YITZHAK SHIRION MEMOIRS Translated from Hebrew by Ami Argaman, the author’s great-grandson The original Hebrew book was published by the author’s son, Aharon Shirion/Jerusalem 1943 MY HOME TOWN I was born on the 11 Nissan 5631 [April 2, 1871], in the town of Disna in the Vilnius district, to my father, Reb Yehezkel, son of Reb Yaakov Halevi Zalkind, blessed be his memory, of a distinguished family from the town of Shakalov in the Mohaliv district, and to my mother, the Lady Sheina, daughter of Rabbi Avraham Rabinovich blessed be his memory, from a family of honorable Rabbis and merchants from the aforementioned town of Disna. Disna is a county town situated near two rivers. One river is “West Dvina”, the great river which flows from the Smolensk district’s mountains, and which covers a long territory of Western Russia, passing through many important cities, most notable among them: Polotsk, Witebsk, Dvinsk (formerly Dinburg), and Riga, capitol of Latvia, and finally empties its waters into the Baltic Sea. At the point where the River Dvina passes through the town of Disna, there is a fairly large and attractive island where important fruit trees grow, as well as various vegetables and other produce. The island’s crop is owned by the chief priest of the Orthodox Church in the town. At the same location, the river merges with the Disenka River, an important river passing through the northern part of town, where it is large and very deep. The town of Disna is named after it. The main inhabited area of the town is located on the right side of the river (on its descent route toward the sea). That territory is part of the Vilnius district and belongs to Poland. The area on the left side of the river, named Slobodka, includes only a small portion of the town’s population, and is part of the Witebsk district, which belongs to Soviet Russia. Therefore, at this spot, the Dvina River is the border between Poland and Soviet Russia. Beyond the Dinska River there is only a small urban settlement, and a few miles further is the beginning of a rural area, situated geographically within the Polish Vilnius district. During Czarist times, Disna used to be an important market town. The vast majority of the town’s residents – altogether numbering about twenty thousand – were Jews who engaged in trade and commerce, while the minority of them consisted of craftsmen. Some important merchants in the town and around it were leasing forests from property owners in the area, rafting their wood along the Dvina River to Riga and from there on to Germany. There was also some considerable trade in asbestos, which grew there in abundance and was stored in warehouses. There, skilled laborers would extract the waste of the asbestos, pack it in large packages and send it to Germany – usually to their regular agents who then sold it in the local markets. A few important merchants were involved in exports of various types of grain, such as oats, rye, wheat and barley, etc. Most of the Jews were involved in trade of groceries, fabrics and small wares, and some were also wholesale distributors of alcoholic beverages. There were plenty of ways to make a living there. The land was fertile, and the peasants from the surrounding villages would bring their produce to town, sell it and purchase their own numerous 2 necessities. There was also no shortage of brokers, loan sharks, tavern managers and the like, as was common in those days. All the Jews in town were Hassidic followers of CHABAD, divided into the Liadi, Lubavitch, Kopost and Staroselye courts. The veteran Hassids of each court used to go to their own “Rebe” for holy days, particularly the High Holidays, to derive the effect of holiness directly from the Rebe. Emissaries and returning students would be sent by the various rebes to town, to preach the Kabbala and other Hassidic teachings to their followers, who would gather at their local Rabbis’ houses, mainly on Friday nights and during the third meal of the Sabbath. The services in all the synagogues in town were performed only according to the Kabbalist CHABAD style of the late Rabbi Luria, and not even one “Minyan” of ten worshippers could be assembled for an Ashkenazi-style service. Whenever an “opponent” Jew – that is, non Hassidic – settled in town and wanted to pray in public in a synagogue, he had no choice but to use the CHABAD style. The aforementioned emissaries, along with the local treasurers, would periodically collect the coins out of special charity boxes of MRM (Mirsculous Rabbi Meir) for the Land of Israel. Such boxes were present in every house, rich or poor, and the keys were kept only by the treasurers. The funds were sent to the Rebes, who transferred them to the Land of Israel. Coins were dropped into the boxes during family celebrations, while praying for the healing of the sick or against harsh governmental decrees at troublesome times. The women donated their coins every Friday evening prior to lighting the candles. Poor women were just as adamant about keeping this custom; even those women who used to sit all day as well as a large portion of the night in the open market, selling fruits and vegetables, freezing in the cold winter and roasting in the summer sun, and still hardly earning their bread, could not forfeit their right to drop their penny, or pennies, into the MRM box every Friday night prior to lighting the candles. This charity was considered so important because everybody fully believed that the powers attributed to the Miraculous Rabbi Meir, in whose name they donated their pennies for those who served God in his land, prayed in front of the Wailing Wall, in the holy sites and by Tombs of the Righteous, would eventually protect them against any kind of trouble or disaster. I recall one time, when I was seven or eight years old, I was playing at the house of my friends, of a very important family that had lost its fortune. The father of that family had gone to the great commercial city of Riga to look for a business or a job there, but had not found any yet. The mother and several children remained in the house, and their financial situation was very grave. The children needed bread, and there was none. Succumbing to her distress, the mother took the MRM box from the wall and tried to pull a few pennies through the slot on the cover of the box, to buy bread for her children. But the pennies were big in size, and the slot narrow, so she needed to rattle it back and forth in hope that some pennies would find their way out. However, in the meantime she realized what she was doing and screamed; “Oh, My! What has come to me? MRM funds!” and she hung the box back on the wall. 3 Such was the sense of sacredness among the folks in regards to maintaining the [Jewish] settlement in the Holy Land. 4 MY FATHER AND HIS FAMILY My father, Reb Yehezkel, son of Reb Yaakov Halevi Zalkind blessed be his memory, was a member of an important and distinguished family in the town of Shakalov, in the Mohaliv district in White Russia, located by the Dnieper River. The town was known for its scholars and leaders. My grandfather, Reb Yaakov, son of the Late Eliahu Halevi Zalkind, was among the leaders of Shakalov, a financial supporter and an important and respected community activist. Likewise was his brother, the late Reb Leib Zalkind. Both were involved in wholesale trade of fabrics. My grandfather used to import large portions of fabric from Prussia and distribute them – through his agents – to many Russian towns. My grandfather had four sons and five daughters, all important and honored. The elder son, the late Reb Yisrael Aharon Mordechai Zalkind was also involved in the wholesale textile trade. As a first-class merchant he was granted the privilege of residing outside the Jewish Pale of Settlement, so he could live in Moscow for three months every year. He maintained commercial ties with the big factories of that city and would send large quantities of merchandise from Moscow to the great fairs in various districts of Central Russia, such as the famous fair of Nzsni- Novgorod and others, as well as famous fairs in White Russian towns such as Beshenkovichi, Lubavitch and others. His trade was quite extensive. He was very rich and charitable. The second son, the Late Reb Shmuel Zalkind, settled in Moscow, where he established himself as an agent for textile merchandise. He served as trustee for great merchants from various towns in Russia, who would come to Moscow to buy merchandise from the factories there and made their purchases through him, or would send him their written orders. He lived in Moscow for about thirty years and was very respected by all his acquaintances there. He was the primary treasurer of the great synagogue there, and faithfully served many public needs. He won the respect of government officials, too, and did a great deal for the benefit of Jews from the Pale of Settlement, who were not allowed to live in Moscow but would come there anyway in pursuit of livelihood, which was not available for them in their own towns, due to the overcrowded conditions and the excessive competition among Jews in towns within the Pale of Settlement. Whenever the Moscow police arrested them, either individually or through organized raids conducted at night in residential dwellings and hotels, Reb Shmuel would be notified immediately and rush, using his friendly contacts with police officials, to bail them out at least temporarily, and in most cases he succeeded.