Nadene Goldfoot
Leia noticed smoke coming from her wooden house. She ran to help put out the fire, but it grew worse and she backed off. Others came running. A house on fire among all the other wooden houses was deadly. To save theirs, they had to put out this fire.
Luckily, they lived on the shores of Lake Mastis,, so water was nearby. They didn’t save the house, but saved the others this way.
The city was Telsiai, one of the oldest towns in Lithuania. Meier ran to Leia and hugged her, letting her know that her parents and brothers and sisters were all right. Meir adored Leia, hoping to marry soon. He was working for the Russians, who were now one of three superpowers in the country, others being the Prussians and Austrians. Soon, he hoped, to have enough money to build a house for them.
2,500 people lived in Telsiai in 1797 and of them, 1,650 were Jews (66%). By 1897, the Jewish population numbered 3,088, 51% of the total population.
Jews were expelled during World War I, but by 1939, 2800 had returned, out of a general population of 8000. Many were involved in trade which included produce, wood, and crafts.
A major source of income was the famous Telšiai Yeshiva, (a school for Talmudic study, sometimes called a rabbinical college). It was the largest and most famous yeshiva in Lithuania between 1875 and 1941, establishing Telšiai as a center of Torah studies (the entire body of religious law and learning, including both sacred literature and oral tradition). There was also an Orthodox Jewish rabbinical seminary and a Jewish day school providing secular and religious instruction for younger children.
At the age of 15, inspired by an article he read, the soon to be become famous Hayim Nahman Bialik convinced his grandfather to send him to the Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania, to study at a famous Talmudic academy under Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, where he hoped he could continue his Jewish schooling while expanding his education to European literature as well.
No wonder that citizens were proud of their Litvak heritage. It was a main center of learning. Meir spent all his extra hours after work studying here and Dora was proud of him for doing so. It gave her time to do things she wanted to accomplish.
Marek Sats, the kosher butcher, father of Meir, tapped Meir on the shoulder, motioning him to follow along the side of the burning house. There they found a pail and the remains of a can of petrol. The fire had been started on purpose. They both understood. It’s because they were Jews. They were the majority here in a majority Gentile country.
The Poles held a rebellion in 1830, hoping to overthrow Russia rule, and Leia and Meir suffered both from the rebels and from the Cossacks, even though Meir had a friend among them.
Meir’s friend, Menashe Likniker, was even accused of helping the rebels and he also worked for the Russians. He was hanged by these Russian rulers.
This caused the authorities in Telsiai to arm the population and to enlist men to fight the rebels.
Jews vocalized their thoughts, saying that they shouldn’t conscript Jews into the army, as they had no arms and also didn’t know how to use them. Instead, they offered to supply the army with the necessary materials, such as steel, leather, gunpowder, etc, to which the authorities agreed, and a document was signed to this effect.
Meir worked hard, shlepping hides to the Russians to be made into leather boots for the soldiers.
Shooting was coming from many of the houses. Meir ran home to get his gun to defend Leia and their Zalman and Rokhel. He ran into a spray of bullets and dropped. Leia screamed and ran to him, holding his head up. Meir’s head turned and Leia felt the life seep out of him. She sighed, picked up his rifle and held it to her eyes, and shot. Leia had taken his place. Their children would live.
Sam Gold had just interviewed a Harry Zeitz as a roommate in his big home in Portland, Oregon. Sam was working for the Health Department of Beaverton, and this fellow was a student at the Law School at Lewis & Clark College. They would get along fine.
Weeks went by and Harry mentioned that he had a sister back in Norfolk, Connecticut a few years younger than Sam and would it be all right if she wrote to Sam?
“Of course, bring her on,” smiled Sam.
The correspondence went well. They had much in common. Both loved possums. Sam sent her a toy one. Both loved dogs. Sam had had several growing up.
Finally came the day when Dora flew out to see her brother, and of course to meet Sam. They had a glorious time walking through the parks. Dora quickly learned where all the great spots were for entertainment and the young men enjoyed her visit more than they cared to say. Then she flew back home.
Before they could imagine, a wedding was planned and the two lovebirds were together again in the same nest, Sam’s family home in Portland.
Time went by and they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.
After talking to a genealogist on the phone, Dora screamed! Oy vey! I can’t believe this! She couldn’t wait to tell Sam.
“What happened,” he asked?
Dora caught her breath and gasped. “ I just found out that my Sats relatives came from Telsiai, Lithuania, and so did your Gold relatives! They must have known each other ! It’s all proven by our DNA and by the genealogist who found both families living there. How often can such a thing like this happen? This is amazing!! It must be a one in a million event! Somehow, two people in love married long ago in Telsiai and today their descendants got back together for another love story event in Portland, Oregon.
Sam, the scientist, looked at Dora and replied. "It could be just a coincidence."
Dora thought a moment,, then had the last word. "There is no such thing as a coincidence. It is part of the great plan!
"Really," Sam said quietly with a smile on his face. "Is it simply a colloquialism that signifies our faith in God’s Divine Providence, His ability to intervene in earthly affairs to ensure that His is carried out on earth? Divine Providence and God’s intervention in nature are certainly widely accepted tenets of Jewish faith. But to say that there is no such thing as a coincidence sounds to me like a stronger claim; it suggests more than the assertion that God has the power to intervene in the natural order or even that He does so whenever He chooses. It implies necessity.
"Why not?" Dora whispered in Sam's ear. " Well, they do say our city is a weird place !"
Resource:
Update on Yeshiva, 6/2022
Preserving Our Litvak Heritage, a history of 31 Jewish communities in Lithuania by Josef Rosin with Joel Alpert, editor, by Jewishgen.inc.
FTDNA results
https://www.britannica.com/event/November-Insurrection
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALiCzsbTtgbXw59ErzsynfcXRO-CrxZr5g:1654263626594&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=Telz,+Lithuania&fir=Zb8h9zsBI-9dpM%252CsEKSn-Ce7cEugM%252C_%253BBSZDnbtnjvxyIM%252C59ctka2bXOo6NM%252C_%253BVSqcwIbQm_DVyM%252C59ctka2bXOo6NM%252C_%253BIX9l2pgq5ZY4GM%252CC5K0uVqx-jMeqM%252C_%253BF4tdh9L3bx325M%252CmBIw38xmEXx01M%252C_%253BkwJZ3TB33uMlSM%252CC5K0uVqx-jMeqM%252C_%253Bp_xf7Xp8bfjulM%252C59ctka2bXOo6NM%252C_%253Bz1FImAU5XZbeZM%252Cr3QLlXyfp5t-5M%252C_%253B6Kll3ZTdlBuMsM%252Cjfg9RHcgJG7i8M%252C_%253BHpb6j1iLrRkQiM%252CS3VeEcO_K6z8dM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kRHd7_VGk8mjJOcL75VYKHQivaxgA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3ts-etJH4AhW6FjQIHXJ_AdwQ7Al6BAgzEDk&biw=1745&bih=881&dpr=1.1 (many pictures of Telsiai, Lithuania)
Trip to Telsiai (Telz)-the capital of Samogitia (unique area in Lithuania with local dialect and has been known in the world as a spiritual centre of Jews.
Tour in Telz:
• Telz jeshyvah- Telšiai yeshivah, as a higher rabbinic school, was established in 1873 by rabbi Gaon Leizer Gordon. Telšiai yeshivah in the XIX century was acknowledged as one of the biggest in the world, there have improved the practicing rabbis from England, the U.S.A., Uruguay, SAR, Hungary and other countries. In the yashivah there have had studied up to 500 rabbis at a time.
• Former jewish hospital
• Jewish cemetery
• former synagogues (4) of Telz
• Telz old town and city centre
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