When we moved from Bryant in 1945, Zadie would not go with us because there wasn't a synagogue within walking distance of our new home. Bob and I would take him meals on our bikes until he married. His second and third marriages appeared happy. When he died, we did clean out his closet and found the lock broken on the black box where he kept his money. NO banks for him! The wife was highly influenced by her son. SO, what is a surviving wife entitled to, even in a short marriage? The present law states that she gets one half without a will. The proceeds of the house were divided between Aunt Nettie and my Mom. Our only regret is that we could not get a home that was near a synagogue so that Zadie could have spent his last 5 years living with us, assuming that he was willing to leave his favorite synagogue. Howard says that Zadie had the most peace of mind of anyone his has ever met, with religion being the second dominant factor after love of family.
Another strong memory of Zadie Moishe was the time that he fell off of a scaffold on a Friday afternoon. He broke his collarbone but would not go to the doctor until after the Sabbath because he would not travel on the Sabbath. He never retired from work. He worked at Uncle Louis's "barrel " business for many years.
He had his own wine press and made his own wine for the holidays and Sabbath. We enjoyed watching the process in the basement of our house. He had an excellent voice and once went to a congregation out of town to be the Cantor on the High Holy Days. So, that is where his sons Ben and Jack inherited their fine voices.
Zaydie Moishe did not like the "old country" because he was in the Russian Army for a period of time Can you imagine an extremely Orthodox Jewish person surviving in the Russian army and trying to practice his religion?
Zaydie made a Succah every year, complete with a wooden table and bench, and I remember eating with him there after the meal was passed out to him from the bedroom window by his wife and later by my Mom. I remember seeing my grandmother on the second floor of the synagogue smiling down at us where we were sitting with Zaydie.
Baubie taught my Mom to cook before the age of ten and my Mom said her Mom taught the importance of Shalom Bias, a happy home. The happy home had absolutely nothing to do with material objects. When Baubie came over to this country the first time she brought with her a person named Max, who was not her son but was represented as such. Aunt Nettie said that her Mom told her that a person at immigration said that she was too young to have a son as old as Max but did not make an issue of it. I remember Max living in Detroit and being in the "barrel business." I can remember how upset he was at the Shiva for Baubie. My Mom said that Baubie was a glass cutter in the "Old Country" but did not practice the trade here. That is where Nettie probably inherited her wonderful artistic ability.