"I have many recollections of my grandfather
Chatzkel, but in the absence of a one on one conversation, I will
try and relate a few.
Chatzkel was Orthodox, going to shul twice a day at the Jewish
Home for the Aged just around the corner from our house. He lived
upstairs with Bertha and Phil Sheff and I lived downstairs. When I
was about 6, he got an aged rabbi from the Home to come to my
house to give me Hebrew lessons until I decided I wanted a Hebrew
education with other students in a more conservative setting. He
was a shoemaker and had a tiny store in the ethnic neighborhood of
Legion Avenue in New Haven. When he retired, he continued to fix
shoes in our basement. How I wish I had his tools now. He never
let me discard old shoes, always fixing them up and shining them
brightly to get a little more wear out of them.
Every year, he would
purchase grapes, borrow a wine press and make a year's supply and
I would help him in this chore. Every Friday night I would go
upstairs and say Kiddush with him.
He was a very active man and even at his old age, he would shovel
the snow, sweep the leaves and other outdoor chores, saving me the
job of doing it. He loved to sing and joyously would sing the
Kiddush and all the songs at the Passover Seders. His pleasures
were drinking a few schnapps and smoking cigars. That made gift
giving easy for his children. He also loved to dance and at
weddings he would always be on the floor with all eyes watching
him as he pranced about. He would entertain by doing the Russian
Kazatzka. How I wish I had questioned him more about his life in
the old country." -- grandson Kenneth Burack
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