" I made his
acquaintance by asking him to help me out with an obscure
passage. This he did with such simple alacrity and kindly modesty
as to make me feel a chum of his. I warmed to him and he
reciprocated my feelings. He took me to his bosom. He often
offered to go over my lesson with me, and I accepted his services
with gratitude. He spoke in a warm, mellow basso that had won
my heart from the first. His singsong lent peculiar charm to the
pages that we read in duet. As he read and interpreted the text he
would wave his snuff-box, by way of punctuating and
emphasizing his words, much as the conductor of an orchestra
does his baton, now gently, insinuatingly, now with a passionate
jerk, now with a sweeping majestic movement. One cannot read
Talmud without gesticulating, and Reb Sender would scarcely
have been able to gesticulate without his snuff-box.
It was of tortoise shell, with a lozenge-shaped bit of silver in the
center.
It gradually became dear to me as part of his charming personality.
Sometimes, when we were reading together, that glistening spot in
the center of the lid would fascinate my eye so that I lost track of
the subject in hand
He often hummed some liturgical melody of a well-known
synagogue chanter.
Pages:
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63