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| Blogs > tazzerman2000 > Cosmic Debris Part Three! |
My favorite places (Part 2)
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My favorite places (Part 2)  Please read Part 1 first if you haven't already. My favorite places My cousins Jack and Marilyn were very close to both me and my sister Merrie. This closeness actually went on for years if not decades but finally came to an end not that long ago. Jack passed away about 3 months ago and Marilyn currently lives in Costa Rica, is married and has almost nothing to do with the rest of the family. Why you might ask? We REALLY don't know. There will be more about these two later on in this saga but for now, let's concentrate on some of my fondest memories from El Paso. Some of my earliest memories are all centered around my grandmothers kitchen. She lived in a small apartment close to both Uncle Joe and Aunt Esther house AND the temple. We were there quite often. She baked and baked a LOT. Jewish pastries called Rugelach were standard fare and man could that little woman turn them out. All different kinds of fillings and everyone was total perfection and delicious. She made Mandelbread, (Biscotti) Hamantaschen during Purim and lemon bars to die for just about anytime and of course, Challah. (Jewish egg bread) I remember walking into her kitchen and just being overwhelmed by the smell of something delicious baking off in her oven or her, covered in flour, kneading something that you just KNEW was going to be absolutely delicious! The other distinct memory I have and I can see it in my minds eye just as clearly today as the when I was there was the Yiddish newspaper sitting on the kitchen table. My grandmother spoke VERY little English. She was born and raised in what today is Belarus in what was called a shtetl. Have you ever seen Fiddler on the Roof? There ya go.  She and my grandfather emigrated to the U.S. in 1901. They left after the last of what I understand where HORRIBLE progroms and from what I understand, my grandfather was not a fan of either the Czars OR the new on the block, the Bolsheviks so he packed up the family and moved to the good ol U.S. of A. They embarked from the port of Danzig, came across steerage and eventually landed at Ellis Island in NYC. Classic right? I really don't have any memories of my grandfather on my mothers side. He passed away when I was about one. There are pictures of him holding me, laughing and obviously enjoying his little grandson and my mom/sister used to tell me that he just loved me more than anything. Nobody ever really knew how old my grandmother was. She even caused a commotion at Ellis Island because she refused to give her age. We did try and figure it out one time and between my mother and aunt Esther, we figured she had to be somewhere around 95-97 yrs old when she finally passed away. As a side note, I took advantage of the Ellis Island Project, did a search and sure enough, I was able to find the actual ships manifest that clearly shows her name and 1901/Danzig (No birthdate though! ). (Danzig was a HUGE port of embarkation during that period) One other omni-present item found in my grandmothers kitchen was the jar full of chicken schmaltz. What's that you might ask? Rendered chicken fat my friends. The stuff that has claimed the lives of more Jewish men than just about everything else put together! They would use it in cooking of course but it sat on the table and folks would take a piece of bread or something and spread some schmaltz right on it and chow down. OMG! Hadn't they EVER heard of cholesterol? I guess not. My grandmother was a feisty old broad and tough as nails. You certainly did NOT want to get on her bad side. Every Saturday morning, she would dress in her finest dress, coat, hat and shoes and walk the 2-3 blocks to the temple for the Sabbath services. Rain or shine, cold or hot, she would walk. She observed the Sabbath and would NEVER even think of getting a ride to shul. It just did NOT happen my friends. The Friday night Sabbath dinner was always something special. She didn't go to the store and buy ready made items, oh no.. She made her own Gefilte fish, chicken soup, roasted chicken or a brisket that would just melt in your mouth. The Friday night Sabbath dinner was the high point of her week and she would go all out with her finest china, crystal and silverware set on the big table in her dining room. Everything had to be perfect and it was.. I still have her crystal set btw She lived long enough to come to my Bar Mitzvah when I was 13. I remember leading the services and looking at the crowd and there in the very front seat was my grandmother, beaming with pride as I lead the congregation, read from the Torah and chanted my Haftorah. My aunt and uncle finally made the move to Miami and took her with them. Eventually, they put her into an old age home, The Blackstone in what is NOW South Beach. Back then, the area was run down, almost decrepit and pretty much all/totally Jewish. A few years after she passed away they started to restore all of the old Art Deco hotels in S. Beach and today the Blackstone is a GORGEOUS hotel, totally refurbished and enjoying a new 'hey day' if you will. |
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wow..you mean the blackstone was the hip place in 1940's??? right???
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