the kitchen and shoved the He felt his head grow heavy as great claws old case and mutilated bear slowly tore away a voluminous, black velvet under the large curtain off a dark, murky cave in his mind. butcher-block table. He tiptoed cautiously to the door and listened Know that you are a Yiddish kind and that all quietly. Who would be calling at such an that Tatta and I wanted and prayed was for unearthly hour? The rhythmic knockyou to grow into a talmid chacham, to love the ing grew louder. He felt his palms grow Torah and mitzvos and to serve the heilieger clammy as he gingerly glanced through Eibershter b’ahava ‘un b’emes. Tears fill my the peephole. Why, it was the salt-andeyes as I picture you lost in a world so very pepper bearded man intent on being let in. far from our beautiful heritage. The years How had he known where to find him? He may dim your happy memories of the Shabswung the door open slowly. bos licht, the little sukkah you helped Tatta The man stood hesitantly at the enbuild, the Chanukah menorah you painstaktrance. “I’m sorry... I just couldn’t let you ingly shaped out of stray bits of metal, and out of mind. I followed you home thinking the stirring Shabbos zemiros you so loved to talk to you once again, thought better to sing. Shloimele, please understand, we did of it, went home, and then couldn’t fall not abandon you. We love you more than asleep. I got out of bed, got dressed and anything in the world. We want to give you came here thinking you probably wouldn’t a chance to live and to rekindle our memory be sleeping either. “The man smiled cauand teachings anew in your own children. tiously, surveying the officer’s rumpled Shloimele, I don’t know if you will ever shirt and bleary eyes. find this or where Hashem will lead you. If He sized up the man. Could he trust you are reading this now, for your Tatta and him? Could he unravel the mysterious Mamma’s soul, go to Eretz Yisroel and find a thread dangling elusively before him? yeshivah. There, you will discover teachers The man sighed softly, “I must apologize who will teach you what we so dearly wantfor being so rude, after all I’m just a stranged to teach you. Shloimele, my heart tells me er disturbing you so late in the night.” He that you will one day come back to our people turned towards the door. and build a true home of Torah and mitzvos. He grabbed the man’s black coat sleeve And then we will look down from on high and shoved him into a chair. “Sit, I’ve got and rejoice, and be comforted in Heaven. something to show you.” Your Loving Mamma. The man’s eye raced across the yellowed note. He lingered on the last lines, He sat as if in trance. It was coming then looked up slowly. His blue-white eyes back to him…the cozy one-room cottage… glimmered with unshed tears. He reached Mamma’s gentle hand caressing his cheek across the table and took his new friend’s … sipping warm lemon tea with Tatta, as hand in his own. “Your mother’s last they turned the pages of the Aleph Beis towords … I will try and translate...” gether…chasing butterflies with Aryeleh in the high summer grass…. To My Dear Shloimele, The salt-and-pepper bearded man finMy heart breaks as I pen these last words gered the note. “Your mother... she was a to you. As I write, I can hear the SS troops far-seeing woman.” He looked down at his rounding up all the men in the next courtpalms. “It’s been a long night. We will be yard. They say they will be coming for the in touch.” children next. Tatta has gone into hiding. We The man closed the door after him talked long into the night before he left, and softly. He heard his footsteps tip-tapping Tatta and I finally forced ourselves to take up slowly down the stairs. And in his heart, Farmer Jan’s offer. Zeide has known Farmer he heard the faint fluttering of his soul Jan for years through his egg business. He is tenuously unfurling its newly discovered a good man who will take care of you. wings. It would be a long arduous journey, My dear Shloimele, my heart tells me that but he was ready, as Bob would say, “to we will not see each other again in this world. face it like a man.”
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