R.I.P. Uncle Alter

Wifey's Uncle Alter Juskeviecz died last night, at 88, in Borough Park, Brooklyn. He was my mother in law's only surviving sibling.

I knew about Uncle Alter before I met him. When my wedding was being planned (I use the passive voice on purpose, as I was merely a guest), my mother in law insisted the food be kosher. None of our family and friends are religious, but Alter and HIS family were, so the whole focus of the 170 person party was limited to those halls that had kosher catering in Miami in 1987. Basically, our choices were hotels on Miami Beach or the Hyatt Downtown. We chose the Hyatt.

I was sort of annoyed at this, but then I met Uncle Alter and his wife Tzipi. They were such warm, sweet, and humble people, that I soon gave up my reluctance...Alter made the blessings over the bread, and the wedding was just fine...

Alter and my mother in law made in through the most awful of human cruelty --the Shoah. They lost the rest of their siblings, parents, grandparents, etc... Alter stayed in Israel after the war, and met his Hungarian born wife, who was a very talented artist. Alter was a skilled carpenter. When they decided to emigrate to the US, he paid an Arab shipping agent at Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion) to pack his tools for him. When he arrived at Idlewild (now JFK), he opened a box of rocks. It taught Alter a lesson about being too trusting...

He and his wife and 3 sons started a new life in Brooklyn. They were religious. The eldest son became a mashgiach, a rabbi who supervises in the slaughter of chickens for kosher use. Their middle boy worked (and still works, 30 years later) at Maimonides Hospital, and the youngest owns a kosher candy store and catering business...

Aunt Tzipi died young, and Uncle Alter stayed in his building in Brooklyn. He owns a full city block. He and his son live in 2 of the units, and their are 6 more. The ground floor has several bustling businesses. I'm no real estate maven (expert), but the building must be worth millions.

You wouldn't know it to look at Alter. I think the man owned 3 pairs of slacks, and maybe 5 shirts. Each day, he'd walk to the market, and to shul to pray. That, and visiting his sons and grandkids and great grandkids was his life.

Several years ago, my mother in law called her brother and told him to give gifts to the Ds. A few weeks later, each D got a check for $5000. Wifey and I called Alter, and said that while we appreciated his generosity, we couldn't accept such a gift. The Ds had never met him, for one thing. He wouldn't hear of returning the money. The Ds were his beloved sister's only grandchildren, and it was his pleasure.

I took the $10K and went to Vegas and blew it on prostitutes and cocaine. Ha. Of course not. We deposited the money into the Ds' accounts, and they wrote lovely notes.

Years later, one of Alter's grandsons called us. He was out of work, had 2 girls to support, and didn't wish to burden his wealthy grandfather any more...We sent him some money, to pay his rent for a few months...He was extremely grateful. I told him we were merely extending his grandfather's generosity. Sometimes mitzvot really do get paid forward...Happily, the grandson found a new job, and is again doing fine. I spoke with him about Alter today...

I only met Alter 2 times, and yet was moved by him. He was gentle, sweet, humble, and generous. He leaves behind children and grandchildren and great grandchildren who truly mourn his loss.

I "spoke" to my mother in law earlier, on her captioned phone. She cried, of course. She's now the sole survivor of the Nazi horrors visited on the Polish -Jewish family. Although Alter was her senior, my mother in law always treated him as a baby brother.

Rest in peace, Alter. Yours was a life well lived. You will be missed. You will be remembered.