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Lwów(Lemberg,L’viv):Childhood
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inspectorforthequalityofstudies,wasimpressedbythesharpanswersof
youngThon.BraudeadmittedthathedidnotlikeThonatfirstsight,“green
smallboyinyellowsuit,”butwhentheystarttotalkandplaytogetherhe
cametolikehimforhisattentivenessandcleverness.Sincethatdaythethree
friends-Braude,Ehrenpreis,andThon-metalmosteverydayafterschool,
usuallyinEhrenpreis’home.Theybecameveryclosefriendswhoshared
thesameambitionsandinspirationsfortheTorahandHaskalah.Braude
wrotethattheyhadmutualinfluenceoneachotherandwhileEhrenpreis
introducedthemtoHebrewliterature,hehimselfintroducedhisfriendsto
general,notreligious,knowledge,andtotheEuropeanwayoflifeandway
ofthinking:sciences,philosophy,andliterature.38AboutThon,Braudeadded
thathewasverytalented,wasclever,andhadagreatmemory.Forexample,
inhisBar-MitzvahThonimpressedalltheguestswithhisknowledgeand
wisdom.WolfSalatwhowassoimpressedbyThoncrownedhimasagenius.
This,wroteBraude,wasamistakebecauseThonontheonehand,having
greatambitions,wasfilledwithpride,but,ontheotherhand,italsocaused
himtofeelinferior,becauseofthepovertyinwhichhewasliving.Young
Thonfeltgreatpainandmisery,becausehecouldnothaveaneasyaccess
tosecular/external(notJewish)studies,whileBraude,thegrandsonofthe
distinguishedrabbiofLwów-TseviHirshOrenstein-hadprivateteachers
andasmanybooksashewanted.ThonandEhrenpreiscouldnotafford
evenbooksandhadtoborrowfromschoolmatesandfriends.39Ehrenpreis
alsodepictedyoungThonasabrilliantperson.Ashewrote,Thonshowed
agreatrhetoricaltalentalreadyinschool.Hecouldtalkforalongtimewith
well-builtsentences,richandornamentallanguage,andlogicalarguments.No
wonder,addedEhrenpreis,thatThonbecameoneoftheprominentspeakers
inthePolishparliament.40
ThonrecalledwithgreataffectionthehomeofBraude’sfamily,the
grandfatherRabbiOrensteinhisson-in-lawAryehLeibBraude(Mordechai
Braude’sfather),andtheirwives.MajerBałabanwrotethatRabbiOrenstein
wasthemodelofrabbithatThontriedtofollowallhislife.41EvenifBałaban
exaggerated,afterallOrensteinwasatraditionalrabbi,Thonremembered
himwithgreatrespect.42Braude’shousewasofgreatscholarshipbutalso
38Braude,“Zikhronotavshel,”47.
39Ibid,77.
40Ehrenpreis,Beynmizrah,28.
41Bałaban,“Dr.OzjaszThon(1870-1936),”123.
42Thon,“Demuyotmi-Lvov,”362-364.