The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 12, 1904, Page 2

All our money and valuables had gons t gresbe the officials’ paws,” S0 &% father's death we were literally With the exception of our e, which was beavily incum- means to main- mfortable style of ted. It is true, the kind enough to offer but she cried ereafter, and sald she ve than become an ob- ) she bought a cow and in order to make om time to time my of furniture from exha wa winter passed and I was kept in a cost of how part of my then unuerstand. that my mother during this took to her an evening to me as the h my father was torn The sun had already st that encircled the he sexton's T signal for shades were 1 by the window a gard the came memorable came frequently s of my mother. sounded the “her dim eyes I wondered eighbors had rising on to her chin, her weeping. . she sald with flort, “s 1 be left alone— cough checked learly see how she could resumed pain- handing me our dog-eared and yellow ays with you. When you this n leave y¢ child, you will read it; comes to you, you . nd gain courage. This he started leave to all they will to the end of 1 is all and offspring, look spread over my enance as she spoke atic words; a magic luster brighten her dim eyes ting a little while she con- words she atly relieved f you ever meet your painful pause— s book. Let him He will learn that to be ashamed of in his back to our i come morning 1 was wak- € i walling. I raised e iced at my mother’s 1 dressed in haste In the cov- Two flar- rther's quilt ck in our,.silver candle- ny m ne end of it. Sitting floor around the figure were sev- who constantly raised lamentation; a number n were measuring long and stitching them to- score of boys chanted »tonous minor key ideringly about the cted rather by the gen. y any definite realiza- I burst into tears and tion of cause, wept bitterly, no one tried to console me, but hen the women had finished the wt rme: 2 0ld man came up to ne 1 sald op crying, Isroel- chickle (this wes his version of my pame), and come outside.” Outside there was also a crowd of people. A little man moved through the wd crying *“Zdoko! Zdoko!" at the highest pitch of his cracked mez- zo-soprano voice, at the same time shaking a tin can that contained a few “Zdoko! Zdoko and rattling coppers shricked persistently; standers, as he pa coins of small value into the contribu- box that he shook beneath their the to & cry at the door, nearest the porch crowded back, and the figure I had seen lying on the floor was carried out But as the pall-bearers were going to 1ft the bler, one of the eiders of the community raised his hand to com- mand attention, and said In a grave tone, “Rabacl (my superiors), now is the time to do something for the orphan.” All eyes were turned upon me. I tried to control myself, but the tears continued to flow against my will. “To the best of my knowledge,” the venerable man continued, “the boy has no relatives in whose care we can place him. It is iIncumbent upon the commu- nity to do all it can for him until he is old enough to provide for himself. As there is not a penny left by his mother I suggest that the orphan be right now supplied with ‘days.’ At my house he will have Fridays and Saturdays.” Within & few minutes Sunda: Mon- days, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdeys had been offered, and they were one week. The pall-bearers lifted their burden and the procession started. A long train of men and women followed the bler with bowed heads, and a great number of boys chanted mournfully: “Righteousness walks before her.” Be- fore now 1 had vaguely understood on what journey my mother had gone, but now I realized that she had gone never to return, and that I was left all alone in the world. CHAPTER 1L THE SCHOOL FOR THE POOR. My people were very ingenious in naming things; they wounld rarely per- mit themselves to call a spade a spade. For instance, the custom of poor boys getting certain meals regularly o cer- tain well-to-do homes was called “eat- ing days;” an invitation of a poor man to dine with his rich co-religionist on the holy Sabbath was disguisedly en- titled “plat” (& corruption of “billet”); the graveyard was, perhaps cynically, spoken of as the “house of the living”; response those who stood and a charitable house for the poor was commonly designated as the hekdesh (sanetuary). So when “Jacob the bea- dle” came up to me a few days after my mother’s death and told n to go with him to the Talmud-Torah, I un- derstood without a moment’s h tion that I was going to be enrolle t in 4 theological seminary, the name might indicate, but in the school for the poor. he beadle had a q n Kk step, and T toddled along as fast as I could. At the sight of the clent-looking, weather-worn, red-bgck synagogue, with a rickety outside stairc Jed to the women's chapel, my began to throb with nitory f for I knew that the women's chapel was also the Talmud-Torah. We pushed our way through scores of ragged, barefoot boys who were rolling in the sandy yard below the stairs, and struggled up the stairway through dozens of other little wretches who ughed and shouted as they wrestled, fought and played pranks upon each other. 1 remained standing gloomily just within the door while the be ed on a whispered conversation with one of the teachers, who all the time was blinking his watery-blue eyes and stretching his neck, llke a goose after taking a mouthful of water. The room in which I found myself was high and spacious, but was most slovenly kept. At each end stood two tallow-smeared tables placed at right angles, and upon crippled benches beside these sat boys of all ages and sizes, their heads cov- ered. Dog-eared prayer-books = tattered Bibles were promiscuous scattered over the dirty floor. C drawn caricatures etches figured the onte whitewashed walls, now brown from age where not bl from charcoal; and wheels of spi webs slightly oscillated around the cor- ners. The odor of mildew was almost suffocating. His talk with the teacher ended, the beadle turned to me. “This will be your school, Isroelchickle,” he sald kindly; and then he bade me be good and departed, leaving me to begin my new life. 1 did not leave my place by the door where he had left me. I was naturally very shy, and the appearance of this schoolmaster filled me with foreboding. So, fearing to move, I stood nervously against the wall, waiting till T was told to take & seat. “Zalmen, what do you call the letter with a head and neck of a goose stand- ing on one leg?” asked the teacher, continuing with the lesson which our entry had interrupted. His name was Getzel, but he was better known as Gorgle on aococount of his habit of con- stantly craning his “gorgle,” which is Yiddish for larynx. “A lamed (Hebrew ‘1), the boy nearest him answered in a small pip- 1 tremulous voice. “Find one!” ordered Gorgle, stretch- ing his neck awkwardly and rolling his bulging eyes with impatience. The youngster hesitated, and his searching eyes and fingers wandered over the book before him. Finally he pointed at the similitude of a goose standing on one leg. “And what do you call the one like a worm with little wings?" “An aleph,” returned the boy. “Silence! Silence!"” Gorgle shouted, aroused by thé general din, and rolled his eyes ‘threateningly. For an instant my attention left the teacher and fastened upon the boys around the nearest table, who were showing a pecullar interest in me. Some were rolling their eyes and pro- Jecting lips, others were thrusting out their tongues, and still others were twisting their faces into all sorts of wry designs. THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. s nER” J2E One of those who sat farthest away from the instructor, taking advantage of a moment when the schoolmaster’s back was turned, put his thumb to the point of his snub nose, and spreading his fingers in the shape of a turkey's tail made big eyes at me. This wel- come caught the notice of the class, and all joined in a sniffling, mocking chuckle. “Who started ‘this laughter?” thun- dered the stoop-shouldered, red-beard- ed schoolmaster, turning around quickly. He looked with flerce inquiry into each poverty-stamped face. A sudden hush fell upon the pupils. “Who started ggling, I ask you?" rep a Gorgle, picking up the leather thongs that lay at his elbow. silence even more in- became t demand more vehe- ‘Who laughed first 1 he with you? shouted mence. The ittle wretches turned pale and trembled with fright. A long-drawn snore broke the dreadful silence. All faces turned in the direction of the slumberer. The snub-nosed boy who had made fun of me a little while be- fore sat with his heed thrown back, the visor of his torn cap dangling loosely alongside his right ear, his hands resting on the table before him, and snored as naturally as If he were dreaming of s ladder. The teacher descendedfupon the of- fender and furiously swung the pliant thongs about the head, face, and hands of the little jester. When he had so exhausted himself that he could flog no longer, he threw the thongs upon the table and collapsed in his chair, ghastly pale and out of breath. His stormy eyes lighted upon me. “Why are you standing there like a clay dummy?" Terrified by his flerce voice, I quickly sat down upon the edge of a long bench. My tears once more nearly overflowed. Notwithstanding the severity of Gor- gle's punishment, the snub-nosed jester was not yet subdued. As I sank trem- bling upon the bench he looked at me and bleated like a young sheep. The class, having recovered from its fright, again roared with laughter. The schoolmaster turned white; a cloud seemed to overspread his hollowed cheeks and furrowed forehead. Like an enraged cat he started for the wag, but as he raised the thongs his velvet skull-cap, which (as 1 was afterward informed) had been given to him as a wedding-present a score of years be- fore, slipped off his head and fell to the floor. Another laugh broke out at sight of the glossy pate of the master, which was exposed In all its fullness as he stooped to recover the cap. As he arose the greasy head-gear dropped from his nervous hand, and the laugh- ter grew more uproarious. “Snub- nose” bleated again, another pupil mewed like a cat, another lowed like o IEEY O R ot an ox, and several more whistled In chorus and stamped their feet while Gorgle’s head was moving about under the table in search of his wedding- present. The schoolmaster placed his recov- ered cap on his head, and witho 3 ing a d he motioned the b one et off serable culprit divined his fate n scratching his head and cryin ill silent, Go gle sdaked the thongs in water for a few t it aside. o benches to The r minutes, all the while casting re- vengetul ces at the whining little fellow. When he thcught the heavy straps soft enough, he took the handle of the thongs between his teeth and selzing the screeching victim by the loose part of his tattered breeches he clasped him between his bony knees half-naked and stripped him sping as he was str ng with his pupil: g show you how te mock your ' Then Gorgle threw the screaming urchin upon the bench, and motioning to me said: “Hold his feet.” 1 felt helpless and tears rushed to my eyes; the boys looked at me threaten- ingly; 1 shivered with fear and fin- gered a buttonhole of my coat. “You hold his feet, I say! manded Gorgle. My reply flood of tears. “Will you do what I tell you or—" He made a threatening gesture. I did not budge and my tears flowed faster. The schoolmaster released his victim and seized me. My hands were twisted behind me. I shrieked; I struggled; I shouted for help; my face went down, up, and down again; one button of my breeches burst, another rolled down #h- to my sock; 1 was overpowered; I felt my back bare; I protected .with my hands—then cut! cut! cut! the thongs came down upon my bare skin at the rate of two a second, and—thank God! Gorgle was again exhausted. ‘“Now you'll know how to mind your teach- er!” he panted and released me. “Take your seats!” he ordered in & tremulous voice, turning upon the class. “I'll flay the hides off your car- casses, you rascals, villains, you worthless creatures! Your benefactors pay their hard-earned momey for your tultion and bread, and in the end, leeches, you"—he paused for * com- was a to your blockheads. He! (This to self.) I'll teach them how to behave Talmud-Torah.” He wiped the perspiration off his face in ogeme re Conrrmat with a large colored handkerchief, all the while panting audibly. “And all on account of .this snot,” he burst out again, with his eyes fixed on me. “You go there’” He pointed to the -other end of the room. “You belong to the other class.” Arranging my disordered clothes, 1 sobbing brokenly, I dragged my- f to the other end of the room. The class to which I was assigned a was known as the Gemoro (Talmud) section. The Gemoro schoolmaster took in my tear-stained face with a gle stern glance and ordered me to a seat opposite him at the foot of the long table. I shivered as my eyes caught his. Gorgle was & harmless fly as compared with this instructor. His name was Shiomka, but he, like his as- sociate, was known by his habits, so he was called Gazlen, whose colloquial ificance was murderer. “Motke!” roared Gazlen, gnashing teeth and clenching his fists. This lamation was an admonishment to one of the twenty-two boys of his class who had whispered something to his neighbor. “Go on!" Shlomka ground his teeth furiously at one who had been inter- rupted in his recitation, The poor boy, much confused, could not find the place where he left off. “Would that I had walted for your funeral, Rebenu-shel-Olam (Creator of the universe)! Why don’t you go ahead with your lesson, you little imp?"” Gazlen's cold gray eyes moved about wrathfully as the poor little fellow was endeavoring to find the right place. Then they came back to the boy, and he clenched his teeth and seized the knotty stick that lay handy for use. “You go on, little devil, or I'll drive you like a nall into the wall—a—get!” He burst out anew, brandishing the stick over the boy's head. The embarrassed pupil searched in vain for the desired spot; his eyes, I surmised, were dancing over the page without seeing a word before him. “Would that I had walted for your last breath, Heavenly Father!” And with this Gazlen gave the student a box on his ear. The pupil, however, did not betray a sign of pain; his beau- tiful expressive face grew scarlet, but & faint smile parted his well-shaped lips. Gaslen raised the stick and made as it to strike the boy. “Ephraim, you will proceed or I'll break this stick on your head.” One of the pupils made an effort to point the place to the unfortunate o Ephraim, but the everwatchful Shlom- ka caught him in the act, and rising impetuously he rewarded the sympa~ thiser unsparingly. “Nu, Ephraim,” Shiomka resumed, when he had given the other his due meed, “how long will I wait for you, dummy? What is Rav Shases's (one of the Talmudic jurists) decision—tender discharges the debt or not?” I thought the teacher was trying te help him out. “It does not discharge the debt,” an- swered Ephraim. Bang! bang! bang! The knotted stick rose and fell on the head of the boy jurist, and Gazlen emphasized each stroke: “It—is—about—time—for — you —to— know— that—according— to — Rabbi—Chiye—the — debt —is—not — discharged—and — according—to—Rav —Shases—the—debt—is—discharged.” The rest of the day I spent in fearful thought as to what would become of me. At about eight In the evening school was out, and we went into the synagogue below for prayers. The boys ran down the stairs pell-mell, pushing and kicking one another, pull- ing the ears of the passersby, and seemed perfectly happy in their misery. ‘When prayers were over 1 recited the Kaddish (a prayer for the dead), which reminded me of my mother, and again the tears began to coma I can now hear my ringing volce In the echoing synagogue proclaiming Tiegadal V'Yis- kadash so that I drew the eyes of the congregation to me. But I broke down in the middle and my clear notes wers changed to sobs. The boys laughed; some even sneered at me. But ome came up after kaddish and made friends. And it was ne other than ‘Ephraim, on whose head Shiomka's stick had fallen with such energy in the morning. After prayers some of the boys ran home, and those who had no homes went to their “days,” but Ephraim and I remained in the synagogue. He told me of his sordid childhood and no less miserable youth; he also was an orphan without kith or kin. Yet de- spite his present misery he did not complain; he even spoks jestingly of Shlomka's blows. He was about three 4 WAy ENEMIES HAVE T=r A IRAP Fom years my senior and possessea more self-reliance than I, and he had what seemed to me an extensive knowledge of the world. He was a ruddy, cheery boy, tall for his ags, with a large crop of curly halr and & very prosinent white forehead. In this institution of swarthy, sickly, ill-formed, ill-dressed doys Ephraim looked exotio. ‘When the evening advanced and the sexton began to put out the lights in the synagogue Ephralm asked me where I had my Tuesdays. I told him. "You are pretty lucky,” he somewhat enviously, with a smack his lips. “Only the very best boys in the class or the gabbal's (president’s) favorites get such ‘days’ (here he smacked his lips again)—meat for din- ner, eggs for supper, and frequently five copecks extra.” He looked wist- ful a few seconds, then he added: “And where do you get your Wednes- 4 days and Thursdays?” said