Lodz, 20 December 1931 Beloved and precious brother, as well as nephew, S. Zissman, Last week, I received your dear letter of November 20 and $5. I will write you the circumstances under which I received your letter and the $5. It was on a Wednesday. I was sitting at home since I happen not to work on that day. By chance, it was the week of Chanukah, and I was preparing the six candles to be kindled in memory of the Hasmoneans. I lit the Chanukah candles and sat down opposite the lights. And the question raced through my mind: "Why are there no miracles to be found in the world today? And perhaps it's miraculous that we endure all the years of our lives..." At that moment, my only son, my darling Joseph, approached me and said to me, "Daddy, what about 'money for Chanukah?'" I said, "Wait, Chanukah isn't over yet." He said, "Daddy, I can't wait any longer because in two more days I will lose the opportunity to coax you for Chanukah money." I wanted to convince him, talk him out of it, but he doesn't trust me any more because I have promised him a number of times and haven't given to him... This time he didn't want to let it pass and said that he didn't care...he's "entitled to Chanukah money, and that's it." I looked at my only son and thought to myself: "What sort of value does such a father have to a child when he isn't able to fulfill the child's request?" I became unnerved, and pushed him away from me. And my mind began to work again. Among all the thoughts, a thought raced through that by now there should have been a letter from Shloyme. At that very moment, the door opened, and the postman came in with a letter and $5. Well, of course, first of all I seized your dear letter to read it because, whether you believe me or not, dear brother, your writing gives me more joy than the money. However, my Joseph snatched the $5 and said to me, in these words, "Well, is Daddy going to say that he doesn't have any money now?" I read through your letter once. It became quiet. My wife and children sat at the table and all of them listened with interest and care to what our nephew, our cousin, the devoted Shloymele, writes to us about from America. And when my Joseph heard that you were delighted with his photograph, not to speak of when he heard me read that you are thinking about taking a trip to Europe, he danced for joy. Dear Sol, is my pen capable of writing of the joy that you evoked in me and in everyone with your writing that your coming to Europe is a matter that has been decided; we need only be patient and wait for the time... Yes, Sol, if I have some requests and appeals to the Master of the Universe, let the first request and prayer of mine be that I may yet have the honor to see you and your family before my eyes!!! Now then, dear Sol, as to your expressing yourself so sharply against me for not having my children learn Yiddish, I beg you, dear Sol, not to blame your uncle because you ought not to think that, during the eighteen-year period in which you haven't seen him, your uncle has completely assimilated. No, (he is) the same uncle, with the same Jewish heart, even with the same little Jewish hat. However, however, the circumstances are completely different. The children go to a public school where Polish, not Yiddish, is taught. I can't enter my Joseph in a Hebrew School because I don't want to send him to an old fashioned school where they teach "V'yoymer...and he said," "V'yedaber...and he spoke," and a reformed Hebrew School would cost as much as seventy cents a week. Besides that, he doesn't have spare time to study. So, I teach him something every day. Over a period of time, I also want to teach him Yiddish. For example, my Rifkele is already able to write a Yiddish letter, but she is not able to read well yet. In a word, Sol, they are still young children and will be able to speak Yiddish eventually. First of all, they have to be familiar with the language of the country, although it's a crime to learn the Polish language because if one finally graduates from a Polish school he can be certain that he can't even be a watchman for a building. All the jobs, e.g., at the railway, at the post office, at the street car company, at the telephone company, at the electric company, are all closed to Jews. Well? What good does their language, their Polish, do me? There is much to discuss with respect to this, dear Sol. Surely you read there in the newspapers about what the Polish students wrought, what sort of deeds of mockery they carried out, in Warsaw, Vilna, Cracow, Lemberg, etc. The fever of excitement (surrounding) the boycott hasn't abated to this very day respecting not buying goods from Jews for Christmas. It happens that we don't see too much of this in Lodz. However, the newspapers are full of (words) heating up the boycott. What else shall I write to you, dear Sol? The crisis in Poland has not eased. The need is very great in Lodz. So far, we've had a mild winter, short periods of freezing weather, small amounts of snow. Further, as to the family, I also don't have pleasant news to impart. A year hasn't passed since Uncle Yankel Lewin, of Kinsk, died. Now, about five weeks ago, Aunt Dina Raisel, of Lodz, died. Your in-laws knew Aunt Dina Raisel very well. She was your grandmother's sister. For a while, she lived in Opoczno, in Benignev, outside Opoczno. Your mother, may she rest in peace, met your father twenty eight years ago at Aunt Dina Raisel's. Your father will know how to make (her relationship) clear to you. So, dear Sol, one by one the family is departing. Further, dear Sol, as to your asking me to send you David Skorka's address, I can write that I tried. I wrote to Kinsk looking for his family, and I did not succeed in securing his address. I didn't receive an answer from Kinsk, and his family here doesn't have his address. I also don't have his address. As soon as I learn his address, I will send it to you. Furthermore, you can find out what his address is at an address office or at the Kinsk Society, the organization of the people from Kinsk. Now, what else shall I write to you, dear Sol? As to my "successes," the less I write, the better it will be for you. Aunt Malke has still not fully recovered. She is in bed more than she is up and around. Rifkele is at home. She doesn't work at present. I myself am all right, except that I've been suffering from rheumatism for the last three months. My left side, left leg and left arm and hand ache, sting and throb so that I can't move, can't stand, can't lie down. The doctor advises that I should accustom myself to my pain, as you have to your back pain. So, no more of importance to convey. Heartfelt regards to you and to your dear wife and dear son. My wife and children and the whole family send heartfelt regards to you. Please send me a prompt reply about everyone and everything, including your business and your trip to New York. Write me about what's going on with Ruchele, Bryndl, your father, your in-laws, uncles, aunts, grandmother, et al. With respect, Your uncle, Wolf Lewkowicz I am enclosing a newspaper article which describes the unemployment in America. Dear Shloyme, I am waiting impatiently for your arrival. Your coming is a big surprise for me. Regards to you as well as your dear wife and your dear son from me, your Aunt Malke. I am lying in bed, and it's difficult for me to write. All material Copyright 1995 by Marshall L. Zissman and Sol J. Zissman.