The Reform Advocate (Chicago, Illinois) (December 28, 1907)
FULFILLED PROMISES .
A Love Story From Real Life .
By O . Leonard .
(Continued from page 568.)
Life seemed to be abundant everywhere and love, the wizzard which keeps the world ever young, seemed to reign supreme. Every living being seemed to pay tribute to this all-powerful monarch, whose reign is not that of the rod, but that of tenderness. This little wizzard breathed his life substance until the atmosphere was filled with that something which makes life sweet, with that something which keeps us all alive, which makes us dare to hope for the best, impossible as the realization of our hopes may seem at other times.
It is needless to say that amidst such surroundings , living in such an atmosphere, breathing this love laden air, Joseph and Sarah were attracted even more toward each other. Their opportunities for meeting had been scant during the winter. For, after their parents had learned how much the young people loved each other, a closer watch was kept over them.
Reb Shmiel Minkes was wealthy, he was of good ancestry and he was very proud. He was determined not to allow his son to marry into the family of the man he called “kelble” (calf.) He could not forgive Reb Moishe for having become a great merchant after coming almost penniless from Jassy to Dorohoi. When he learned that Reb Moishe was the son of a shoemaker and that in spite of his lack of “iches” (good ancestry) he dared become a business rival of Reb Shmiel Minkes, the man with select ancestry in whose family were two rabbis, several “shochtim”, not to speak of “chazunim”, his wrath knew no bounds.
Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case might be, hearts seem to be prophetic and Reb Moishe felt that his rival in business was not friendly to him. This of course made him work against Reb Shmiel more ardently and thereby his own success in business was greater. The more he was snubbed by Reb Shmiel, the more he was regarded by the latter as a man of lowly birth, the greater became his ambition to gain wealth in order to overshadow “the Chusid” as he called his rival on account of the latter’s admiration for wonder working rabbis. He wanted to become superior at least in business matters.
On learning that their children were in love, each father tried to disuade his child. All means were used, kindness, anger, threats, appeals to pride, to filial love, to duty. But love seemed to grow stronger and stronger in each case. The more the parents objected to the match, the greater became the longing, the yearning, of the lovers for each other. That ancient desire for the thing hardest to attain, or unattainable, played its part in the case of Joseph and Sarah.
With the arrival of spring they longed for each other more than ever. One day after they had met secretly in the park and the girl's father learned of it from a neighbor, he decided to send his daughter away from Dorohoi. When Sarah was informed by her father that she must go to Jassy, she was very unhappy. The thought of leaving Joseph behind, of not seeing him for weks, perhaps for months, of being away from him miles, made her shudder. Everything seemd dark to her. She was determined, however, to see Joseph before going away and to talk it over with him. She felt he would find some way out of the difficulty, or at least arrange to correspond with her.
She was sitting on a bench in the same secluded spot where they met several months ago. This time the park looked no longer like a cemetery, the dead leaves no longer lay on the ground like so many dead soldiers. Now there was life everywhere. As Sarah leaned back on the bench half hoping, half despairing, Joseph approached quietly and hiding behind a big tree, beside which stood the bench where sat his beloved, he stroked her hair gently. The touch startled her and turning quickly she spied Joseph.
“Oh, Joseph, how you frightened me.”
“I did not mean to frighten you “feigalle” (little bird). Did you think it was someone trying to flirt with my darling?” asked Joseph, slipping his arm gently about her waist as he sat down.
“Why is my “maidale” so sad today? Has anyone been unkind to you?”
Sarah tried to keep back her tears as she said with a broken voice:
“They want to send me away from here. Papa told me to get ready to go to Jassy.”
Joseph looked at her in astonishment as he asked:
“And what did you say?”
“Of course I do not want to go, but I did not say anything; I wanted to speak to you first.”
“Suppose you say you do not want to go to Jassy—”
“I hardly think I can do that,” Sarah interrupted, “for it would increase papa's anger, which is already great. He feels hurt indeed because I met you after he had warned me never to speak to you again.”
Joseph remained thoughtful for a few moments, then after kissing Sarah gently on the hand which he held in his, he suggested:
“Suppose you go then and I follow you in a few days.”
Sarah looked at her lover with mingled astonishment and tenderness. She could hardly grasp the meaning and she repeated his words to herself to make sure she understood what he said:
“Suppose, I go and you follow me in a few days? What good will it do us Joseph? What of your father and your mother? You will break their hearts. You are their oldest son and if you leave them they will suffer so much.”
“You see, girlie mine, I thought we could do this way: You go to Jassy and I will follow you shortly afterwards. I have my savings and we will get married in Jassy. When our parents see how happy we are as husband and wife they will forgive us and all will be well. I am sure my father will then be glad to welcome you as his daughter. If I am good to you, your father will love me for it, I know. They will forget about their foolish old business rivalry and we will all be happy.”
Joseph’s consoling words were followed by several kisses, by way of drying Sarah’s tears, and while she became more hopeful, she ventured softly:
“Poor mama too, she has been looking forth all her life to my wedding. It will break her heart to be cheated of this hope which she has cherished so long.”
“Did you not say that your mother sympathizes with you in this matter? If she does she will forgive you, for we shall be married in accordance with the laws of Judaism. She will have plenty of occasions for rejoicing. After our parents have forgiven us, there will be a celebration which will be more joyous than even a wedding.”
It is not necessary to record everything the lovers said. It is enough to acquaint the reader with the fact that they decided to carry out the plan suggested by Joseph. Sarah was to go to Jassy and her lover was to follow.
V.
June, the capricious, with her many-sided character arrived. Like a spoiled baby she cried, now frowned, now smiled beautifully, angelically and now filled the balmy air with so much sweetness that man and beast were glad to be alive. Sarah had been in Jassy for several weeks. Her longing for her lover was great but the daily letters from him made the separation easier to bear. In sending her away from home her father thought to make her forget Joseph. His calculations were wrong. Each day of absence from him whom she loved, intensified her love for him and she was anxiously awaiting the time when he would come to her, fold her in his arms and speak words, sweet words of hope, to her and then carry her off to a world of happiness and dwell with her there for ever.
Joseph would have come to his beloved sooner, had not his father gone from home to purchase goods for his store. He being the head of the business in the absence of his father, took care of everything devotedly, although his heart was in Jassy with her whom he loved as he had never loved anyone before. He watched and waited for the return of his father, like a prisoner counting the days and looking for the happy day when the door of his cell would be thrown wide open and he would walk out a free man, to thread again the grassy fields and feel the caressing sun rays warm his bones, grown chill by the damp atmosphere of the dark-prison, from which the majestic sun is shut out.
At last the happy day came. The arrival of his father made him a free man. The same evening, after making the necessary preparations, Joseph went to Jassy. There was sorrow and uneasiness in the home of his parents, as they did not know what had become of their son, until the next morning when his father found a letter on his desk, in which Joseph said that he had gone for a short trip.
In Jassy , in a modest little house in Staada Alba, a maiden was happy. She had welcomed the one she loved and appointed a meeting place by the messenger who had brought the news of his arrival. They were to meet at the Copou. This park, one of the most beautiful in Roumania, is situated near the city limits and she knew that even Saturdays it was seldom frequented by Jews. She felt that the very few persons who would be there on weekdays will not be apt to know either her or Joseph. She knew that the few wealthy women who take their daily drive in the beautiful park, would not disturb them.
Before the appointed hour, Joseph sat impatiently on a bench near the entrance of the park. He watched the men and women promenading . Nearly all of them were followed by carriages. From time to time a promenader, tired of walking, would mount his or her carriage. Joseph could think of nothing consecutively. He thought of his mother and father and wondered what they were doing: perhaps his mother was weeping on his account at the very moment he was waiting for his beloved. This suggested another train of thought and as he listened eagerly to every footstep, he saw with his mind's eye the figure and features of his Sarah. He saw her soft tender gaze resting upon him. He felt the warmth coming from her eyes penetrate his very soul, as the sun rays penetrate the soil.
(To be continued.)