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Updated: May 21, 2025
The busiest man during these troublous times was Itzig Maier, the beadle, whose acquaintance we have already made as the messenger sent by Bensef to the bal-shem at Tchernigof. The condition of Itzig and his family had not improved since we last saw him.
An antique brass lamp, polished like a mirror, hangs from the ceiling, and the flame from its six arms sheds a soft light upon the table beneath. A number of silver candlesticks among the dishes add to the illumination. On this evening, Mordecai returned from the synagogue with his son Mendel, a lad of thirteen, and his brother-in-law, Hirsch Bensef, a resident of Kief.
The doctors in the Jewish community were consulted, but were powerless to effect a cure. Bensef and his wife were in despair. "What shall we do?" said Miriam, sadly. "We cannot let the boy die." "Die?" cried Hirsch, becoming pale at the thought. "Oh, God, do not take the boy! He has wound himself about my heart. Oh, God, let him live!" "A feldsher in the Jewish community?
The quiet dignity which had distinguished Mendel since he had become a student vanished. He became a child again, embracing and caressing his parents, weeping at their sorrows, laughing over their deliverance, and asking a thousand questions without waiting for replies. It was decided that for the present the fugitives should remain with Bensef as his guests.
"He said that if a poor man would marry an equally poor girl, under a chuppe erected in the cemetery between two newly made graves, God's anger would be appeased and the scourge would end. To-day Bensef sought me out. 'Itzig, he said, 'you have a daughter. I know a husband for her.
Philip paused and, toying with his massive watch-chain, tried hard not to see the indignant glances that threatened to consume him. Bensef arose from his chair in sheer desperation. "What would you have us do?" he asked, angrily. "Desert the ceremonies of our forefathers and surrender to the ungodly?" "Not by any means," was the quiet rejoinder.
God still held happiness in reserve for his chosen people. When the boy concluded his exercises, kisses and congratulations were showered upon him by his admiring friends. "Hirsch Bensef is right," said Mordecai to his wife. "Mendel ought to go to some large city. He has wonderful talents. He may become a great rabbi. Who can tell?"
Many of these commands were excellent at the time in which they were given, but change of circumstances has made them absurd." "What is godly at one time cannot become ungodly at another," said Bensef, with determined obstinacy. "No; but what is beautiful and appropriate in one land may become the reverse in a different country, or at another period.
His uncle Bensef, who had shared his bed, now endeavored to interfere, but a blow from the stalwart Cossack sent him to the opposite corner of the room. Quickly they inspected the boy, taking a mental note of his height and appearance, and, barely giving him time to put on his clothing, hurried him into the arms of the soldiers waiting without. "You have another son!
"Is the child sick?" asked Bensef, advancing to the cradle and observing the poor half-starved creature struggling and whining for relief. "Yes, it is sick. God knows whether it will recover. It is dying of hunger and thirst and I have no money to buy it medicines or nourishment." "Does your husband earn nothing?" "Very little. There have been no funerals and no weddings for several months."
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