Yomim Noraim in Zmigrod

Yomim Noraim in Zmigrod

Chana Laks
Debi Reece

My father-in-law, Mr. Naftali Laks z”l, was born in 1922 in the town of Nowy Zmigrod which is part of the Galicia area of Poland.  He survived several concentration camps, emigrated to Palestine/Israel after the war, and eventually settled in the United States.  He spent his last years with my husband and me in Passaic and was niftar November 2024.

One morning, about five years ago, when my father-in-law was still living in Elizabeth, I called to see how he was doing.  Mr. Laks sounded grim.  When I asked him what was wrong, he replied that we are in the month of Elul and he is remembering what it was like when he was growing up in Zmigrod.  I was a bit taken aback by his response.  I had never noticed him to be powerfully affected by the Yomim Noraim over the decades I had known him.

It was only recently, when I interviewed his niece Rivka (daughter of one of his sisters),  that I understood the context of his mood.  Rivka told me that the weeks leading up to Rosh Hashana were a time of dread in the Laks household.  My father-in-law’s parents were very pious and serious people.  They imbued their children with a very literal and profound fear of the Days of Judgement.  Each child was desperate to be inscribed in the Book of Life and tried to be one hundred percent good.  Rivka’s mother told her that their mother and all the daughters would clean the entire house thoroughly before Rosh Hashana.  The girls walked on tip-toe along the sides of the rooms in the house, trying not to make noise.  A sense of awe or dread pervaded the home.  

My impression, from my father-in-law, was that this mood was present, in some degree, in the entire town.

The Laks family used to receive Rosh Hashana cards from relatives in other cities in Europe.   There were many relatives, since ten children in a family was common.  Sadly, most of the extended family was killed by the Nazis.

Mr. Laks’s mother, Rivka used to bake round challah with raisins for the season.  His aunts, Miriam and Fradl, would visit their brother, his father, during Yomim Noraim.  Mr. Laks remembers finding it odd that these siblings didn't talk.  They would just sit together and cry.

Slichos in Zmigrod were always early in the morning.  They did not have the custom of midnight Slichos even on the first night.  The shamash would knock on some doors with his stick to remind householders to attend.

Jews from the villages surrounding Zmigrod would come to stay in Zmigrod for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur to daven in the main shul, a beautiful old building dating from the 1600’s.  They brought their own chairs, since the shul’s benches were occupied by the regular mispallelim.  There was plenty of space for these chairs in the middle of the shul.

The entire family went to shul for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, including the women who were not accustomed to attend shul on Shabbos.  Mothers and daughters dressed in white; men wore kittels for Yom Kippur.  Women cried freely during the davening, especially during the Nesaneh Tokef prayer and could be heard in the men's section.  

The davening on Rosh Hashana was very long, extending to mid-afternoon.  There was a break before Shofar blowing for people to return home to make kiddush and eat something.  In general, people did not make kiddushim in shul in Zmigrod; only in their homes.

Hearing the shofar was an important part of Rosh Hashana, even for the women.  Men would blow shofar in the house for women who were unable to make it to shul.  Cousin Rivka remembers her mother, probably quoting from her own mother Rivka, saying in Yiddish that the sound of the Shofar is so loud that it can be heard all the way to Heaven.

Challah was served with honey rather than salt during Yomim Noraim.  Honey cake and Lekach, a kind of sponge cake utilizing many eggs, were also Yomim Noraim traditions. While honey and eggs were expensive, they were available in Poland. The Jews in Zmigrod stretched themselves financially in order to carry out mitzvos and minhagim. 

Cousin Rivka does not remember her mother mentioning dipping apples in honey.  Neither did Aunt Molly, another sister, but Mr. Laks disagreed.  It would have made sense to dip an apple in honey since this is a well-known minhag that could have been practiced in Zmigrod.  Most of the other Rosh Hashana Simanim involve dates, figs, and pomegranates which would have been unavailable in Poland. 

The custom of Kapporos was observed in Zmigrod on the day before Yom Kippur using live chickens.  The chickens were slaughtered and eaten to prepare for the Yom Kippur fast. The Laks family observed the Chassidic custom to have festive lunch of Yom Kippur too, including kreplach in the chicken soup, aside from the solemn meal before the fast began.

Another Erev Yom Kippur custom was to be beaten ceremonially in case one had sinned and deserved the punishment of Malkus (beating).  You needed to pay the Shamash of the shul in order to be beaten with a leather strap.  Mr. Laks remembered that his father used to undergo this procedure.

On Yom Kippur night, all the Sifrei Torah would be taken out of the Aron following the European practice.  The local non-Jews would come to watch this imposing ceremony.  

The Rav of Zmigrod, Rabbi Sinai Halberstam, spoke once a year at shul, on Yom Kippur.  He was a grandson of the Divrei Chaim, the founder of the Sanz Chassidic dynasty.  His voice was very deep and resonant, making a strong impression on Mr. Laks.   Each year, he would preface his speech with the phrase "Meyn heilig Sanzer zeide zut gezukt", "My holy Sanzer grandfather used to say..." 

Immediately after making Havdalah at the close of Yom Kippur, Mr. Laks’s father, Duvid, would drink a cup of coffee and go to the market to buy pine branches from the peasants as Schach for their Sukkah.  The Sukkah was a freestanding shed in the backyard with a roof that could open and close. Each year, the sisters decorated the Sukkah.  

Sukkos was a time of joy.  Mr. Laks remembers that only the men: his father and him, and later, he alone after his father died, ate in the Sukkah.  As he recounted it, his mother and sisters would enter the Sukkah for kiddush and dash back into the warmth of their house, since the weather in that part of Poland was quite frigid in late autumn.  However, Cousin Rivka remembers her mother telling her that when the weather suited, everyone ate together in the Sukkah.   Pine needles from the Schach would drop into the soup.  The family would sing in the Sukkah--one of the sisters had an exceptionally beautiful voice.

The Arba Minim were beyond the means of the Jews in Zmigrod.  The shul purchased a set and the men would line up before Hallel to use them.

Simchas Torah was celebrated in a quiet, decorous manner at the main shul in Zmigrod.  Women watched behind the curtain of their window into the men’s section as the men went around the Bima.  However, younger Chassidim used to get together in a Kloyz (a shtiebl) to dance enthusiastically in honor of Simchas Torah.  While my father-in-law never attended this, he remembers his cousin returning all sweaty from the dancing.

The Jews in Zmigrod varied in their commitment to Torah.  There was no organized Chinuch system.  Girls were not taught Torah in a classroom setting.  The Melamdim who taught boys varied in quality and most boys did not learn beyond the basics of Chumash. Nevertheless, the underlying bedrock of their culture was Yiddishkeit and their Yiras Shomayim was perhaps deeper than ours.  The Yomim Noraim were truly days of awe and trembling.

We wish our readers and all Klal Yisroel a Shana Tova u’Metuka!