Translated by Daphna Brafman Coordinated by Tilford Bartman
R. Shmuel Feinstein, or as he was called R. Shmuel Semans, was the most important and conspicuous Gemara teacher in Zabludow. He was known for his expertise and sharpness and was considered one of the greatest teachers of the town. He was blessed with rare talents and mastered in the Talmud. It was natural, therefore, that he will see rabbinate as his calling.
But R. Shmuel was numbered among the wise and proud men of spirit who did not want to serve the public because he knew that the rabbinate brings only sadness. R. Shmuel's fear from humiliation was greatest than his fear from any other thing. His noble character and humility prevented him from choosing rabbinate as his work, and he preferred teaching as a source of income.
True, this income was barely enough, and he had to work hard for very little, but no one forced his opinion upon him.
R. Shmuel was a clever Jew, a wise student with a clear mind. His deep and clear comprehension helped him understand events in the world, but he was unable to suit himself to the demands of the daily existence. He belonged to the same type of idealists that ordinary people considered "losers". In reality they were beautiful people, refined and delicate who fully understood the life around them and to the bottom of their spirit felt the shortcomings of society and therefore disliked it and were not absorbed in it.
And since he was unable to get used to the life around him- he caused himself the life of poverty and his family struggled for its living. His wife Shifra, pious and good hearted, who was exhausted from hard labor, was forced to cut expenses and bake spoiled bread; but all her attempts to save did not improve their condition and money was never enough. The children's parents didn't pay much, and sometimes they couldn't pay at all.
R' Shmuel never sent a child home if the parents didn't pay because they were poor. There were days in which he didn't even have a Challah for Shabbat. No one knew of his family's condition; it was prohibited to know. R' shmuel demanded that his wife and children will not discuss their situation and forbade them to take a loan. He performed the kiddush on dark bread or two bagels.R' Shmuel educated generations of young children. In his room they grew up and matured. He was blessed with the marvelous talent to explain and clarify to his students the complex questions in the Gemara. His words were clear and made understanding easy: he also bestowed a bit of his special pride in Judaism and encouraged them to want to gain knowledge.
Despite his deep faith and devotion to our ancient heritage he was influenced by the spirit of the spirit of the Haskalah (the enlightenment movement) and was understanding to the revolutionary trends of the Jewish street. On intimate conversations with friends he angrily attacked the social injustice. He bravely told his friend, an owner of the biggest factory in Zabludow, his opinion on taking advantage of workers. It's possible that his words influenced that employer who positively responded to the demands of the striking workers.
His strong faith and his opinion of the Haskalah and revolutionary thought were not accidently connected but rather blended into a harmonious perfection born in his sorrowful spirit sensitive to the suffering of others.
Being a liberal man, yet uncompromising in his religious view, he fully sympathized with the young generation. When his sons and daughters joined the revolutionary movement no problems arose between them as was the case in other homes. His eldest son Aharon was one of the leaders of Poalei Zion (workers of Zion movement), and later a member of the Socialist Party. His younger son Hirsch and his young daughter were numbered among the few leaders of the "Bund" in Zabludow. This caused no great joy their father. He was always worried from the dangers they might face.
R' shmuel remained loyal to himself to the last minute of his life. At his death bed he shared last minutes with his son aharon and, on that occasion asked his son in law, who was a young pious man, to promise he'll say Kaddish. He did not ask his son to do so because he understood that this will be against his son's disbelief in it.
Indeed, R. Shmuel was a pure and honest man to himself and to others until his last moment. Many of Zabludow's generations shall not forget the Gemara teacher, R' Shmuel Semans.
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