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In her youth, she experienced the loneliness as Jewess among Gentiles. She also experienced a great love within her family. It was thus natural that she would ponder over the fate of a lonely person and on ways of helping such people. She viewed society not as a large and abstract concept, but as a group where a person can do a good deed. She felt that as long as she was able to help a single person, she planted a positive seed in her society, above and beyond the help she provided to the needy person.

Her family was murdered by locals close to the time of her wedding, with her and her young sister, Sonia, the only survivors. The loss of her parents deepened her loneliness. Feiga took Sonia into her new household and raised her as if it was her child.

Her husband, Tsvi Roichman, loved his wife and admired her calm nature.

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He let her run the family household as she saw fit. He, who knew poverty as a child, appreciated her good nature and her tolerance. His patience was admirable. He tolerated his wife's charitable work eve when their children were hungry. When Tsvi became wealthy in Poland as a general supplier to the regional army camps, he firmly believed that it was due to his wife's charity work. Feiga continued her work because she believed in the goodness of people.

She kept a leather glove in her house in Hadera, Israel, that had a thumb, but no fingers, similar to the ones found in a Ukrainian village household. The glove lay on a table at all times. When asked about it she explained that the glove was an inheritance from her father-in-law which he used to save one tenth of his income for needy people. It was her way of giving him credit for her charitable work. Every penny that was left over from the household budget went into this glove - a savings account for the needy.

Feiga carried out her charitable work avoiding all publicity. It was unimportant to her how much was distributed to needy people as long as she kept up the tradition of giving.

Lanowitz, the home town of her husband, was the anchor for her good deeds. She did not plan to leave her town, and was glad that some of the needy she supported spoke of her glowingly.

It so happened that due to an incident, her husband had to leave his town hurriedly and chose to emigrate to Palestine. She joined him subsequently.

Here in Israel, where class differences did not exist, Feiga's charitable efforts were again fully recognized. She arrived in Hadera with the same positive attitude to others she had in the Diaspora. Her husband initially worked in the building trade. In addition, he worked for the Tepper Co. [from Shumsk] after regular work hours.

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By the time Feiga arrived with their sons, he had managed to save enough money to become a sewer and well-digging contractor together with his sons. The earning from this activity enabled him to return to his former occupation as a butcher. With his wife's encouragement, he rented a butcher shop. With the help of his sons, the business developed nicely. After a while it became clear that Feiga's encouragement to open a butcher shop was not in order to get rich. She realized that in the sewer business she would not be able to identify local financial needs. The aforementioned glove wandered with her to Israel and was again used to collect money for charity. In the butcher shop, the men served customers and she operated the cash register.

Tsvi Roichman of blessed memory

The butcher store business developed slowly at first. After Tsvi invested in his store, there was not enough money left to purchase cows. Feiga's “business” developed.

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She regularly packaged meat portions and brought these to needy locals during the noon hours when the store was closed.

After a while she became a known institution. “Witzo” leaders used to meet at her house secretly to find constructive solutions in an effort to help people who lost their livelihood, or ones who needed a loan to finance a wedding, or other cases where a family was about to disintegrate.

As time went on, Tsvi's butcher business developed in part due to the recognition given to Feiga's charitable work. Whoever knew Feiga recognized her warm heart and willingness to help others. She viewed her husband and sons as facilitators to allow her to do the desired good deeds.

When her son, Ya'acov was still a child he noticed that his mother would package meat portions and give these to certain customers in addition to the portions they just purchased. It angered him that he and his brothers, Mordechai and Eliezer worked hard in the store and she was so generous with the merchandise. At first, he did not dare protest. However, when a well-dressed woman customer received a double portion, he protested her action. Feiga calmed him and said: “There are people who save on food to maintain their appearance. Her dress proves nothing, except that she needs to be treated with extra care. I know this woman and know what I am doing.”

Feiga did not question generally held opinions, but on issues dear to her she came to significant conclusions. She saw Zionism as a continuation of the Lanowitz community culture as if to say: “If we do not carry with us this culture of sharing we will not succeed here. Let our leaders do what they need to do. We simple folks need to recognize that Zionism was meant to save and secure Jewish lives. We need to examine all our deeds to make sure his objective is met.”

She saw in the Lanowitz tradition her mission in life in Israel. Accordingly, she was ready to help and guide each Lanowitz immigrant. Her house was available to her “Landsmen.”

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They could sleep over, or stay until they could move into their own apartment. They all enjoyed her good cooking.

Feiga's character combined the simplicity of her village life and the good relations she found in Lanowitz. She passed these two traits to her sons.

She died in 1951 after an illness that lasted one year. While she was ill, many of her friends cared and prayed for her. Her funeral was the largest Hadera experienced. Many cried secretly for they realized that their source of support died with her.

Lanowitz residents followed her casket. They were proud of her and of her accomplishments.

Feiga's life included many satisfying moments but was not devoid of tragedies that depressed her. Her husband was murdered by a criminal. Immediately thereafter her son Avraham was killed accidently shortly before his scheduled wedding day.

Feiga was consoled by her efforts to raise her remaining three sons and by her continued charitable work. Yet, when alone, her sorrow increased leading to a fatal disease that attacked her body. “May her soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life” [= a typical instruction on a Jewish grave.]

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I hardly knew Pearl Yishpa in Lanowitz. I only knew that she was the daughter of Binyamin (Pavlichki). I also knew that she did not belong to any of the age-groups. She was not involved in any of the associations established in the town, and lived her life confined, isolated, and silent. I had no additional knowledge about her.

When we organized the “Hehalutz”, we did not count on Pearl because of her older age and her isolating attributes.

Nobody knew what was going on in her mind, so when we got ready to make Aliya, we remembered that Pearl had already been settled in Eretz Israel for quite some time. . Her parents came to send regards to their distant daughter. They asked us to go and meet her and give her personal greetings from them and the town.

When I reached Eretz Israel, I went to see Pearl. She made Aliya in 1924 as our first Halutzah [pioneer]. I found her in Tel-Aviv working in a cardboard boxes factory owned by her uncle by the name of Bar [or Ber], a known family in little Tel-Aviv. Their house on Congress Street served as a meeting house for many of the first Tel Aviv residents.

She told me that she was attracted to agriculture.

I remembered that her home in Lanowitz was the only Jewish home with a backyard of a dunam [about ¼ acre] or more. It was well cultivated and yielded sufficient amounts of flowers and vegetables for their needs and more.

We met according to the custom in those days - all of Lanowitz's natives. There were only four or five of us then, and we met often.

Later on, she abandoned the factory and moved to Petakh Tikva. She worked in the citrus orchards like one of the men workers. She was a healthy woman – mentally and physically, happy in her work.

In 1927, Pearl met Gilboa, an immigrant from America. He was a Russian born man with all the good attributes usually associated with these men. He was among the settlers in the Moshav [cooperative agricultural settlement] Merkhavia. They married, and she moved to his home and farm.

I visited her occasionally in the Moshav. Her farm was exemplary. Her husband was proud of her and loved her tremendously. They were a couple that embodied happiness. When a daughter was born to them, their delight was limitless. It was a pleasure to visit them and enjoy their calmness and deep belief in the village's future. They were happy to work in agriculture with everything it brings to a Jewish person.

Pearl was tireless. Her hard work on the farm and at home was among the most famous in the Moshav. They loved her there and felt blessed having her with her mental integrity. Her status in the Moshav was one of the most respected.

When her daughter was six weeks old, Pearl came down to cover her, wearing sandals. The house was infested with snakes, and one of them bit her.

They transported Pearl to the hospital in Ein Kharod on the same night. The physicians did their best to save her. She died the next day. The whole village mourned her with a heavy heart.

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When her husband, Gilboa, entered the baby's room the next day he found a snake bound around one of the bedposts. He crushed the snake with his hoe. It turned out that it was a very rare poisonous snake.

Pearl's parents showed interest in adopting the girl. They wished to bring her to Lanowitz. That did not materialize since the girl died.

Many of Lanowitz's natives do not remember Pearl today. She was a unique woman who created her pioneering world for herself, a rare example among our town's young women. Her life in distant Eretz Israel brought honor and glory to our town. Her death severed the formation of a unique character.

May her name be preserved as the first complete and impeccable pioneer.

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Zvi came to Lanowitz from Teofipol as an orphan whose parents were murdered there in what is known as Tchan Pogroms [Tchan was the town's name before the Bolsheviks changed it to Teofipol]. He was depressed and distanced himself from friends. He found a warm home with his uncle Shalom Weisman, a dear man, and began to recover. Not long after, he became a good friend to everybody, smiley and joyful. However, people felt that something was brewing in him. There were evenings when he disappeared and recused himself. Nobody knew his secret until he surprised everybody with his decision to go to the Hakhshara and to make Aliya. At the Hakhshara he endeared himself to everybody. He excelled in his ability to work hard and in his courage.

When Zvi arrived in Eretz Israel he tried living in Tel Aviv. There he became involved in the “Haganah's” activities. However, when he could not find work in Tel Aviv, he went south to Ba'yit VeGan, known today as Bat Yam. The place was desolate. The number of houses and Jews was small, and defense and security were most problematic there. [The Arab city of] Jaffa was located between Tel Aviv and Ba'yit VeGan. The trip from Tel Aviv to Ba'yit VeGan was dangerous on calm days and impossible on days of tension between us and our neighbors.

In Ba'yit VeGan, Zvi Rabin became known as a local. He worked, defended, and encouraged. Zvi did not let up on his efforts to attract settlers to the place. When a petition had to be brought to the governor, Zvi was chosen to talk to him to soften his anti-Israeli rigidity and motivate him to assist people in their lesser-underground style of self-defense. He made the right impression on the governor with his smile, charm, and courage, and the governor relented.

Zvi left the police force in 1944 and planned to build his home and raise a family. He conceived of that dream at the peak of his power and vigor. However, in 1946 he underwent light surgery and died.

In his death, he left a dedicated wife and two little daughters. His wife, Dina, devoted her life to raising their daughters, and marrying them, carrying Zvi's memory in her heart.

May his memory be blessed.

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Shoshana came to us from Rivne [Rovno]. She was a lonely girl, orphaned from her father, murdered in the Ukrainian pogrom in Rivne, and deserted by her mother, who could not free herself from the widowhood depression. Her aunt, the good-hearted Elka Wolf-Koifsitz, who lost all of her sons, adopted her. Shoshana settled in Lanowitz and interspersed in the life of the children and the youth like one of us.

Rozhya was gifted with charm, affability, and love of people. Her tragic childhood left its mark on her soul for the better. Her gentle face radiated understanding to every person and a desire to help.

We waited for her, every evening, to spread her calm among the querulous, straighten up arguments, and cast off from her forgiving spirit on those present. We loved Rozhya, her charm and understanding of human relations, and the seriousness of her destiny.

The Zionist Youth in Lanowitz, 5692 [1931/2] Standing third from the right - Rozhya Stein

In Eretz Israel, she was absolved of the blows in her life. She married, gave birth, and dreamt about family life without orphanhood or widowhood.

However, a light surgery put an end to her life. She died young and brought both widowhood and orphanhood to her family.

The funeral arranged for her by her town, Bat Yam, can testify to how much Shoshana was loved there. It is a pity that our comrade and others died in the spring of their life.

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That was how we learned about that dark-looking youth who joined the landscape of Lanowitz's youngsters in the alleys of a town, which was one colossal ally itself.

At one point, he stumbled alone into the “Hehalutz” without his companions. He carried with him a secret. It turned out that that self-conscious youth, who pulled his father away from his village and forced him to reside among Jews, was looking for a solution, not only for himself and his family from Matviivtsi but a solution that would be the answer to the entire Jewish question.

He elevated his image at the Hakhshara. His goal was Eretz Israel. However, his main objective was to establish a state based on labor, which meets the requirements of the working man. His dress style in town between the completion of the Hakhshara and his Aliya was nihilistic - an embroidered black shirt, puffed girdle belt on his waist, and black curly forelock on his forehead projecting an “I do not care about Lanowitz” attitude. In his move from the village to the city, he left Lanowitz far behind him.

So that was how he arrived in Eretz Israel - with a leftist-proletarian charge, and that was how I found him in 1945, in the “Argaman” hall during a general gathering where I appeared on behalf of the “Histadrut” [Israel's General Organization of Workers], held for the benefit of Berl Katznelson's fund. Later on, his views became more moderate. He accumulated some wealth. From a worker with extreme proletarian views, he became a profit-pursuing employer, and his life began to settle.

His satisfaction with his life was apparent in everything he did. He calmed down, called his acquaintances, mainly Lanowitz's people, and participated in our memorial evenings, where he came accompanied by a small group. He hurried to help any Lanowitz's native when needed. He was Lanowitz's person with every inch of his body.

One morning we suddenly heard that he was gone. We could not believe it.

He was too young in his death. May his memory be blessed.

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He was recognized as talented from his childhood. He was dedicated and well-liked. While studying at the Yeshiva, he endeared himself to his rabbi R' Motil Speizman, who appreciated him as a boy who was respectful to adults. His rabbi also appreciated his infinite patience with his rivals and opponents among his peers.

During his studies, he was swept into the search for a solution for the Jewish youth. Upon finding that there was no salvation except for the individual youngsters taking on themselves the burden of the period, he rose and went to a Hakhshara to fulfill what he saw as the appropriate solution for his generation.

He was 17 when he went to the Hakhshara in Stanisławów and 24 when he boarded a rickety cargo ship to make Aliya. The seven years he spent in the Hakhshara, in Terniv [Ternov] and Chenstokhov, forged the attributes of patience and will of iron in him. The two characteristics combined to form far-sighted life wisdom. Lacking these attributes, who knows whether Avraham would have been able to withstand the tribulations of the Hakhshara and the disdained deceits of the British rejections of his Aliya.

In 1939, he sailed on the dangerous “nutshell” of a ship, ready in his heart for the biggest event of his life, which had a double meaning: Unification with his family after long years of detachment and loneliness and the fulfillment of his dream of reaching the homeland.

The trip was long. The ship was tossed around by malicious sea waves for 6 months, carried away by tidal surges, and slipping away from the prying eyes of the British Empire. In the end, when the ship reached the vicinity of the homeland's shores, it was wrecked, and its passengers were abandoned to the mercy of an angry sea. A miracle happened, and a cattle-carrying ship collected them all and brought them to the shore near Kfar Vitkin.

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In the Kfar [village], the members-residents took the rescued passengers to their homes. Avraham happened to be taken to the home of Mikhel Goldenberg from Bilozerka. Mikhel told him that his arrival was also the day of his father's funeral. Avraham hurried up to accompany his dear father on his last journey . Despite his haste, he arrived late at his father's home when the entire family was returning from the cemetery.

That day was etched in his heart in all of its sorrow. Joy never returned to his home, and he never smiled again. Avraham remained subdued and gloomy beyond his age for the rest of his life.

As the oldest son, he immersed himself in the family business and showed exceptional business acumen. Due to his good nature and earnestness he acquired many friends from among the merchants, who trusted his words. His business relations widened and spread over the entire hometown region.

It looked for a while that his heart calmed down and that his usefulness to his family brought him comfort. With a little more time, he would have begun to smile at his beloved mother and his loving brothers. However, his young life was cut short while he was still in his prime, and Avraham went down to his grave along with his grief.

He was killed in an accident on 26 of Adar II, 5705 [11 March 1945], opposite Ramat Gan's police building, two weeks before his planned marriage.

May his soul be bound to the bundle of life.

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Despite growing up while supporting his ailing mother, Yizhak did not possess the dreary seriousness typical of people busy making a living. He was always joyful, mischievous, and frivolous. However, his frivolousness was imbued by thoughtful reasoning and good judgment.

When Yizhak grew up he immersed himself in public service and Zionism. He began to somewhat neglect the support of his mother. His mother complained, but Yizhak, who loved her immensely, could not overcome his urge. He was attracted by the public service engagement despite his mother's pleas, complaints, and suffering.

He established our town's magnificent library, which acquired a name for itself over the entire district as a library rich in books and bustling with readers and book exchanges.

When the library was consolidated, he handed it over to others, and he concentrated on strengthening the national funds and heightening the Zionist publicity activity.

Yizhak was 20 when I, and several other members, established the “Hehalutz” branch. We were only 18 at the time and unknown. We treated him as the “Boss” of the Zionist influence in town, who could assist us in securing resources and people. Yizhak harnessed himself to our endeavor, and it did not take long before he devoted all of his energy to the “Hehalutz's” activity. We elected him immediately as the chairman of the branch. As a result, youths from classes we did expect to penetrate began to flock in. His image was divine in our town.

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When I made Aliya, our ways separated. The military arrested him in Warsaw. He was considered a deserter and was sentenced to jail time.

Years later, we met again in the organization for Lanowitz natives. The people elevated him to the position at the head of the organization, just like in the past. Every year, he imparted his seriousness over our memorial and communion with our beloved town and its martyrs. His image was linked to us in the same way our pleasant past of our childhood town, Lanowitz, linked to our hearts. His place [in our hearts] was always preserved. We knew that his heart disease drained him and limited his blessed activity. We tried to help him by ensuring he would not overwork at the memorial evenings. In the end, his disease overpowered him.

With his passing, we lost an able and accomplished figure. We lost a dear member of our organization.

We will remember him forever.

The library established by Yizhak

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It was 1925. Eretz Israel suffered from unemployment at that time, and the workers were subjected to the turbulence of having to jump from one job to another and from one place to another. Yizhak experienced all of that. He worked at the orchard, in construction, and as a porter at the train station. He suffered from unemployment between jobs, but he never complained.

In 1929 he was forced to leave Israel because he was besieged by pneumonia and malaria. He returned to our town for a period, and nobody knew how long it would last. Magically, Yizhak, who lost so much in Eretz Israel - reaching a desperate physical condition and experiencing a hopeless situation, did not complain, nor did he spread contempt and embarrassment. He stayed in our town like a guest without anchoring himself again in damned Poland. He dedicated his free time to Zionist activity and deepening awareness of Hebraic culture and pioneering values.

His stay in Lanowitz was one of the most glorious in his life. We observed Yizhak Kirshon in that period demonstrating his full pioneering consciousness and personal honesty. He was active and talked about Eretz Israel, the moon-full evenings, and the barn. He spoke about the concealed light in suffering together, the Horah [?] [dance], and the romantic-heroic atmosphere. He enthused the youth to make Aliya and achieve fulfillment.

When his recovery commenced and his disease subsided, he did not hesitate for even a minute. He returned to Eretz Israel, back to a foggy personal future, the chances of unemployment, hard labor, and an unknown political future.

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Upon returning to Eretz Israel, Yizhak Kirshon began to build stability in his life. He established a family and settled in a job that suited his skill. However, he did not seclude himself in his own private life. He integrated himself fully into public service and carried loads of the “country in the making” - including participation in the “Haganah's” activities at night, assisting in enabling “illegal immigration”, and involving in guarding duties.

He was a respected member of our organization and cherished the memorial for our martyrs.

He came to the last memorial directly from the sanatorium in Nazareth. As it turned out, he participated with the last of his strength. He died a few days after the annual memorial to Lanowitz's martyrs.

We will remember him as a good member of our organization, a loyal friend, and a man who contributed to strengthening the pioneering awareness in our town.

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She married at 18 and moved to live with her husband R' Avraham Taichman (may he live long), in the village of Vinnytsi.

She carried the load of providing for her family, standing alongside her husband at his small store and servicing customers while, at the same time, keeping the house in order, taking care of her children, and keeping the Jewish tradition as her family's way of life.

She would wake up early to bake cakes and other types of pastry for the gentiles' weddings, thus earning extra money for her household and help in raising her seven children.

The Taichmans immigrated to Argentina in 1935 under the auspice of J.C.A.'s [Baron Hirsch's Jewish Colonization Association]. She settled with her husband and children in an agricultural settlement where she quickly became a dedicated farmer. She worked the fields alongside her husband from sunrise to sunset for many days. As her health became frail due to surgeries she had to undergo, she developed that inner heroism - concealing her pains and physical suffering so as not to depress the spirit of her family and not to exhaust their staying power in the face of the physical and economic difficulties they endured.

Even in Israel, after she made Aliya and it was known that she suffered from pain and illness, she retained her kind and joyous face and always accepted everything willingly and lovingly.

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Her love was the most blessed of her attributes. She loved her husband, children, and the people around her. However, she bestowed her greatest love upon the homeland and its people.

She was religious to the point of zealotry but loved all Israeli people, and everyone was dear to her heart.

She integrated into the life of the country and the state wholeheartedly, began to listen and understand Hebrew, and even started to read its newspapers and literature.

She was reticent, smiley, and introverted. In her heart, she was open to what was happening to the nation and its people. She was willing to do anything to assist her country and needy individuals.

During her last two and a half years, she could no longer hide that a malignant disease was rolling through her body. Her immense pains burst forth, and she girded all her inner strengths to conceal the suffering from her beloved husband and those around her.

No one was aware that during her last days she experienced progressive blindness. Her appearance was always dignified, thoughtful, and quiet.

Death ended her life but did not overpower her. Her vitality did not cease until her last day.

Hava, a pure and proud daughter of Israel. May your memory be blessed.

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Hayya was born in [the nearby village of] Vizeshrodok in 1894, and at the age of 20, she moved to live with her husband in Krements. When things calmed down after the First World War, both moved to Matviivtsi, where her husband found a job as a carpenter.

In that village she worried about her children's education. She watched them playing with the Gentiles' children, concerned that their Jewishness would be impaired, so they moved to reside in Lanowitz on the first opportunity.

Hayya was 42 years old in 1936, her husband was even older, and they were already considered to be at an advanced age. They made Aliya to Eretz Israel – the land of labor and respect for working people.

In Israel, she experienced suffering and financial ups and downs. However, toward the end of her life, she derived pleasure from her children and grandchildren. Her husband, a good-tempered man, saw happiness from the fruit of his labor, and this added to her satisfying feeling.

She died from old age in 1964, at the age of 70.

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She was born in Lanowitz 74 years before to her father, the wise rabbi R' Aharon Yehuda, son of the late Rabbi Shneur Zalman Zingel, a descendant of “Baal Hatanya” [Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi], a holy Tzadik [righteous] of blessed memory.

Her mother was Yente Mindel, the daughter of Rabbi Mikhel Halperin Tzadik of blessed memory, a descendant of the holy Maggid from Zloczow [Rabbi Yekhiel Mikhel], a holy Tzadik of blessed memory.

From her youth, anybody who came to know her knew he was standing before a noble figure with a pure soul, distinguished attributes, modesty, humility, and patience.

Hayya also possessed an enormous will to overcome life's obstacles through her Jewishness. The “daughter of a scholar” in her and the nursing from the roots of Hassidism were apparent in her thinking and her demeanor. She found her expression of quiet and modest deeds in public service. She never aspired to do too much at once. Hayya was satisfied with doing a little at the time. For her, every individual was the whole world, and she was happy when she could ease the suffering of one person, adopting and encouraging him.

Following the passing of her late father, she gave up on her young life and dedicated herself to helping her family. After a while, when she married and changed her name from Zingel to Fleishman, many remembered her former name, Yente Mikhel'es. She brought her good-hearted nature, manners, attributes, and graceful behavior toward others to her husband, R' Zekharia Fleishman's home, may he live long. When her mother passed away, they left Lanowitz for Pinsk, where her husband served as a mohel and a Kosher slaughterer-inspector. Only a few months passed for her to make a name for herself as hospitable and charitable.

It did not last long for a wave of decrees and anguish of mind and body arrived and began

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to flood the Jewish diaspora. A decision ripened in Hayya's mind that they should make Aliya, and the Fleishman family made Aliya to the holy land.

She accepted the acclimatization pangs with love. During the first few months, when the family experienced hunger, bitterness filled her husband's heart, and hopelessness due to the lack of work penetrated and took hold, she would wipe the sadness from her husband's face and say: “We should not be grieving. Remember that, with G-d's help, we are in the holy land, and our blessed G-d will help us.”

And G-d did help. Her husband accepted a position as a Kosher slaughterer inspector. Hayya opened her exemplary home in Tel Aviv. Family members, friends, and immigrants flocked to the house, along with her husband's friends who needed help, encouragement, and advice. She continued with her charitable deeds as long as she was able to and was interested in what was happening even after she became ill. She had a strong will to live, and by using it, she overcame her illness. She always tried to be involved in all the affairs of her family.

When I raise her image in front of me, the image, whose soul radiates through her beautiful eyes and her magical smile that even life's turbulences could not wipe away from her lips – I ask myself what was the source of her enormous power. The answer can be found in Isaiah's verse [Isaiah 40:31]: “…But they who trust in G-d shall renew their strength. As eagles grow new plumes. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall march and not grow faint”. She was made of that precious substance since she trusted G-d and believed that only good comes from the heavens. Her innocent faith was the wellspring that flew in her endlessly. Therefore, she saw life through her shiny eyes.

May her soul be bound in the bundle of life.

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While preparing this book, Rabbi Glazer, a warm-hearted man, humble, modest, and G-d fearing, left us.

Rabbi Glazer was a rabbi who handled only affairs associated directly with his role. He, who knew the period of Rabbi Kook and had the chance to enjoy the poetry of Bialik, pinned the hope of Israel's independence on the working people. Rabbi Glazer wished that working people would improve their religious ways of life, but respected them and accompanied them with his spiritual blessing because he considered them the nation's soul. When he heard about the establishment of the Lanowitz natives organization, he asked to allow him to participate in the memorial evenings for our martyrs, despite being a native of Tchan [Teofipol] and resident of Odessa, spending only a short period in Lanowitz.

We considered it an enormous privilege, so we complied with his request. Since then, Rabbi Glazer has participated in every memorial service. He struggled to come even when his health became frail, and we would bring him back home.

To dispel every thought and remove every suspicion, we declare here that he did not request nor receive any compensation for his participation. He did not want his fulfillment of the Mitzvah of participation to harm any intention not associated with the memorial for the holy martyrs and praying for their souls.

I once visited him in his meager hut, where the wind howled through the cracks. Rabbi Glazer was sitting there, curled up with a blanket, and studied the daily portion with his younger son, also a rabbi. When I entered, he stopped his study and explained to his son that he was allowed to do that for Lanowitz. When I asked him how he intended to improve his living conditions, he whispered his answer, accompanied by segments of loud laughter:

“In Odessa, I had a “Bankeh” (A heating pot made of casted iron). We used to put coals in it, and their whispering glowing warmed our cold house. I used it here for the first few years because I did not have a heater. Over time, the pot got damaged. It also became difficult to get coals. So what? Can't a person live without it or study?”

Rabbi Glazer, a member of our organization, was a Tzadik, honest, and modest.

May his image remain in front of us in all our memorial services.

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In the meantime, class disparities break down in school. Children from all layers mingle at the Polish and Jewish schools and the Kherder, even as poverty expanded. Itzikle can compare himself to others during the school breaks when one child meets the other, each holding his lunch. Itzikle shows up in his greatness with a smile he was born with adorning his face. That smile serves as a shield against resentment in his world. Itzikle does not encounter resentment at home, on the street, in Kheder, or among his friends. He smiles, lowers his stature to fend against the blows of fate, and tilts his head sideway somewhat as if avoiding a hit. He makes up his mind to survive now, at this moment. There is no sense in worrying about things to come. “When I have a smile – I have everything, and I feel good now.”

Itzikle is walking around among his happier friends, owning his happiness. He is not hurt by their envy and does not envy others. Izikle Shamoish weaves the secret of his life and the solution for his future alone. He knits them within himself and in his soul, the source of his redemption. And if his soul is smiling, so too would his fate.

That's how Itzikle arrived at the Aliya, fulfillment, and kibbutz. The latter was a way of life that loaded the nation's fate on its shoulders and won.

He fulfilled his dream.

Every day in his life is a step up the ladder of human spiritual elevation, and new steps are born daily. During the Hassidic period, his ascent would have bought a name for himself.

[Page 272]

Yitzkhak in the Hakhshara in Lanowitz – second from the leftk

When I saw Itzikle at his daughter's wedding in his kibbutz - his home, I saw him in all his glory. He stood like a person on the sideline as if he was happy to see other people being happy and enjoyed seeing other people having fun. Only a few among us elevated themselves from being a shoemaker in Lanowitz to the superior standing of someone who fulfilled the pioneering dream. He was a man of perfection and forgiveness for his fate and the people who insulted him. He also forgave those lowly people who pretended to be his relatives.

With his death, a radiant, complete, and loyal figure left us. He was uprooted from us! We will adorn him on the pages of the book of Lanowitz. We will remember him with love because he was himself a grace of love.

It was an honor for us for people like him to rise among us.

May his memory be blessed!

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