “ When he saw the need by any Jews, especially the poor, for hospitalization he built a new hospital. It was a magnificent building for those times. It was called the Jewish Hospital. He was a wealthy man and lived well. Every morning he went in his cart, pulled by two horses, to supervise the work in the hospital. If he found anything wrong he would rectify it.

Others I mentioned had wonderful qualities as well. When it came to distributing charity to the poor on the eve of holidays, to supporting the Talmud Torah and the guesthouse, they competed to see who could be the first. They were highly respected and well received in town.

In those days, there was a nice custom in our town – as in other communities. It actually continues to this day. On Friday nights the beadle of the synagogue would approach each man and offer him a guest for Shabbat. (The beadle already knew how to match people). These wealthy men fully accepted the offer. Thus, one could often find guests for Shabbat in many homes. At times, the guests were missionaries from Eretz Israel. The happiness at hosting was multiplied many times on that occasion. The neighbours could join the missionaries after dinner to hear stories about Eretz Israel and Jerusalem.

I well remember the panorama of these Jews as they sat by the Eastern wall in the Sadigura and Talne synagogues. They were handsome and respected, well-mannered and revered. Among them were these families: Shreibman, Sirkis, Weiser, Shlomo Pagis, Shmuel Chaplik, Buya Abramovitch, Yehoshua Reznik, Moshele Levinstein and Avraham Kushner. In the Talne synagogue there were Sh. L. Boris, H. Immes, I. and M. Immes, Sh. A. Sudit, A. Pasternak and Hirsch Mandel. In the Sadigura synagogue the men were not only good-looking, but they also were of good character in their relations with G-d and man.

Even the beadles in the synagogues were well-versed in Jewish subjects. This was especially true of the beadle of the Talne synagogue, Yossel. He was a gifted scholar. I often observed that during study time in the synagogue, between Mincha and Maariv, when Levi (the Rebbetzin's son), was teaching, as a difficult problem arose, all would turn to Yossel for a solution. The same was true of Eli, the beadle of the Sadigurian synagogue and Leib, the beadle of the old synagogue. It was obvious that they were chosen not only because they could serve the synagogue, but also because they were learned and observant.

  Bender, Moldova     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 10 Nov 2009 by LA