My Grandfather My grandparents were not getting along. Grandfather was a religious man but very stubborn. He wanted to be the head of the family but wasn't apt at it. He didn't care for gesheft (business). Still you had to make a living but he wanted it done his way. He resented grandmother's aggressiveness and her business acumen. He didn't like the farm, which grandmother managed. He remained in the village most of the time, going out to the farm only on occasion like a visitor.
Out of thirteen children, grandfather was the only one in his family to survive and was raised as a sickly and spoiled child. His parents were somewhat better off than average and he inherited a little money. Mother used to tell me that when they were children he would lay down the law. He forbade them to leave the house after nightfall, not even to visit a neighbor. “So, we went on nagging and pleading with grandmother, who would give in, at last, thus contradicting his rule.” This created many hot words between them.
Grandfather wanted his sons to be pious Jews, to know the Toire (Bible) and the Talmud (Jewish Law). He engaged a rabbi, who came twice a week to the house to instruct the boys. They they didn't want to learn, they had thick heads and couldn't memorize a line. But mother was eager to learn. She'd hide behind the curtain and listen and as the rabbi repeated the passages over and over, mother memorized them. She made a bargain with her brothers. If they'd ask to keep the books overnight, she would go over the lessons with them. But even this didn't help them. However, mother got to know the Talmud. She never forgot that part of her stolen education. As a young child I remember visiting her at the synagogue during the high holidays. I found her surrounded by women who could hardly read or follow the prayers. She would point out the page for them, intone out loud for all to hear. The women would then repeat her words and sway the way she did, just like the men.
When grandfather discovered that mother was listening and learning the boy's lessons, he angrily forbade it, for God's words were not meant for women.
Editor's Notes: See the Subject Index for a summary of Dorothy's descriptions of schools in Wysokie.
