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Descendants of Solomon (Shleimah) Melamed

Generation No. 2


2. AVRAM-PINCHAS3 MELMED (SOLOMON (SHLEIMAH)2 MELAMED, ABRAHAM1) was born 1864 in Paneveyzs, Lithuania, and died 1934 in Cape Town, SA. He married CHAIA GITA RABINOWITZ 1892 in Lithuania, daughter of HUSBAND RABINOWITZ and WIFE. She was born 1865 in Paneveyzs, Lithuania, and died 1948 in Cape Town, SA.

Notes for AVRAM-PINCHAS MELMED:

I. AP was trained by his stepfather, David, to be a sofer.

II. He was the first of the brothers to leave for South Africa, in 1898, followed later by Meyer, Jacob and Louis. According to Phyllis Boall's account, he was already in SA by 1893.

III. Arrived in Cape Town, in 1898.

IV. Went to Johannesburg, SA., but fled to Cape Town to escape the Boer War. Lived in Cape Town at 49 Caledon Street as a Hebrew Bookseller.

V. Went back to Panevezys to get his family, then returned to Cape Town and moved to Canterbury Street, in District Six.

VI. Official distributor of the "Forward", the American Yiddish newspaper.

VII. Lived at 5 Maynard Street, Cape Town, SA.

VIII. according to records on file with the Southern Africa Jewish Genealogy (CAPE COLONY JEWISH NATURALIZATION REGISTERS - 1903-1907, Item #638), AP was naturalized in 1904.

IX. The following is the biography told by Jos Aronson, in his Melmed Family Annals of June, 1988:

Avrom Pinchas (A.P.) Melmed 1864-1934

      Previously mentioned has been made of the financial struggle the Ponovez Melmed family had to endure after the death of husband and father, Solomon. Just five years later the pressures on Freida had eased considerably as the interim period had seen the marriages of her three eldest children Avrom Pinchas, Nathan Israel and Malka. Mayer was away somewhere in Siberia serving in the army and Jacob was about to set off for London, leaving just the two youngest children Louis and Rachel at home.

      The circumstances of A.P.'s marriage provides an insight into his type of thinking. He dreamed that he was going to marry Chaia Gita Rabinowitz. Being so devoutly religious he believed this to be a definite sign from the Almighty that their lives were bound together, and so after a short courtship they married in 1892. Their first child, Malka Shulamith (Mary Aronson, my mother) who is the oldest surviving member of the Melmed family will be turning ninety five next month, February 1988. Their second child, Solomon, was born 1895 and Rachel in 1898, both now deceased.

      For the first five years of married life the family lived in Ponovez and A.P. pursued his orthodox style of living and practiced his vocation as a sofer. His wife, throughout their lifetime was the "businessman" in the family, ran a small shop.

      At that time there must have been much discussion among brothers and sisters about emigrating, as within a relatively short period the entire family had left Lithuania for either America or South Africa. By far the greatest number of Jews made for America to an established society with the security of so many "landsman" (people from the same town) already settled there. After the discovery of diamonds and gold in South Africa, a very small percentage took the decision to make their new home in the country "whose streets were paved with gold". It must have been a very courageous decision for these "yeshiva bochorim" to choose an unknown Dark Continent which was reputed to have black savages and jungle beasts roaming around. In 1998, on his own, A.P. left for Cape Town. It was the normal custom for the husband to set out first to establish himself and to accumulate sufficient funds to bring the rest of the family later. It is interesting that at least eighty percent of the Jews in South Africa trace their family origins to small Lithuanian towns and villages like Kovno, Vilna, Ponovez, Plunyan and Shavel, all within a radius of about sixty miles of each other.

      All immigrants on docking, before being allowed to land in Cape Town, had to pass what was known as a literacy test which meant having to write out and sign an application for entry in characters of a European language. As Melamed is spelled in Hebrew Mem, Lamed, Mem, Daled, A.P. probably wrote it in English that way and so the vowel "A" came to be dropped.

      Johannesburg was his destination and he would have travelled by train this thousand mile journey into the interior. What would have greeted him on arrival would have been a barren mining shanty town with a cosmopolitan population, many of whom would have been prospectors, speculators and gamblers. There were many Jews amongst them and a fair number of either German or English origin who became exceedingly wealthy in a very short space of time. The Lithuanian immigrant, without the benefit of language or capital, traded with the Natives usually out of a tin hut where they ate, drank and slept. Others again ran the Kaffir Eating Houses, or as they were called by the Litvaks "Kaffa Reaters". Knowing A.P. as I did, I cannot visualize a man of his calibre having been prepared to live in such a cut throat society. The resident Boers resented the aggressive money seeking surge of humanity from across the seas, who cared little for their centuries old traditional way of life. Politically there was much discord between the Transvaal and the neighboring colonies. The Transvaal with its gold exports, was completely land locked, and trouble arose over rail tariffs among other things. Anti-British feeling grew in intensity and in October 1899 - May 1902 the Boer War broke out. There were amongst the Jews those who placed their faith with the Boers, enlisting with their forces; A.P. joined the procession that fled southwards and made for peaceful Cape Town.

      The city of Cape Town and its suburbs followed the narrow strip of land which skirted the foot of Table Mountain and ran along the sea shore. Its beaches were ivory white and from its oceans an abundance of different species of fish was readily available. Coloured fishermen caught and sold this staple diet for Cape Townians from the back of horse drawn carts and advertised their wares by blowing a shofer-like call on a distinctive Cape fish horn. From about twenty miles in the interior and beyond, orchards and seemingly unending vineyards were cultivated, the original vines having been brought to the Cape by the French Huguenots, refugees fleeing from religious oppression in France. This serene setting reflected A.P.'s tranquil nature and so he set up shop at 49, Caledon Street as a Hebrew bookseller, the address from which he operated throughout his lifetime.

      South Africa did not turn out to be the land of easy wealth that had been expected. Wealth, if it came at all, came with painfully slow and halting steps. Most immigrants derived their earnings from peddling. With their ox wagons these "tochars" (peddlers) would go out into the veld bringing to the isolated farmers household wares, materials, pots and pans together with some small luxury items. The hospitality of the farmers was readily extended to them and many a cup of coffee was drunk together on the stoop of the South African farm. The Afrikaner, being religious by nature, was well acquainted with the Bible and so there was a good basis for discussion with these "gelerenia" speaking a comical mixture of Yiddish and Dutch. As a next step these tochers established themselves as general dealers in the country towns and in due course, as their numbers grew, congregations were established. In the city itself there were shopkeepers, bar owners, produce, grain and fruit merchants and gradually they worked their way up the economic ladder. Friday was pay day, so that evening and the following day, Saturday, provided the biggest takings of the week which meant foregoing the keeping of the Sabbath in many families. In A.P.'s case of course there was no such conflict, but his problem for nearly five years was to earn enough for his keep, to remit money for the family in Ponovez and additionally to accumulate sufficient funds to pay for their fares to South Africa. At last the day arrived when he was able to make the trip to Ponovez to fetch them, and on return to Cape Town moved into a house on Cantebury Street, not too far from the shop. In contrast to the wooden house that they had inhabited in Lithuania, they now occupied a brick house where there was running water instead of the outside pump of the old days. All Jews made their beginnings in Cape Town in the poorest area of the city, District Six, where they were surrounded by coloureds and Indians with whom they automatically enjoyed the master and servant relationship which was the accepted norm in those days. Their next door neighbors were the Bloch family whose subsequent success highlighted the achievements experienced by most immigrants. In this large family, there were, apart from the sisters, five brothers who built on their father's little drapery store to become at one time the biggest textile wholesalers in South Africa, with branches in every big city. My mother and Mrs. Nathan Bloch remained the greatest of friends all their lives until the recent death of Mrs. Bloch, aged 93.

      The Melmed children attended the Hopemill School (semi-Jewish secular school) whose principal was Reverand Mark Cohen, whose son taught me and whose grandson taught my children Neil and Linda.

      A.P.'s business grew over the years extending beyond the sale of prayer books, tefillin and taleisim. He became the official distributor of "The Forward", the American Yiddish paper, for the Cape Province as well as an important customer of the London publishing house Shapiro, Valentine & Company. When Mary married my father, Azriel Jacob Aronson in 1927, this company sent her a wedding present of a leather bound machsorim for all the festivals, printed in 1860 and she still has them in her possession having used them all her life.

      Notwithstanding that Mary was proving an adept pupil at school, A.P. and Chaia Gita felt the need to bring her into the business and so she was taken out of school in standard seven. Mary worked very closely with her father and amongst her duties she addressed, on a weekly basis, hundreds of brown paper wrappers into which "The Forward" was folded for posting to subscribers. For the Succoth holidays she plaited palm leaves to form holders for the lulavim and myrtle and other leaves that surrounded them at the base.

      At A.P. Melmed, Booksellers, business hours were from eight thirty in the morning until at least nine o'clock in the evening, sometimes even later if there were still customers in the shop. Inevitably, both Solomon and Rachel were both needed and they too were pulled out of school at a very early age. Solomon was involved with the post, bank and general administration and as Chaia Gita was now spending most of the day in the shop, Rachel's job was to prepare the meals, having to fetch and carry plates of food to and from the shop, as also having to do all the shopping.

      Chaia Gita was behind the scenes supervising the unpacking of goods and was responsible for the placing of orders. Being practical and rather inflexible she really wrested the control of the business from A.P. He was the public relations man and spent virtually all of his time greeting, discussing and selling to customers. He was blessed with very soft blue eyes, an open smiling face with a dark auburn beard tinged with russet streaks. He always wore either a hat or a kippah. His appearance and his presence were reminiscent of a kindly Dickens character.

      The religious elements of the community and particularly the reverends in the outlying small towns were amongst the best customers. From time to time these reverends came to the city to place globular orders for their communities, especially before Pesach. The month preceding this festival could be likened to Christmas in the outside world as the shop and its storeroom behind were packed to the ceiling with matzot and a maze of imported Pesachdike prunes, coffee and other such items. As a youngster I used to make frequent visits to the shop trying to locate which of the numerous boxes contained the Pesachdike chocolates, with my Bobba closely monitoring me, knowing what i had in mind [I think this is so universal. My son, Ned Melmed, as a child, used to wait for us to bring home the bags of Peschadike food, searching thru it for his favorite bars of chocolate]; even when successful it was always a let down as Pescahdike chocolates in those days were dark, bitter and generally inedible [in our days the chocolate is sweet, tasty and delicious].

      Customers invariable took advantage of A.P.'s generosity and credulity, always offering to pay twenty percent less than the asking price claiming the inability to afford more - so started the bargaining until the final price was agreed upon, which was very often arrived at after an utterance from my Bobba, "Avrom Pinchas!" When the purchaser was successful in beating down the price, as in every case he was, blessings upon the Almighty were invoked upon A.P. as being a good and an understanding Jew. In the course of these discussions, reference to the Talmud, Jewish moral law and practices were quoted and it is here where A.P.'s knowledge came into play and attracted so many people. He much enjoyed listening and laughing at some of the clever discussions that took place but as soon as he sensed it was getting a bit off colour, he quietly withdrew saying that he had something to attend to.

      I well remember a few men, ex "yeshiva bochorim", whose wives ran some shop or other, being regular callers at the shop to listen and to take part in the Talmudic discussion. I also noticed that another purpose of their visits was to surreptitiously read the Jewish newspaper without having to buy it, knowing full well that Mr. Melmed would not mind.

      My Bobba suffered from rheumatism and accompanied by Rachel, would spend a week at the hot mineral spring baths at Guidini, about seventy miles from Cape Town. In summer, a bungalow would be hired at a then small seaside resort, Camps Bay. The luggage always included pots, crockery and cutlery which were schlepped along in paper carriers to maintain kashrut. She must have brought an inordinate number of copper pots and pans from Ponovez as each of my brothers and sisters, as well as ourselves, inherited some of those. We still use her silver candlesticks every Shabbat, as also my Zeida's kiddush cup.

      Zeida Melmed, as far as I am aware, never took a holiday but he loved to go to the seaside resort, Muizenberg, on a Sunday. Although he was a smoker all his life, he never smoked at Muizenberg, saying it was almost sinful to waste such wonderful sea air.

      Another vivid memory I have as a little boy of no more than four, was the presentation of a new Torah to a shul. On such occasions it was customary to leave unfinished each of one letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The honour of having the sofer complete each letter was auctioned, the proceeds going to charity. I well remember my father successfully bidding for the letter Yud in the work Yosef, my name, and being taken up to the bimah where my grandfather picked me up, and cupping my hand in his, filled the letter with the quill used for the purpose.

      Yeshivot in Europe sent a constant stream of "meshullochim" to collect for the institutions, and their first port of call was often to the shop. There were one or two who actually stayed with the Melmed family at 5, Maynard Street, to where they had now moved. As it was the custom for meshullochim to retain half the amount of money they collected, from which they had to pay their expenses, their stay in Cape Town probably provided them with their best net profit. Occasionally my sister Helen and brother Ben and myself would go to Shabbat lunch with our grandparents where often we encountered these people. I recall a particular favourite of mine, a Reb Yosselson, who had a fund of riddles and puzzles for me to work out. Regretfully, he was one of those who perished in the Holocaust. A typical Shabbat meal consisted of lokshen soup followed by gefilte fish, chicken or cholent (a bean stew which had been left simmering overnight in the oven), or flaumen tzimmes (prunes, potatoes and beef), petzah (a jellied brawn), or helzel (stuffed chicken neck) and finally stewed fruit of one sort or another. At the conclusion of the meal we "benched" and thereafter Zeida encouraged us to ask religious questions that bothered us. All three of us well remember his logical responses which gave us the confidence to withstand the criticism and sometimes derisory remarks made by some of our friends who did not have the comfort of the type of grandparents we had, or whose homes were not traditionally Jewish oriented. An added influence was some of the pictures that hung on the walls - a large picture of David the sofer, the Vilna Gaon, and Chaia Gita's grandfather, Shmuel Yossel after whom I am named. This last named gentleman became the bane of my life. Whenever I desecrated the Sabbath or criticized the religion, Bobba, with her wagging finger used to admonish me, saying "Oi veh, du daf shemmen, miet dein nommen ......" (You should be ashamed, with your name ......).

      My father always related with great pride how he once was at the Standard Bank's head office and by chance happened to see a bank report on A.P. which referred to him as "a highly principled and respected gentleman of the old school".

      Before Rosh Hashanah, Ben, Helen and I were brought to A.P. to be blessed by him in the traditional Jewish manner, under his raised hands. When we came away we all felt somehow "cleansed" and felt we had been given a "flying start" with which to begin the new year.

      After his death in 1934, at the shiva, many stories of his generosity were related by visitors. Mention is made of just two to illustrate the point. Isaac Ochberg, whose sister married A.P.'s brother, Louis, and was the greatest Jewish benefactor in South Africa at the time, told my mother that A.P.'s signature standing security for people requiring loans from the Hebrew Helping Hand Society appeared more often than anybody else's. Isaac Ochberg told that he once called on A.P. to caution him not to sign so many securities as he was stretching himself far beyond his means. His reply was that the Almighty had blessed him to put him in a position to help others and he felt confident that his actions would be viewed favourably by the Almighty and ensure success for the recipients.

      The Melmeds rented out a house to a Yiddishe family who were unfortunately most irregular in their payment of rent. Chaia Gita, who collected the rent, was becoming increasingly disenchanted with them as their three months rental in arrears remained unpaid. At the shiva, the tenant told my mother the following story: A.P. had come to him one day to advise him that his wife had made up her mind to tell him that if he did not pay the three months' arrears, he would be asked to leave. A.P. asked him if he was able to pay and on being told that he could not, A.P. handed him the money, telling him to pay his wife and then to repay him over a protracted period. The tenant reported that once the rental was paid, Mrs. Melmed's attitude changed completely and the relationship became very harmonious! It became a regular feature thereafter for A.P. to hand him the rental just prior to the end of the month and for him to repay A.P. during that month. His reason for telling the story was that over the preceding few years he was only able to pay back part of the arrears, and now wished to settle the balance.

      Solomon and his mother continued trading, but as the business revolved around A.P.'s personality, it was to be expected that over the succeeding years less and less of the customers continued to call. Once Chaia Gita passed on the decline of the business was intensified, and Solomon continued for a few years until at the age of about sixty eight, he finally closed the doors, and lived in retirement until his death in 1979, aged eighty four. Rachel passed away a year later aged 82.

      Chaia Gita was unquestionably the "froomest" (observant) women I ever encountered. Many passages of the prayers she uttered daily were recited off by heart and in the synagogue she was the "place finder" for those around her. Notwithstanding the very long hours she spent toiling in the shop, her responsibilities as a housewife were not affected in any way. The aura of the Shabbat she created in the home was quite outstanding. The freshly polished silver, the white starched tablecloth and the plaited kitkes she baked herself to a perfect crispness are well remembered. She herself set the tone by being elegantly clothed, wearing antique chains and brooches. It was sad to witness her loss of spirit and drive once A.P. had passed on.

      A.P. Melmed was a name well known and the man himself well respected throughout the Cape Province. In today's age of computers and advanced technology and the thinking that goes with it, he might be judged a naive, believing gentleman, but undoubtedly in his day he was a giant in the field of moral and ethical values. Even though he passed away more than fifty years ago, his philosophy and his actions still remain an example to those who knew and loved him.


A. P. Melmed
Hebrew Bookseller & Stationary
P.O. Box 681
49, Caledon St., Cape Town



X.
South Africa GP 42,393,000 ~ JP 92,000

Demography
The great majority of South African Jews trace their origins back to Lithuanian immigrants who arrived between the end of the 19th century and 1930. The two largest centers are Johannesburg (55,000) and Cape Town (15,000). There are many smaller communities, including Durban (5,000), Pretoria (3,000), and Port Elizabeth (1,200). Since 1970 some 50,000 Jews have left the country, but approximately 10,000 Israelis have moved to South Africa.

History
Only at the beginning of the 19th century, when freedom of religion was introduced, were Jews able to come to South Africa legally. At that time, small numbers of Jews arrived from Britain and Germany, and the first Hebrew congregation was established in Cape Town in 1841. In the 1880s, large numbers of Jews began to arrive from Lithuania, and their contributions changed the character of the community.

Community
The community is overwhelmingly Ashkenazi, with a small Sephardi population in Cape Town. It is affluent, well-educated, and has a strong traditional and Zionist bent. The central body of the Jewish community is the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. South African Jewry has a long record of Zionist activity, and the movement remains strong. There are local chapters of most of the major international Jewish and Zionist organizations. The four main youth movements are Habonim, Betar, B'nai Akiva, and Maginim (Progressive).

Culture and Education
There are Jewish museums in Johannesburg and Cape Town (the latter housed in the beautiful Gardens Synagogue, built in 1849) and several Jewish libraries. A number of weekly, monthly, and quarterly publications appear, notably the quarterly Jewish Affairs published by the Board of Deputies. The Jewish day school system is comprehensive, embracing about 60% of all Jewish youngsters.

Religious Life
Most of the community is religiously traditional, and some 80% are affiliated with Orthodox synagogues, of which there are 65 in the country. About 10% are affiliated with the Progressive movement and a smaller number with the Masorati (Conservative) movement. Kosher food is widely available, and there are several kosher restaurants and hotels.

Israel
In the United Nations and in other forums Israel was often signaled out for special condemnation on account of Jerusalem's commercial and military ties with Pretoria, despite the fact that compared to the level of trade with other states, the scale of Israel's ties was negligible. Relations with the new majority government are good. Aliya: Since 1948, 16,300 South African Jews have emigrated to Israel.

Sites
The Mooi Street Synagogue in Johannesburg, founded by Lithuanian immigrants from the shtetl of Poswohl, has been declared a national landmark. In Johannesburg there is an impressive Holocaust memorial at the West Park Cemetery. South Africa's wine country outside Cape Town is also home to the Zaandwijk Winery, the country's only kosher vintner.

South African Jewish Board of Deputies
PO Box 87557
Houghton, Johannesburg 2041
Tel. 27 11 486 1434, Fax. 27 11 646 4940

Embassy
Dashing Center, 339 Hilda Street, Hatfield
PO Box 3726, Pretoria
Tel. 27 12 34 22 693, Fax. 27 12 34 21 442

From January to June the embassy is in Cape Town:
Church Square, P.O. Box 180, Cape Town 800
Tel. 27 21 34 22 698, Fax. 27 21 32 41 442


More About AVRAM-PINCHAS MELMED:
Emigration: 1898, Paneveyzs, Lithuania
Immigration: 1898, South Africa
Naturalization: 1904, South Africa

Notes for CHAIA GITA RABINOWITZ:

I. <http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/rokiskis/rok530.html>

The Thorny Path of Jewish Immigration to South Africa

by J. M. Sherman

pp. 530-539

Translated by Rae Meltzer

It is truly a significant and important undertaking of the Jews of Rakishok to publish a Yizkor Book, which will be a memorial for the Jews of Rakishok whom the Nazi murderers annihilated. It will also be a memorial for the Jews who came here (South Africa) years and years ago. They struggled against harsh and severe conditions and obstacles that they found here. They persisted in their struggle and found a way to survive and preserve the Jewish way of life in South Africa. Their struggle and disappointments, their anguish and suffering, was that of new immigrants who come to a strange land and find a foreign language, with unfamiliar customs and economic conditions. Nevertheless, they persevered and cleared a path! All of their experiences from the very beginning are full of rich historical material and are of great significance and interest. They must be written down so that the children, grandchildren and future historians will learn how the Jews of South Africa, beginning as immigrants, achieved the status of citizenship in South Africa. It is good that the Jews of Rakishok are documenting all of their history. Let us hope their efforts will prove to be an example to others. The time is short. The generation of the first Jewish immigrants to South Africa is getting fewer in number and much important historical material is therefore being lost.

Taking the example of Rakishok, (although I am not a landsman) I would like to write about some of the details of the life of the Rakishok immigrants to South Africa, as I knew them first hand from the period of the Boer War. The Jewish immigrant, whether he came from Rakishok or from Poshvitin (my shtetl) experienced a very similar situation, with only minor differences. I am describing the immigrant situation in Johannesburg, but there was very little difference in the Jewish immigrant's situation in Cape Town or the other large cities. It was the same process, with similar occupations and similar living situations.

Immediately after the Boer War ended in May 1902, Jewish immigration to South Africa increased. When the Boer war broke out in 1899, many Jews returned home and many went to Cape Town. After the war they came back to Johannesburg and there was a new strata of fresh immigrants: young men who ran away from “priziv” (military conscription in Czarist Russia), heads of families (young and older) forced to immigrate for economic reasons, political refugees, and also some adventurers. The stopping-off place for most of the immigrants was the Johannesburg suburb named Berea. The gentiles, who were the first to come rushing to South Africa after the discovery of gold there in 1886, slowly left Berea, and the immigrant Jews replaced them, occupying almost all the vacant houses and opening various businesses. They built synagogues, “houses of learning,” and talmud torahs, supporting rabbis and "shokhtim" (ritual slaughterers), as well as quarreling about who would be warden of the synagogue, who would run community institutions, and other community issues. Generally they wanted, and they soon succeeded, in transforming Berea into a small Lithuanian or Polish shtetl.

A large number of both the new and the earlier immigrants were “single" individuals whose families remained in the old home. These "singles" lived:

In small rooms without air or light,
(There are two sleeping in that tiny room),
The walls are black; covered with growing
mosses, mushrooms and all kinds of grasses.
The windows are broken and covered with paper,
The door is full of holes and the floor is all cracked....

These little rooms were smaller than described in the above poem. They were all over Berea: in the sexton's yard, in Goldberg's yard, and in the small sexton's yard which was near the "green " house of learning (beth midrash)--two stories up a room for a nap with a green balcony above so the tenants in the top rooms should not fall down. Such rooms to rent were also found in Fordsburg, Everton, and in other existing suburbs of Johannesburg. (Doornfontein was then an upscale suburb). The rent for one of these little rooms was two to three pounds per month, but the first and early immigrants did not have it in their power to pay so much rent. They would double-up two to a room and, in the larger rooms, three to a room. The walls were black from the smoke of the “primus cooking stove” which everyone had for cooking food, and boiling water for tea, etc. The food was prepared on the run, and men who in the old home never even boiled water for tea had to learn to cook here. The food did not always come out tasting superb, and one ate hurriedly, not wanting to waste time eating instead of earning money. The result was that many had stomach ailments. There were also some who simply denied themselves food in order to save the money. This was called “kishke­ gelt” (intestine-money). There were very few of this kind, but they did exist, and if they survived, they paid dearly with their health.

What kind of occupation did the "greeners" (new immigrants) get? As I mentioned before, many Jews went to Cape Town at the outbreak of the Boer war and returned to Johannesburg immediately after the end of the war. Amongst them were storekeepers, dealers, merchants, and craftsmen. Due to the war, many of them were ruined financially, but knowing the conditions and situations of the country, they soon rehabilitated themselves. The new Jewish immigrants therefore found a more stable Jewish community and economy: butchers, tailors, shoemakers, restaurants, food-stores, etc. The "greener" who had a skill or trade made his way more quickly, but the majority were "luft-menschen" (air-people). What could they do? Their friends and landsleit advised them to try different things:

become a “tryer” (peddler) with “boser-kosher” (kosher meat), bread, and vegetables;
buy old clothes, sacks, and bottles; go out with a basket of eggs, with a few
chickens--and you have a business and you are a business man. There is no more
available existence among local Jews; and if there is, it carries a different character and
different “face.” Even "tachen" is already historic. But let us go in order."

How does one become a peddler with "boser-kosher"? This is not an item that one can save from one day to the next, or weeks even, as one can with household items like pots or cloth. Therefore, the first task is to get customers who will be ready to buy meat from the peddler. The peddler had to enlist his friends and landsleit to commit themselves to buy meat from him, and to recruit their acquaintances who had families and even those who were "singles" to become customers. The customer that the peddler got was usually at the expense of another or even the butcher who sold the meat to the peddler. However, since there was a continuous stream of new immigrants arriving every month, no one worried or objected to the process. The butcher also did not object to this arrangement--he had his steady customers and the more peddlers he had coming to him to buy meat, the happier he was. Thus, instead of having to deal with 20 or more women customers, he deals with one customer who buys large quantities at one time. Of course, he has to sell to the peddler for a somewhat lower price so the peddler can earn a percentage profit for his livelihood.

Now that he has several customers, the peddler comes to the butcher shop every evening. In those years, between 1902-1907, all businesses and stores remained open until late in the evening. The peddler gives a list of his customer's orders: ribs, flanken, breast, soup-meat, tongue. etc. Having bargained energetically with the butcher for an extra bone or fat (which his customers warned him not to forget) he separates the portions on a table or board, puts a piece of paper with the name and address of each customer on each portion, and goes home. The following day, he will come to the butcher shop very early to wrap every portion of meat in paper, write down the name and address on each wrapped portion, and put all the packages of meat in his sack. If he also has customers for bread, he goes to the bakery after the butcher shop and chooses some white and dark bread and bagels.

The following morning he will carry two bags over his shoulder on his back--one bag of meat and one
bag of bread. Thus, whether it was cold or burning hot, in dust or in rain, with two sacks over his
shoulders, one with meat and the other with bread, the peddler went from customer to customer (often
quite a distance from one another). When he returned home he was exhausted, hungry, and beaten. "The
customer is always right." The women customers who gave him their orders and took them away made
his life bitter and shortened his years with their complaints. One complained that he was too late, and the
other that he was too early; one objected that the meat was too fat, and the other that it was too lean; one
was angry that he did not bring more bones for her soup and another that he forgot to bring the
"calf-hoofs" for her “petsha,” etc. From these peddlers came some Jews who became rich. First of all,
they bought a horse and wagon. This gave them the resources to enlarge their clientele by covering a
larger area. Then they started taking orders for dry goods: handkerchiefs, tablecloths, bed linens, and
blankets; pots, oil, herring, knives, graters, and anything that a customer required or requested. When
they were tired of driving around and had already amassed quite a good sum of capital, they sold their
business for a good price and opened a clothing store or iron business in the center of the city's business ... country.

The Jewish population grew, spread out over the city, and began to settle in new suburbs. Butcher shops opened up in these new suburbs and the housewives took the trouble to go themselves to shop at the butcher shop. The peddlers were no longer economically profitable or viable and they slowly disappeared from the Jewish street. The butchers, who had customers some distance out, delivered the customers’ orders by black messengers. Even today one can see blacks on bicycles with packages of meat and bread, rushing through the streets. The former peddlers went into other businesses. Some became butchers with their own shops. Others opened other types of shops and some transformed themselves in the province. Some traded in produce and other products, wool and leather, or even became "tachers."

The majority of the peddlers were married, and while some had their families with them, others had their families in the old homeland. These occupations did not appeal to the bachelors. They found occupations elsewhere, becoming waiters in restaurants, employees in taverns, bars ("soda-water stores"), and "kaferaiteh" (kafir-eating-houses restaurants for blacks), and the businesses around the gold and coal mines. The restaurants (kosher, of course) and the taverns and bars were clubs where friends met. The new arrivals (“greeners”) came there to search for jobs and often did find work there. When a special event occurred, like the closing of a partnership, or a marriage proposal, there was a gathering in the restaurant or the tavern to “water it down” with a glass of tea, a flask of lemonade which one brought, or the tavern-owner volunteered a flask of whiskey. In the tavern, Jews also practiced playing cards until late into the night, discussed politics, talked about race issues, raised or lowered reputations, and considered who were the worthy people.

“Kaferaiteh” existed at every shop that was close to a gold mine or coal mine, but they also existed in places where there were no mines. Wherever they existed they were illegal for hygienic reasons. In and around the “kaferaiteh" (restaurant) there was always an odor of bad meat and dead cats. The place had neither floor nor ceiling. The tables were black and shiny from spilled fat soup, melted candle-wax, and syrup. In the summer, a multitude of flies lay siege to the walls, the tables, the meat, and bread; they fell into the hot soup, the hot tea, and the dough for meat-biscuits. The work shift in the kaferaiteh was very long, perhaps as long as 18 hours per day and even more. The shift might last all day and night--as long as 24 hours. Because the pay was much greater in the kaferaiteh than in the shop, many went to work in a kaferaiteh. But many others did not because it was considered a low level of work, and to be called a “kaferaitenik” was to be insulted and reviled. Probably this stems from the fact that the place was always dirty and smelly and the people who frequented the place, including the white people, went about unclean. There was no supervision about cleanliness, as exists today. But this was only about “kaffers,” so who cares and what difference does it make?

In the gold and coal mining shops, the atmosphere was cleaner, but the working day was also very long--from six in the morning to seven or eight in the evening. (No unions of workers existed as yet). The pay for a "greener" was 10 pounds for three months, with free meals and lodging. It took quite a while to reach the pay of 10-15 pounds for three months. The boss of the concessions handled his workers according to his plan: they kept one or two experienced assistants, the rest were “half or all greener,” who were being trained by the assistants to be salesmen. If one of the "greeners" became dissatisfied with his pay and was bold enough to ask for a raise, he was told (8 out of 10 times) to look for another place. In his place they employed someone else for 10 pounds for three months. If the employee showed signs of becoming a good clerk, then they gave him a raise with a pound or two, because a good clerk could easily get a position in one of the concessions.

Being one of those who earned the “princely” salary of 10 pounds for three months, I later became interested in these workers in the "kaferaitehs" and in the shops around the gold and coal mines. I wondered about their eventual fate. What was the pattern of their lives? I followed it for a long time. The results I found were that most of them continued to work until their late 30's. Then, exhausted from their hard work and way of life, they let themselves be courted by a small dowry, opened a grocery, and worked together with their wives. Others took over a kosher restaurant from someone, or a "soda water store" and went with the Jewish "flow." They became a member of a congregation or joined the Zionist organization. Others joined prophetic factions, while some became chairmen of their landsmanshaften and active in charitable institutions and organizations. Very few of the multitudes of working men became owners of a concession, but the Jews became conspicuous.

One of the occupations that the newcomers (greeners) chose was trading in old clothes. They continued in this occupation even after they were no longer newcomers, and were only "half-green". Having received a loan from a charitable society or from friends who helped, the immigrant bought some old coats and went out on the street to find customers:

All day from early in the morning until late,
You'll find him always on the street,
On his back he carries a large sack,
Full of old clothes.
He goes from house to house
And knocks on every door
And as with all humility for charity:
“Can you help me with something?“

He knocked on the doors of poor homes, and not necessarily of Jewish homes. Perhaps he avoided Jewish homes because he was ashamed of running into landsleit who knew him from home as a good teacher, student, or merchant. He was ashamed to write home to his family and tell them what he was doing. “I am doing ‘business,’” he wrote home. He also went among the blacks, perhaps his best customers. They were dreadfully poor and old coats cost a lot less than new ones.

Later, some of the more experienced clothing-traders rented stores and conducted their business with more success; others went into businesses such as lumber, furniture, and glassware. Those who could not or did not want to deal in old clothes, constructed a wooden box to which they nailed leather straps, filled it with cigarettes, candles, matches and slung the straps over the neck and went out to earn a living. They went around to restaurants.

Some of them would push the wagon with vegetables and on their neck carry the box with merchandise over their heart, until their heart weakened and their feet gave out. Thus, exhausted and broken in health and spirit, they returned home. Those who were stronger and more energetic remained and struggled to find a way. From pushing a wagon with greens, one became a produce and fruit merchant, and from the chest with cigarettes, matches and candles, one became owner of a tobacco shop, or even owner of a candle factory. Or two Jews would meet in a restaurant or tavern, both looking for some kind of occupation or business. They began to talk and discovered that one of them was no longer a “greener.” He was here during Paul Kruger's regime. The Boer War had disturbed and unsettled him. He has some money, he understands the language of the land, but not well enough to undertake “tochen.” The other man is still “half-green.” He does not have much money, but he thinks his friends will help him. He also wants to begin “tochen.” He understands that it pays well. The result of this conversation is that they became partners.

They bought a covered wagon and stocked it with merchandise that they thought the Boers needed, and the Boers needed many things. After the war the Boers were ruined economically. With the several million pounds that the British government gave to the Transvaal, some of the Boers were helped to get back on their feet. The Boer needed everything, from a shirt to a needle. "Tocher" was a Yiddish transliteration of the Afrikaner word "toch," meaning to ride or travel, but the Boer called him “smous” (peddler), in Yiddish, "a village storekeeper.” Thus the two Jews who met and talked it over established their partnership and began their “tochen.” The “toch” often lasted several weeks. The province at that time was sparsely populated and farmers lived quite far apart from each other, so the “tocher” had to ride a good part of the day in order to reach a farm. If he did not reach a community before night fall, he had to sleep in the fields, either under his wagon or in "godly" rapture under the spacious, comfortable sky, looking with wonder at the huge stars hanging in great profusion in space. Perhaps he was lying in the open field in dread and fright, shaking with every clap of thunder and the fiery lightening that lit up the whole area. He was drenched from the storms and rainfall. After that he traveled more slowly.

The relationship between the “smous” (peddler) and the farmer was a friendly one. Of course, there were exceptions on both sides, but generally they lived peacefully and dealt honestly with each other. Their business with each other was based on giving one's word rather than on written contracts. The Boer's attitude and relations with the Jews was a friendly one--first, because the Jew believed in the Bible, like himself, and secondly, because the Jew was the "newspaper" and political source for the Boer farmer. The “smous” came loaded not only with merchandise but also with news from the city and the wide world. The farmer talked politics with him and the Jew naturally agreed with everything the farmer said. The Jew was the enabler between the farmer and the city market--he bought the farmer's products and delivered everything that the farmer needed and gave him long term credit. The “smous” brought with him a civilizing influence to the far-flung corners of the land. Sometimes it was in the form of a new type of knife with a corkscrew, sometimes a clock that chimed every quarter-hour, or a wristwatch. Perhaps another time it was a curious toy or plaything, etc.

When the “smous” arrived at the farm, even if it was his first visit, he was welcomed with friendship. His horses were cared for and a good bed was made ready for him. Food was prepared for him and the farmer did not let him leave until he bought something from the “smous.” They always made purchases. The housewife had already prepared a list of items and articles that she wanted to purchase. In the morning, immediately after breakfast, everyone gathered on the veranda of the house: the farmer, his wife, children, neighbors, in-laws, daughter-in-law, son-in-law (if there were any), and asked the peddler to display his merchandise. The black man who traveled with him carries in two sacks with merchandise, takes the merchandise out of the sacks, and displays it on the floor of the veranda. Then the choosing and bargaining begins and lasts a couple of hours. In the end they purchase hammers, stockings, pants, linen, canvas, fabric for dresses, knives, spoons, and toys for children and grandchildren. The favorite toy was a mouth harmonica and a knife with two blades. The life of the "tocher" was not an easy one. For weeks and months he traveled around the land, never spending his nights in the place where he spent his days, often finding himself in the open fields in all kinds of weather. In addition he had to worry about collecting on the credit he gave his customers, not because his customers did not want to pay--they simply could not pay on time or even late. The scale of the farmer's production was small and there was no export market at that time. Even the “rich” farmer was not really rich enough, but on average, the loss was not big. By the time "tochen" went out of style, the economic situation of the country was much improved, and the province was also helped thereby. ­

Why did “tochen” fade away as livelihood? Because railroads spread out over the land. This new network of railroads brought the farmers in the villages close to the cities. Before the railroads came, if a Boer farmer wanted to go to the city with his family to do some shopping, he would “waste” at a minimum several days. This was not practical. Therefore, he depended on the “smous” to bring the merchandise to his doorstep so he could shop on his own veranda. But when the railroad network brings the train almost to his doorway, he can board the train and in a few hours he is in the city, does his shopping and returns home by train, all in just a half-day. The “smous” could not compete with the great volume and variety of merchandise in the city stores, and so the farmer soon preferred to shop in the city stores and the custom of ''tocheri" became unprofitable and ceased to exist.

The majority of former "tochers" did not give up hope: they started businesses at the train station and at cross-roads that led to the farms. Now, instead of traveling to the farmer, the farmer came to a specific “smous.” Now the Jew carried a larger and more varied amount of merchandise, since he was in a stationary place and no longer had to transport heavy sacks of merchandise from farm to farm over long distances. In time a town developed around the train stations and many Jews settled in them.

I have only identified certain traits and features of Jewish immigrant life in South Africa in the beginning of this century. These are important because the daily life and people's employment pursuits of the past illuminate how their character has been transformed in the present. Jewish life as I knew it in Berea was varied and had many sides to it. It had two functioning Jewish theater groups, a weekly newspaper, and "cheders" where Yiddish was taught as the foundation language. It was populated with rabbis, "shoichtim" (ritual-slaughterers), cantors, schools, and small synagogues, "aptekers" (druggists), and doctors. There was no lack of tailors, shoemakers, tinsmiths, blacksmiths, watch-makers, and “turners.” [The Yiddish word “tokers” means “turners.” The English dictionary definition is, (1) “fashions or shapes objects on a lathe”; (2) “tumbler or gymnast.” In the context used here it could be either one.] There were fierce arguments between Zionists and socialists, and Jewish book-sellers loaned out books on “prikot.” [”Prikot” is not found in English or Yiddish dictionaries. Perhaps it is Slavic and in context used here may mean “on credit.”] Even a Jewish missionary was not lacking. Several times a month on Sunday he appeared in Berea on a street-corner, and for the Jews who gathered around him, he would talk about the wonders of Jesus and the uplifting quality of the Christian religion. The Jews around him laughed and threw questions at him. Sometimes heated discussions developed, so heated that the missionary barely escaped from the group and vanished. But this did not deter him from coming back again.

The life of the Jewish immigrant was very hard because he did not find in South Africa any organization that was on his side and concerned with his situation, no organization to help him economically or spiritually. The immigrant Jew had to undertake everything on his own shoulders--shoulders that were not always strong or broad enough for that burden. Perhaps, therefore, the immigrant sometimes followed a crooked path and lost his way. In general though, the Jewish immigrants who came to South Africa have nothing to be ashamed of--not as Jews and not as citizens.


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More About CHAIA GITA RABINOWITZ:
Medical Information: Suffered from rheumatism

More About AVRAM-PINCHAS MELMED and CHAIA RABINOWITZ:
Marriage: 1892, Lithuania
     
Children of AVRAM-PINCHAS MELMED and CHAIA RABINOWITZ are:
9. i.   MARY (MALKA) SHULAMITH4 MELMED, b. February 1893, Paneveyzs, Lithuania; d. 1989, Cape Town, SA.
  ii.   SOLOMON MELMED, b. 1895, Paneveyzs, Lithuania; d. 1979, Cape Town, SA; m. (1) MARY KAJATSKY; b. Russia; d. ?; m. (2) BERTHA CHERVONSKY; b. Russia; d. 1968, Capetown, SA.
  Notes for SOLOMON MELMED:

I. Attended Hopemill School (semi-Jewish secular school) whose principal was Reverand Mark Cohen.

  iii.   RACHEL MELMED, b. 1898, Paneveyzs, Lithuania; d. 1980, Cape Town, SA.
  Notes for RACHEL MELMED:

I. Attended Hopemill School (semi-Jewish secular school) whose principal was Reverand Mark Cohen.


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