In the long run, age was less of a problem than mindset. During the war, family issues had supplanted education as my grandmother’s main concern. As much as she had wanted a degree, she first wanted to bring her siblings, and possibly even her parents, to America.
“Who could think about studying?” she asked years later. “At night I would bring home piecework from the factory to make extra money to send to Europe for tickets.”
Together with Uncle Joe, she brought over her two oldest brothers, Avrum in 1920 and Benzion in 1923. The Ellis Island immigration official suggested to Avrum that Eisenberg would for some unknown reason be easier to spell in English than Ensenberg, and the American branch of the family adopted the new name.
Both brothers rapidly settled into American life, Abie becoming a salesman on the Lower East Side, Benny a dental mechanic making false teeth and later a butcher, jobs where one could remain shomer Shabbos.
Freida Sima, specializing in popular beaded handbags, was appointed factory forelady with a salary of seven dollars a week. Thrilled to be reunited, she and her brothers formed a close family unit, sending money back to Europe to bring over additional family members.
But Freida Sima realized her dreams of an American education had slipped away. ”
“Abie managed to go to night school,” my grandmother sighed, “but for me it was already too late.”
But not too late to continue learning outside of the classroom in any way she could, something she would do for the rest of her life.
Now it was time for them to build their lives in America. Benny was still too young for matchmaking, but Abie had already set eyes on his teenage cousin Minnie who came to America in 1922, declaring she would one day be his bride.
He knew, however, that by the dictates of tradition he would have to wait for his older sister to marry first. So he began urging my grandmother to choose a husband from among the many suitors who had expressed an interest in her over the years.
Thus began the courtship of Freida Sima, but that is an episode in my grandmother’s life that deserves a story of its own.
(This installment of the Frieda Sima series is dedicated to the memory of my great-great uncle Joseph Scharf who brought my grandmother to America and whose 51st yahrzeit was on Gimel Kislev, Nov. 15.)
