Honor Thy Father

We loved and revered our parents. They educated us be explaining things - what was forbidden and why. It was a privilege to obey them. The way they taught us about the laws of our religion and moral behavior deeply touched us. Out of deep love, we tried to follow the path our parents showed us.

My father taught me his business at an early age, so I could go alone to buy feathers or animal skins. He was usually satisfied with my purchases. Also, when he sent a gentile driver to take merchandise on a horse-cart to a different town, either I or one of my brothers would go along to receive the money.

Late one summer evening, my two brothers failed to come home. When my father went to their teacher, the rabbi, to inquire about them, he was shocked to hear that they were not in the cheder that afternoon. We were all very worried about them. My father asked around, and one of their friends told him that they went to visit relatives in the nearby town of Nadudvar. Nadudvar was fourteen kilometers away, and it took two hours to get there by foot. My father rode his bicycle in the dark of the night and found them at my grandmother's house in Nadudvar. That same night, he returned with them, arriving home at about midnight. We all slept when they arrived home.

© David Muskal, 2001