Lyubtsh, mid-19th century.

Born into a devout, respected Lithuanian Jewish family with a bright future, Meir Movshovitsh Pisiuk's life takes a drastic turn with the early loss of his father. Orphaned by the Tsarist regime, he endures poverty, hunger, and exploitation.

Despite these hardships, Pisiuk's thirst for knowledge drives him to study hard, including at the prestigious Ramayles Yeshivah in Vilna, where he engages in both religious and secular studies influenced by the Haskalah movement. The author recounts how he and other students, thirsty for knowledge, absorbed subjects - even beyond the rabbinical canon - under the most impoverished of conditions.

We see the young Pisiuk struggling with his destiny, torn between the desire to study and the poverty that forces him to take any job, be it as a teacher or a carver, or any of the other jobs that require hard drudgery but pay little.

The biography provides rich insights into Jewish life in prominent Eastern European centers such as Vilna, Grodno, and Novogrodok.

Recognized as a scholar and prayer leader, Pisiuk's aspirations to be ordained as a rabbi are thwarted by a devastating fire in Grodno.

He then took on various roles to support his family before leaving for America in search of better opportunities. Pisiuk's American experience mirrors the hardships faced by many Eastern European migrants.

Under family pressure, he eventually returns to Lithuania and re-enters the beer business, achieving financial stability. He remains introspective, however, realizing that material success can never replace his deep connection and love for knowledge, books, and especially Jewish spirituality and literature.

As always, I would like to thank my friend Dr. Susan Kingsley Pasquariella for once again taking on the role of project coordinator.

For those interested in other contemporary Białystok, Krynki and Ciechanowiec biographies, I recommend my translations of

“My Childhood Years in the Pyaskes” by Leybl Hindes.

“Memoirs of a Woman from Bialystok” by Rachel Kositza.

“To the Great World” by Chayele Grober.

“Krynki in Ruins“ by Abraham Soyfer.

“Destruction of Białystok“ by Srolke Kot.

“As It Happened Yesterday” by Yosl Cohen.

“A Shtetl in Poland” by Isaac Bloom.

“Memoirs And Writings Of A Białystoker”, part 1, by Jacob Jerusalimski.

“Life And Death In The Bialystoker Ghetto“, by D. Klementinowski.

My translations of the mentioned books can be downloaded for free at JewishGen - Yizkor Book Translations and Społeczne Muzeum Żydów Białegostoku i regionu (jewishBiałystok.pl). Some are also available as printed books.

Contents in [ ] are mine. Contents in ( ) are by the author.

The transliteration of Yiddish and Hebrew-rooted Yiddish words mostly follows the YIVO standard or the Yiddish-Ashkenazi pronunciation.

The title “Rabbi” and “Reb” are both referred to by the author with the same abbreviation, “R' ”.

I have adopted this in my translation accordingly.

I have corrected minor, obvious spelling mistakes in print in my translation, mostly without comment.