Hamantash, The

What comes to mind when you think of Purim? Costumes, the megillah, gift baskets, and of course, those delectable three-cornered pastries, hamantaschen. Called oznei Haman in Hebrew, these treats filled with poppy seeds (or other fillings) have been a par...

Ten Secrets of Hamantaschen

The “proletarian” shul The following episodes happened in 1935 as well, if I remember correctly. There were only two small synagogues left in Dnepropetrovsk, one at the edge of town and the other at the center. The latter had not been confiscated by the g...

Midnight wedding Until this point, Rebbetzin Chana’s memoirs have been more or less chronological, tracing events from her husband’s arrest until his passing, with only occasional flashbacks. Now she recounts her memories of the era before the arrest, not...

The funeral By morning, our yard was already full of people of all backgrounds—men, women, young and old. My husband had lived there so briefly—less than four months—during part of which time he lay critically ill. Yet, he drew in people so closely that t...

Nothing was easy At this point, my husband was no longer able to eat everything. He deeply wished to regain his health, which would enable him to live productively. He saw so many people desiring to see him recover, telling him they needed him and his pos...

Emotional suffering My husband now started to experience great emotional suffering. Although he was surrounded by many people who related to him with the greatest degree of respect and loving devotion imaginable, he longer had the strength, despite all hi...

“Queries from the Haftorah” By Shavuot, my husband’s health already was extremely poor. Nevertheless, he walked to shul, where he gave a lengthy sermon to the congregation, which I was told was very outspoken. Presumably about issues of religious observan...

An “inexhaustible fountain” Our home faced the street, with no gate, so whoever came to visit us was clearly visible from the street. Most of the visitors were bearded, making them particularly conspicuous. Often we would close the shutters to shield our ...