I remember Baba (my grandmother, Esther Feigel
Leibowitz) told me that the Shabbat,
the Jewish Sabbath observed on Saturdays, saved her life. She worked very
hard for Yeshiva Meah Shearim in her organization and raising a family, and if it
weren't for Shabbat, she wouldn't give herself much time off. Shabbat
offered her a day to regenerate and rest.
I remember her looking out her window in Crown Heights, a few years before she died at 92. After all she went through in her life, she said something like she wished she were younger or had another lifetime to continue working and living. I recognized her great spirit would have kept her going but her physical body was what slowed her down and finally gave out at the age of 92.
Baba could trace her ancestry back to the Macshoy, Rabbi Samuel Edels, from the 1600's. Click here for more info. The Machoy's cup was passed down to the eldest in each subsequent generation, until it reached my grandmother hundreds of years later. This cup went from Eastern Europe to Palestine to Brooklyn New York over hundreds of years.. it would have passed on to my uncle and his children. Baba used the cup at Passover seders (dinner) celebration in her apartment, and I always took it for granted that it would be there. One day, a few years before she died, when she was in her office a few blocks away, someone broke into her apartment and among other items, stole this little wine cup.. It was never found, and perhaps it was melted down for silver? That is very sad, and I think this was hard for her to lose this cup and it affected her health.
Esther Feigel Leibowitz, 1957 in her Brooklyn kitchen
1974 letter from Baba sent to me at camp.