Back to the Book... Reminder of the Past

Krakow has many Yeshivas that excel in Torah study and other literary expressions. It makes for a very lively and creative environment; and the community is very supportive of their work. My father was a part of that scene until...” She stopped at that point and winced. Heinrich watched her face focus on a far away time and could only imagine her pain. Indeed her sadness caused Rebekah to think of all she had lost and what could have been. The silence seemed necessary so Heinrich waited. After a short while he put his hand on her shoulder. This caused Rebekah to look at him with an expression that was a mixture of letting the past go and looking forward to what was ahead. She broke the silence with, “I’m sorry, but it caused me to think of all that I’ve lost, but then I was reminded of all that I have.” All Heinrich could say was, “I know the feeling, it can overwhelm you at times; I too am looking forward. We can stop talking about Krakow.”`

They all looked at the scenery. Juterborg was chosen because it was near a main highway which went to Krakow. The problem was that it was at the maximum distance their horse could be expected to travel before nightfall. Heinrich flicked the reins and encouraged the horse into a bit of a trot. He then added, “We need to get to Juterborg before nightfall, so we’d better pick up the pace.” A sign mentioned the town of Kropstadt, which was about a third of the way to Juterborg. “We’ll stop at Kropstadt to rest the horse and have some early lunch, but we can’t linger too long.” It was somewhere around mid morning and the weather hadn’t changed much, which meant the sun wasn’t in sight to guess the time. They had met a few horses and riders along the way who were cordial and a few tipped their hats in passing. A lone rider had galloped in the other direction, raising a small cloud of dust that enveloped them in passing. Rebekah was wearing a bonnet borrowed from Freyda and was glad for the warmth and the cover.

to be continued...