Thursday, December 18, 2014

Today's Menorah

Tonight we light 3 candles + the shamash (the candle that lights the 3).  No latkes or other fried foods.  The Hubz is on a diet, and all that greasy goodness makes my acid reflux go through the roof.  We'll pretend.


I tried to photograph it on the table, but it is so dark and gloomy in my dining room that the results were bad.  I promise you that we won't light the candles on the chair.

Is she not the cutest Statue of Liberty?  I love her face.


Pretty much the immigration story of early 20th century.  My family came here much later.  My grandma on my mother's side was widowed while she was pregnant with her third child.  She had a sister here already.  So when her kids were just about old enough (my mom was about 6!), she left them with her mother, my great-grandmother, and came here to make a new life for herself and her children.  My great aunt, Tzili Neni (Aunt Tzili in Hungarian) sponsored her.  Mom and her brothers came here sometime in 1928.  The three young teens traveled by themselves from Szalard, Rumania (which was Hungarian before WWI) to New York.  None of them spoke a word of English.  Can you imagine your kids doing this today?

My dad got his parents out of Vienna, Austria right after the Anschluss.  They were smart and saw the Nazis coming in and knew they had to escape.  His brother made it to what was then Palestine.  His sister and husband barely got out and went to England.

So that immigration menorah truly speaks to me.  It's my favorite!


7 comments:

Linda Watson said...

This gave me goosebumps. Not only is the menorah wonderful, and I'm so glad to have you as a friend, but the story. It's what we're about in this country. Nourishing hopes and dreams and creating a better life. Thank you!

Terri said...

There's a story of courage. Write that down somewhere and give all the particular names and places. It's the stories that are the best part of family trees. I have dry lists of names, but my hubby's family tree is filled with stories. So interesting.
Hugs

SusanLayne said...

These stories are the treasures of the generations. Thanks for sharing yours!

SusanLayne

SharonO said...

Thank you. It is good to be reminded of the brave people who made the dangerous journey to a strange country filled with voices they couldn't understand and dreams they could and gave us a home.

Deborah Weber said...

I'm so happy to have found my way here to your blog Ruth. What a precious immigration story and the menorah is fabulous.

Kitten With a Whiplash said...

Sorry for the belated Holiday greetings, I've been the bad kind of busy over at Mom's in the Land Of No Computing. Very Best Wishes for the Very Best New Year!

Unknown said...

Great story. Beautiful menorah. Where can it be purchased?

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