Page 73 - LEIBY

Chapter 8 73

to finish their inspection. They hustled the waiting passengers
back onto the carriages and ordered the driver to resume the
journey.

The train lurched forward and began to move past the wheat
field. Leiby opened the windows wide and reached out to help
the hiding travelers climb back into the carriage before the train
picked up speed. By the time the train was traveling smoothly,
they were all sitting securely on their seats, headed for Poland,
and freedom.

“Finally, finally, we’ve left Russian territory,” someone rejoiced,
and the atmosphere in the carriage instantly lightened and
became more relaxed.

“I’ll tell you all a joke about Russia,” one young man tittered.
“In Russia, there’s no need to have a mouth. Why? Because
to talk – is forbidden, to eat – there’s no food, and to breathe?
Breathe through your nose!”

“That joke landed my friend with five years in Siberia,” an older
man with a long gray beard warned.

But the gay mood could not be dampened, and more passengers
contributed their pearls of humor. “A man in Russia looked
into the mirror and told his reflection “one of us must be an
informant…”

The men chuckled, and he dredged up another joke. “When we
say ‘kol chamira’ there is no food for the next half day. When we
say kol nidrei, there is no food for the next entire day. And when
we say kolkhoz there is no food, ever.”

“Quiet!” the older man hushed them, annoyed. “If we’re
overheard talking negatively about Russia, the communists
will be less inclined to let other Jews leave. We have to
demonstrate loyalty to the country, even when we are leaving it.
I heard that when the Amshinover Rebbe arrived in Japan, an
American journalist interviewed him, and asked him about the
communist attitude towards religious Jews. The Rebbe raved
about the “tolerant” treatment that the Jews of Russia receive,