Bashka and Moshe Chaim GellersteinTranslation by Daphna Brafman Coordinated by Tilford Bartman
Once there was a small town and its name- Zabludow. On the map of the world it was no more than a tiny dot, far on the forest area of Polsia (Eastern Poland). A small group of wandering Jews from the west settled there some 400 years ago and began building a new settlement. Perhaps the name Zabludow comes from the Slavic word zablodit- lost on the way. There is a version that one of the Polish Princes gave few Jews a merit to produce turpentine from a kind of resin found in that area.
Two facts testify that Zabludow is one of the first settlements in Polsia: a) in old history books the town is mentioned as the meeting place for the "council of the state of Lita" (a kind of regional Jewish parliament.) B) in one of the old documents connected to the establishment of Bialystock it says: " Bialystock near Zabludow."
But the most outstanding testimony that Zabludow is an ancient town- the famous synagogue that the Nazis burnt 300 years after it was built. Building such a big synagogue, in an actual gothic style, is something only a well-established and developed community with at least 200 years of existence can build.
People from Zabludow, who are now scattered around the world, possibly remember the descendants of Chaim Gellerstein, owner of a shop in the old small market street, the only brick building in a line of shops made of wood. My great-grandfather bought that building from an old Lithuanian General, and I the great grandson- found a sale document from 1712, signed by the General.
The Gellerstein family had deep roots in the life of the town. Its main occupation is trade. They traded in sugar, salt and patrol, but most of all- grains. I know that my great-grandfather used to carry in his wagons different types of grain he brought from brisk, and these grains were grounded processed, and sent east, mainly to Germany. There was no rail those days, so they used wagons and the rivers to ship the ground grains. The town was a main source of grains, and this fact is mentioned even in the Russian encyclopedia.
This is how, by way of traveling to brisk; my great-grandfather brought a groom to his only daughter- this was my grandfather Eliahu Gellerstein. He was of important heritage- the grandson of the well-known scholar R' Yom-Tov Lipman Heller, author of "Tosafot Yom-Tov", considered a second Rashi and one of the greatest of his generation. This family came to Brisk from Prague capital of Czechoslovakia, because they were persecuted and harassed there. They pronounced the name Heller as the Russians do- Gelled- and from here it became Gellerstein.
My grandfather refused to be supported by his father-in-law and spend his time learning Torah, as it was common back then. He preferred trade and became a big trader in grains. His main trade was export to Germany. Nonetheless, he did not neglect public and spiritual work. He founded the society of students of "Mishnayot" and according to the rules of the society every member had to participate in a daily Mishna lesson between Minkha and Maariv. Those who didn't were expelled from the society.
My grandfather Eliahu was a wise student and was numbered among the distinguished families of the town. In these families he searched grooms and a bride to his two sons and daughter. His son Moshe Chaim (my father) married a young woman from the Lapidot family of Grodno. My mother Bashka was an educated woman. She knew languages, German, Russian and Hebrew, and she even played the piano. It wasn't easy then for a young educated woman to get used to the life of the conservative town, and especially since she had to accompany her mother-in-law to the synagogue every day.
It's interesting to tell how my grandfather chose a groom to his daughter. After he was hinted that in a certain town there's a learned guy from a good family, he decided to go there. He appeared as a meshulakh (a Jew who wanders from town to town and preaches a sermon) and asked to be invited for Shabbat in one family. My father spent the Sabbath there under a false name, checked the family's life style and its nature. Only after doing so he decided on the match. Days later the the most famous Cantor in town, David Feinmen became the groom.
My late father followed in the footsteps of his father. Beside his work in trade he devoted himself to public service. He was the sponsor and the active spirit of the school of "Talmud torah". Being of good heart he enjoyed helping and feeding the poor. I remember when he suddenly sent a bottle of wine to a poor family where a circumcision ceremony took place, or another event. When flour became very expensive he used to organize a project " bread for the poor" and in times of severe cold gave heating wood.
My father died in 1915 and we, the sons, continued our ancestral tradition. My brother Nahum was the Gabai of the big Yeshivah of Bialystock. I, the youngest son, also enjoyed public activities in town; I was involved with activity in the school and library. R' Moshe Chaim Gellerstein's grandchildren, my children, are also active and they chose their way as pioneers in the land of Israel.
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