And so the story goes….

July 8, 2008 - 6:56 AM by

Chaim WeitzmanAll of our families have our tall tales. Whether that be interactions with historical figures (my wife’s grandfather was allegedly Freud’s masseuse), witnesses to world events or sometimes a gesture or direct involvement that helped change the course of history. Allow me to share you one of my family’s great tales.

My family on my father’s side is from a little shtetl called Motol, about 20 miles outside of Pinsk in Belarus. My great grandfather was a simple tailor in the shetl. There was a Jewish child from a poor family who showed great intellectual potential at a very young age and was accepted to a prestigious high school not known for it’s acceptance of Jews. The Jewish child, not from a poor family, but not from the wealthiest one either, needed a daily suit to wear to school. My great grandfather, the great tailor of Motol, was approached to design and sew this young man a suit worthy of the prestigious high school he would be attending in Pinsk.

That man was Chaim Weitzman, the first president of Israel.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to meet Ezer Weizman, nephew of Chaim and seventh president of Israel. I relayed to him this story. Ezer wasn’t exactly known for his tact. Upon completion of this short anecdote he starred at me and said “Is there something you want from me? Are you offering me a suit?”

Tags: , , , , , , , • Category: History and Culture 

Comments

Leave a Comment





© 2012 ISRAELITY | Site by illuminea | Sitemap