The gift and legacy of our Jewish immigration
One of the main topics of focus now is immigration. It has encouraged me to think of how my grandparents migrated to this country at the end of the 19th century. There is a story in my book “Pathfinding: Seven Principles for Positive Living,” that my father, alav ha shalom, told in my book. Without this story I wouldn’t know this part of my heritage.
“In Czarist Russia, most Jews were orthodox, and Jewish boys attended their own schools, called Yeshivas. There was a military draft for all boys of military age. When Jewish boys were drafted into the czar’s army, they were treated as inferiors. They could not obtain Kosher foods. So, it wasn’t surprising that many of the Jewish boys facing military service left Russia before they could be drafted. Where did they go? They went to America.
“Your grandfather, as a youth, traveled all over Siberia. He was an entrepreneur and a salesman, so it wasn’t surprising that when he faced the draft, he decided to leave Russia and go to America. He sewed five hundred dollars into the lining of his coat. That is all that he owned. He kissed his mother goodbye, said goodbye to his friends, and left for America.
“At that time there was an underground that operated throughout Europe, and it was able to spirit Jewish boys from town to town westward until they got to the German border. Once they got to Germany, they could board a ship that was bound for America. Your grandfather got all the way across Poland, and at the last Jewish outpost of the underground there was a family who had an eligible daughter. Her father took a fancy to your grandfather and demanded that he marry his daughter. But your grandfather didn’t want to marry his daughter. They threatened him that if he didn’t marry her, they would turn him in to the authorities. So, during that night, he sneaked out and escaped.
“He made his own way across Germany, got on a ship from Germany and came to New York. Later when he settled in America, he brought some of his family over, including your great-grandmother. Your great-grandfather died in Russia.
“Your grandfather left New York and came to Boston with the help of people he knew from the old country. There he started his own business and proceeded to raise his own family.”
My grandfather left an incredible legacy, and his courage and persistence are qualities that define each generation of our family. Let’s think about our own heritage and that so many of us are the result of the immigration of our grandparents and great-grandparents.
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