A Tale of Love and Darkness

BACK IN ODESSA, as a mustachioed seventeen-year-old, Grandpa had fallen in love with a well-respected young woman by the name of Shlomit Levin, who loved nice things and was drawn to high society. She longed to entertain famous people, to be friendly with artists and "live a cultured life."

*Hayyim Nahuran Bialok (1873-1934), the Russian-born Hebrew poet, recognized as Israel's national poet, though he did not live to see the birth of the State of Israel.