Letters from Lida

Fanya! Congratulations and may God give them a lot of happiness. Lisa just came <from afar>, she got engaged. She is sleeping now because she is very tired. Last night I wrote you a letter and planned to send it and forgot about it, so now I am finishing it. I am not going to write anymore, just don’t have time. Tonight I am planning to have a little party, so I have to prepare everything. So, until our meeting soon. Start packing.

The name of the fiancé is Solomon.
They took care of her at our aunt, especially Schenia <?> with his wife.

It's already been a week since Lisa went to stay in Grodno. . She went there w ith Dora and Sonia for Schenia’s wedding, but did not return right away. Beniamin also was there. Here is what is going on: as I wrote you before, uncle Shimshin suggested to Lisa a match with Niankovskij (1) who lived previously in Novogrudok and now he lives in Grodno. He is quite a nice guy, so Lisa went there to get to know him better, as well as everybody in his house, rather than to attend the wedding. Although we know the rest of the household, they visited aunt Chaia (2). They are very rich. I don’t know if anything will come out of it,. We will rely entirely on God. Let it be as it should be. Yesterday also they demanded Shimshin and he left on Thursday night; he was not eager to go at all, and that is why Papa, when we started to talk about it, said that he will give 1,000 dollars. You know how it is possible, but he still left and we have to hope on God. Don’t mention this in your letters, if there will something new I will write you myself. Lisa will be upset, and really, it is not good to talk about it. We don’t have much news at home. There is very little to write about Olia. Portnoj’s apartment is free now, the one in the aunt’s court, and Dora is renovating it for Olia. Meischl is like a real son for Dora, so Olia must be happy (3). Now, how about you? Fanechka, I am writing you as not to a sister, but to a friend, you have to come home. This money should be enough for the trip. This money, as you write, 12 pounds, would go very fast and it is very hard to send money from here and even impossible. Besides you already know Hebrew, so you could make an arrangement or you can go to Vilno in the seminary, or something else will work out. <unclear> your carrier, and you will be with our parents. You now more than anybody must understand what it means to live with your parents. Fanechka, I repeat that it is enough of <not making a decision>, just pack and come, so I won’t have to write you about it again. You are not a child anymore. Is it a goal in life to be a governess? Is it your ideal of life? What good will you get by sitting over there? Fanechka, I would spend this winter in Vilno but I literally cannot leave home because I am taking care about the house, even bake chala sometimes and even do some laundry, so mama has less work. So it is very hard to me to go away, and I more than sure that we could settle you in Vilno somehow. Fanechka, you have to become an adult. What do you think, I don’t know what kind of life you have over there, when we receive a letter from you where you write that you are not coming home? It makes me real mad. I would want to know what do you think to yourself what is ahead of you over there. You have to live by your head. Now, do not make us wait for you too long. It is a pity to waste your health and time for nothing. As about me, it is hard to describe my personal life. Besides, God did not give me a poetic talent, so everything would be very prosaic and uninteresting. Rojanskij is not married yet, I do not know his bride, but they say that she is very pretty. She will come to Lida for Christmas and then I will write you all the details. He stops at our place rather often, as he used to. He makes me sick. I don’t know what fools like him are made from. Abram’s child is very nice, at first it was hard to get used to his name, it was too sacred for us, even now I have tears in my eyes when I say this dear name <maybe some brother who died had the same name?>. I am sending you a picture. Fanechka, you have pictures of all his class, take care of them, these pictures are very dear to me, more than my life, and send me better ones back by mail. You are so messy, they may get lost otherwise. Also, Fanechka, do not spend money on anything, because 12 p. would be barely enough for your travel. I repeat, do not postpone it. We get along well with Shayna (4). Between us, she is such a pig. Imagine, that in all this time I did not have a glass of tea at her place. She does not know what it is to offer something to somebody, a terrible <unclear>. I hate her mother terribly. <unclear> unbearable. Fanya, I know now what a good wife is needed for. A wife talks <unclear>.

I think there will endless talking. Only look, pack, you won’t regret it. Enough, I am finishing this letter, There is nobody at home, tomorrow is Sunday. If Lisa and the uncle will come I will send you a postcard and will send a letter right away. Be happy.

Regards for everybody. You cannot imagine how Shayna sometimes makes me mad – she writes to her family often, she should write you too just a few words. But believe me there is nobody to be angry at. It is not for nothing that all our friends were saying that this is not for us <meaning that we are different and won’t understand>. But you, God forbid, do not think something. We live really well together. I feel sorry for Abram, he saw very little happiness in his life.We get along excellently with her only for his sake..

As you can see I wrote a lot, 8 pages, but there is nothing to read about, terrible emptiness, I do not know how to explain it. And before I used to write good letters and now it does not go well, very hard.

I dream terribly about the time when I will be share with you everything, just cannot wait to do it. I think there is so much to talk about. Don’t forget that we are waiting for you at home.

(1) Uncle Shimshon was Shimshon Pupko, one of Fanya’s paternal uncles. His wife’s maiden name was Niankowski, making it highly likely that this young man was a family connection on that side, if not a direct relation.
(2) Shimshon’s wife.
(3) Olia is Olia Zajczyk of previous letters, who returned to Lida from Palestine. Dora is her mother. Meischl is Moshe Polachek.
(4) Shayna – Fanya’s cousin Abraham Pupko’s wife.

This page is hosted at no cost to the public by JewishGen, Inc., a non-profit corporation. If you feel there is a benefit to you in accessing this site, please consider participating through Jewish-Gen-erosity. Thank you very much.

Letters from Lida - 81