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Family Is All That Matters 54 Zhenya wants readers to know that once there was a wonderful family named Braverman. "This family had an exceptional mother named Malka, who tried to instill honesty in the children," she says. "She raised the children in the spirit of never being vindictive. If someone is hurtful, return the gesture with generosity and understanding." Leib & Malka's Family Leib & Malka's Family Most of the Jews had fled abroad during and aer the civil war that followed the Bolshevik Revolution, but Leib and Malka stayed put in Kamenets-Podolsk, where all of their children had been born. Both hunger and terrifying pogroms were widespread in Ukraine at the time. Though they survived many such pogroms, Malka was ultimately stabbed in the chest with a knife during one. She survived, but the Braverman family decided to run away to safety and a better food supply. They sold everything they could and fled to Moscow in 1933. The hope was that the authorities would Above: Leib Braverman in Pavlovskiy Posad, Russia, 1930. Previous Page: Malka and Leib Braverman in Pavlovskiy Posad, Russia, 1936. soon reopen the border for Jews so the family could leave for the United States. But when the Bravermans failed to secure a residency permit in Moscow, the family settled in the small town of Pavlovskiy Posad, not far om the capital. In this textile town famous for its flowery kerchiefs and fabrics, Leib Braverman found his niche. He opened a tailor shop to make pleated dresses and skirts, which were in great demand at that time. Leib was a short man by today's standards, though very strong and a hard worker. While both parents had a good education in Yiddish, they had to master the Moscow dialect of the Russian language to adjust to their new life. They found it much easier to speak Yiddish at home. In Pavlovskiy Posad, devout Jews found it extremely difficult to observe their religious traditions. There was not a single synagogue, so Jews got together for prayers in a small private house adapted to serve as a prayer hall. Leib and Malka could not and would not adapt to the Soviet style of life. The head of the family tried hard to maintain the traditions at least on Shabbat and Jewish High Holy Days. By Shabbat, the small apartment would be thoroughly cleaned and the floor scrubbed. The eldest daughter, Klara, would wash the little ones' hair using kerosene to kill any lice. The family had a difficult time making ends meet, but the parents tried hard to keep kosher. On High Holy Days and even on some Shabbats, a chicken would be purchased and it would be Zhenya's task to take it to the shochet to be killed as prescribed by Jewish law. As Leib liked to say, "Besser abissele eidar gornit" ("Better a little something than nothing"). On such days, Malka tried hard to get hold of some rare Jewish treats for the children. Her menu contained the traditional dishes: chopped herring and chicken feet jelly, chopped liver and tsimess (vegetables simmered in honey or sugar), broth with kneidlakh (dumplings), gefilte fish, and varnechkess (bow tie pasta). On Passover, they bought matzos

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