The San Francisco call., 1904-06-19

Streamed down raster and faster.
Even his own offspring, his sons and
daughters, turned their backs on the
faith of their noble father. The in
Vention killed the inventor"
/ listened to all this with a droop-
ing head. When he had finished he
delivered the sentence 1 expected-I
must leave the Yeshiva at once.
l hurried TO my lodgings. Entering
the house. i found my landlord, Menke,
a. his working table, with a disen-
gagged needle in his hand, his spectacles
lowered almost to the very end of his
nose, one leg thrown over the other
in reflective forgetfulness. His wife,
al his side. had the little finger of her
left hand between her lips, her right
hand supporting the elbow of the left,
and when l came in she moved slightly
forward and heaved deep sigh.
My appearance evidently discon-
certed them. After Menke swallowed
q lump and feigned a faint cough, he
began to say something. but glance
Of his heipmeet sileHced him, and with
out addressing any one in particular
she said: "Oi, OF. what have we come
to in these daysi" and her oil" seemed
to find an echo in her husbands heart.
"Oi." he also intoned, and then re-
mained sitting and looking abstructly
with the disengaged needle in his hand
y
her heavily bewigged head. who ever
heard Of such gzelres Qatal decrees)
in former years? Who ever heard of
Epicurean books? Nu. nu! what an
age to live in Would that my eyes
had not seen it! We took MIN (this to
her husband) into our home to be an
associate TO Shmunke who is a bless
ing tC the town. and now at last even
Israel Teploffker falls into Satan's
snaree. Nu, what an age we live in"
Menke was again about to say
something, but was silenced by an
other look from his spouse.
| came into my room. My trunk, or
rather the wooden box that served as
a trunk. was broken ope;', and all my
books and papers were gone. As !
stood gazing at my few pieces Of un-
derwear that had been thrown out of
the box and now lay scattered about
the room, Shmunke appeared.
"Epicurean. renegade, apostate, sin
ner in Israel" he accosted me in his
nasal voice, you have polluted our
house with your unclean books The
Talmud in Sanhedrin says: He who
reads sacrilegfous books will not enter
the kingdom of heaven l watched
you for a long while" he continued
zealously, swinging his long arms like
the revolving wings Of a windmill, un-
til. thank God! 1 could inform the
authorities in the proper time. And
you get out of this house this very
minute"
l did not answer a word. / gathered
my few belongings from the floor and
rolled them into a bundle Indeed,
this very minute" added Shmunke's
mother who had followed him into cur
ROOM II cannot keep you in my
house a half second. Oh. oh! the
chorem (ban)! Only four years ago
the two daughters of Avrenni der
Schwarze' died in one night because
Rabbi Brill put the ban on them. and
the Mashgiach told me I must drive
you out of the house without sec
ond's delay or the ban will follow"
Groone wrung her hands as she de-
livered this monologue.
"Oh! OH the chorem!" Menke also
ventured the remark, but a glance
from Groone seemed to put him off
again, and he went on stitching the
stiff lining on his lap.
Like Adam and Eve, "some natural
tears dropped but wiped them soen,"
and with wandering steps and slow"
took my solitary way from the PARA
disc. watched by the piercing glaHces
Of the }cherubim. Menke and Groone,
and in dread of the flaming sword,
Shmunke, which turned every way
to keep the way of the tree of life"