KADDISHEL
A Life Reborn
Ludvipol’s thinking about the future of Israel was modern. As a result, we had many Zionist organizations, mostly for young people. My sister Chava and I belonged to a Zionist youth group, and most of our friends belonged to Zionist organizations. In fact, all the Jewish organizations in Ludvipol at that time were Zionist. They were very important in lifting the morale of the Jews because we lived in fear of anti-Semitic Ukrainians mistreating and beating us. The Jewish organizations brought spirit into the town by teach- ing self-assurance and self-defense. We knew that Judaism originates from Zion. It is said, “Ki m’Zi - on tetzay Torah ud’var Adonay m’Yerushalayim,” which means, “From Zion will come knowledge and God’s word from Jerusalem.” We took this very much to heart. Hebrew was veiy important to us. We had an organization called B’nai Yehudah (Children of Judah), founded by Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the chief figure in the revival of Hebrew as a spoken lan - guage. Like almost everyone at the Tarbut School, my sister Chava and I belonged to B’nai Yehudah. Someone had heard that Arabs spoke Hebrew to the Jewish merchants in Tel Aviv, so the students in Ludvipol pledged to speak in Hebrew all the time, even in the marketplace, at home and in the community, to their parents, the farmers, and everyone else. Even if you went to a Polish store, and had to explain yourself with hand movements, you tried to speak only Hebrew. There was a big chart of our names displayed in the main lobby of the school. If someone broke the rule by not speak- ing Hebrew, a minus mark was placed next to his name. Adults were also involved in Zionist activities. They established kibbutzim (collective villages) in Poland for training purposes. Young people used to leave town for a kibbutz, where they learned agriculture and self-sufficiency in preparation for making aliyah (immigration of a Jew to Israel). “Aliyah” means to ascend in Hebrew. When someone goes to Israel, they go up, ascend; if they leave Israel, they yored, or come down. The young woman who worked for us in my mother’s photography studio, Tibel Kleinman, very
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