The Wandering
The Jewish Home | JUNE 16, 2022
The Jewish Home | JUNE 16, 2022
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Journeys to Holland Part I By Hershel Lieber
1989 Canal Scene
1966 I landed at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam in late December. It was about two months after my father, a”h, was niftar. I had gone through a very diffi-
Chanukah 1965, the last family photo with our father, a”h
cult two years as my father was hovering between life and death. Besides helping physically in caring for my father, I went to work part-time to help sustain our family financially. My mother was a very special person who was open-minded and did not necessarily follow convention. It was she who suggested that maybe I should take some time off from work and travel to Europe for a few weeks. Visiting relatives and going sightseeing could do wonders in recuperating from this traumatic period and bringing back a sense of tranquility. After arriving in Amsterdam, I changed some dollars into guilders, which at that time was the Dutch currency, and took a bus to Dam Square in the center of the city. I inquired about a hotel and found a small kosher guesthouse within a fifteen-minute walk to a synagogue. I was in my year of aveilus and needed a minyan to say kaddish.
The hotel was priced at $3.25 a night with an additional charge for breakfast and dinner. The second night, I moved to the upper floor to a room with a shared bathroom to save 50 cents. The first thing I did after I settled in was to write an aerogramme to my mother, which was cheaper than a letter. I told her that I would write every day and that she should save my correspondence. This would form a diary of my European trip. She saved each one, and I have the entire collection, which I recently reviewed for the first time in over fifty years and was a great help in writing this article. Before going to shul in the morning, I wanted to shave. I quickly realized that I could not use my shaver since the outlet holes were further apart than my shaver plug. At the time, I didn’t know about the difference in voltage between the U.S. and Europe. I put aside shaving for
the moment and ran over to the shul. It was a large building, and they were just starting Mincha. For the next two days, I was in complete confusion and could not coordinate myself with the congregants. Whenever they were standing, I was sitting, and when they were sitting, I was standing. When I started saying kaddish, they hushed me and indicated
A sampling of the many letters that I sent to my mother during my European trip in 1966-7
