The Next Pair Of Shoes
Also available at Judaica stores worldwide
The Next Pair of Shoes is the remarkable journey of young 22 year old Froyim in the early 1900s leaving behind poverty, fear, violence and pogroms to cross the Atlantic in search of a better life, unaware that new challenges await him on the other side. He also left behind the things most precious to him; his wife, young baby, aging parents, and his beloved town. Even before the train has left the station for the port, he is plagued by doubts, yet bound by the silent promise he made to his brother to join him abroad.
This gripping historical novel is a carefully woven tale of filial love, spousal separation, sacrifice, bravery, and self-doubt. Follow Froyim on his journey from Lomazy, Poland to Buenos Aries where troubles seem to follow him. Will his next move to North America become his permanent residence or merely accentuate the clashes he feels in his heart? Will he be able to stave off hunger and depression or succumb to his new circumstances leaving his wife an agunah?
The pain and struggle of separation is equally acute for his wife Fraidel Leah still living on increasingly dangerous East European shores with the hope that her beloved husband has not forgotten her while toiling alone in foreign lands to earn money for her passage. How does she, the sole breadwinner for her family, survive when war breaks out, living in a city surrounded by foreign soldiers and her home occupied, first with cruel Russians and then with ruthless Germans?
When reunion finally seems close at hand, old memories derail it, until a relative comes up with a scheming plan to help Froyim win back his long-separated wife and child.
This story is but one, representing hundreds of thousands, like it; though the details vary from story to story, every family whose relatives came to the Americas, chasing freedom and safety, can relate to this heartfelt recounting of one such odyssey. This story will kindle in my readers a newfound appreciation for those who dared to cross the ocean to pave the way to secure a better future for their progeny and will leave them with a profound impression of the circumstances surrounding the lives of their ancestors.
Book Excerpts
Froyim and Yosef stood silent, gazing into each other’s eyes. They embraced with the desperation of not just brothers, but the same soul about to be rent in two.
“Promise me you’ll come to me,” pleaded Yosef.
Froyim was silent, his body limp, tears stinging his eyes. He nodded silently.
Lomazy was close to the border, and it was common for Russian troops to trek through the town, availing themselves of food or other items from the stores without paying. On one market day, a rifle banged on the table in front of Fraidel Leah. She jumped up and found herself face-to-face with a lone soldier with a scarred chin. He stared menacingly at Fraidel Leah as he circled their stall. He pointed to the rice and Didi handed him a satchel of rice with trembling hands. He grabbed it and sauntered away toward the road that led out of town, glancing back to glare at them once more, an unspoken threat glinting in his eyes.
The streetcar driver noticed his strange behavior.
“Where’re you going, lad?” he asked Froyim when they reached the last stop one afternoon.
“Nowhere.”
“Are you lost?”
“Lost in a country not my own.”
“Ah,” the driver nodded his head knowingly. “You and everyone else in this city.”
Dear Froyim,
I am writing to you as I promised. I arrived safely, Baruch Hashem. It was a long journey and the sea could go from calm to stormy before I could finish reciting the Shema. I admit I was scared when the winds whipped up and I was surrounded by the vast sea with no land or ships in sight. But Froyim, my brother, it was also an awesome sight to be sailing on this huge ocean that God created.
One morning while he was plowing the fields, Froyim’s donkey froze in its path and refused to keep going no matter how much Froyim urged him on. Then he understood why: he heard a low growl behind him and turned to see the sun glinting off of a pair of menacing eyes. He was being watched by a feral wolf. In the split second that it took Froyim to process what was happening, the wolf sprang at him.
Glossary
Agunah: A woman who is chained to a dead marriage because her husband refuses to give her a Jewish divorce or cannot be found to do so, preventing her from going on with her life and remarrying
Alef-bet: Hebrew alphabet
Aleichem Sholom: “Unto you peace,” the response to “Sholom Aleichem”
Baruch Hashem: Thank G-d
Bashert: Soulmate
Be’ezras Hashem: With G-d’s help
Bench Gomel: Recite the prayer of gratitude for surviving a potentially dangerous situation
Bet Din: Jewish court
Bochur: Young man
Bris: Circumcision and celebration
B’symcha: Joyously
Bulke: Small roll
Challah: Egg- or water-based bread baked for religious occasions
Chanukah: The Festival of Lights, celebrated yearly for eight days to commemorate the miraculous victory of the Jews over the invading Hellenists
Chas v’shalom: G-d forbid
Chavrusa: Partner for Jewish study and debate
Cheder: Jewish school for young children
Chessed: Loving-kindness/good deeds
Chevra Kaddisha: People who perform the rituals (such as cleansing) involved with preparing a body for burial
Chumash: Pentatauch; 5 books of Moses
Daven: Pray
Dein Bruder iz tierer: Your brother is dear
Der mentsh trakht un Got laukht: Man plans and G-d laughs
Dror Yikrah: An ancient song sung on Shabbos following a meal
Eretz Yisroel: The Land of Israel
Fune vanit kumtsu: Where are you from
Gemorra: Talmud, the compilation of discussions regarding law and the Oral Torah
Get: Jewish divorce document
Gevald: A Yiddish exclamation of distress
Goldene Medina: Golden Land
Goyim: Non-Jews
Hashem: G-d
Hatzlacha: Success
Kaddish: Prayer of mourning recited in shul by the children, parents, siblings, or spouse of the deceased
Kallah: Bride
Kashe: Buckwheat
Kasket: Cap, traditionally made of felt
Kiddish: Prayer recited over a cup of wine before Shabbos meals
Kinder: Children
Kosher: Meets Jewish dietary restrictions
Lag B’Omer: The 33rd day of the Omer; a day of celebration in honor of the death of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the cessation of a plague that decimated students of Rabbi Akiva.
Maariv: Evening Prayers
Masechet: Tractate
Mazel tov: Congratulations
Melamed: Teacher of Jewish subjects
Menorah: Ritual candelabra, lit with oil marking the miracle of Chanukah.
Meshugena: Crazy
Mezuzah: A scroll in a case, containing the text of the Shema and hung in the entryways of Jewish-owned homes and businesses
Mikva: Pool of rainwater for ritual immersion and purification
Mincha: Afternoon prayers
Minyan: A group of ten or more men praying together.
Mohel: A person who preforms ritual circumcision
Moshe Rabeinu: Moses
Motzei Shabbos: Saturday night after Shabbos ends
Parnosa: Livelihood
Parshah: Weekly segment of the Torah read aloud in shul
Peyos: Sideburns
Rosh HaShonah: The Jewish New Year
Sefer: Book
Sefer Torah: Torah scroll containing the Pentateuch
Schechita: Kosher butchery
Shabbos: The Sabbath
Shabbosim: Plural of Shabbos
Shacharit: Morning prayers
Shadchan: Matchmaker
Shavuos: Holiday celebrating the Jewish people receiving the Torah
Shecheyanu: Prayer recited when one eats or experiences something new
Shema: Prayer recited affirming the Oneness of G-d
Shemoneh Esrei: The prayer recited thrice daily in silence while standing
Shidduch: Marital match
Shlomo Hamelech: King Solomon
Shochtim: Kosher butchers
Sholom Aleichem: “Peace unto you,” a greeting
Shtetl: Jewish village in Eastern Europe
Shul: Synagogue/temple
Siddur: Prayer book
Siddurim: Plural of siddur
Symcha: Joy
Symchadike: Joyful/jovial
Talleisim: Prayer shawls
Tanach: The Pentateuch, Prophets, and Writings
Tatte: Father
Te adoro: I love you
Tefillin: Phylacteries containing the text of the Shema, worn during morning prayers
Tehillim: Psalms
Tierer kind: Dear child
Tikun Adom: Fixing/helping mankind
Tikun Olam: Fixing/helping the world
Tisha B’Av: The ninth of the month of Av; a day of fasting over the destruction of the First and Second Temples.
Torah: Pentetauch/the extended Jewish Bible (including Prophets and Writings)
Triefe Medina: Unholy Land
Tzeducka: Charity
Tzitzis: Fringes on a four-cornered garment worn by Jewish men
Upsherin: A boy’s first haircut and a celebration of his introduction to Jewish learning on his third birthday
Yarmulka: Skull cap
Yarzeit: Anniversary of a death
Yarzeit licht: Candles lit to commemorate the deceased
Yeshiva: Institute of higher Jewish learning
Yichus: Ancestral line
Yid: Jew
Yidden: Jews
Yiddishkeit: Judaism
Yiddishe: Jewish
Yom tov: Holiday