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When a person was dangerously ill, family and friends gathered around the patient‘s bed and performed screaming and yelling at the patient—the louder the better. For severe sneezing, the feldsher pulled the left ear and spat three times. For sand in the eye, the lid was pulled down to stimulate tearing. To ward off an illness, the Hebrew word adoshem [word for G-d] was written around the neck of a sick person. It also was advisable to visit a a good Jew for a magical cure from a suffering illness. Two generations later, when I had a wart on my finger, my - father told me to put urine on the wart to make it disappear, people prescribed grandmother‘s remedies, such as old wives‘ tales. One such remedy to prevent colds was placing a piece of garlic in a bag and hanging it around the neck. Sauerkraut was a candy medicine given to youngsters at the beginning of each month as protection against intestinal worms and rock candy was given for coughs or colds.

To drive away an evil eye from a child who suddenly became sick, it was advised to talk against the evil eye. When looking at a beautiful infant, it was advisable to spit and say ―What an ugly baby. The culture interpreted and analyzed bad dreams When a person had a disturbing dream, he gathered three friends and repeated these Hebrew words―May your dreams be good. His listeners answered, ― Your dreams are good. This was repeated three times to relieve the mind. People bought medicine at a chemical store with its highly polished floors and rows of shining porcelain medicine jars. The medicine was packed in a box or a bottle with attached slips that stated the contents of the prescription with the doctor‘s and patient‘s names.

Emergencies, such as cases of appendicitis, either got well or died without the benefit of surgery. Yet there were a surprisingly large number of old people. Each home had an open well in the backyard, sometimes right next to the privy. It is no wonder that typhoid fever was a wide spread disease and claimed many victims.

CARING FOR THE SICK

Sometimes the sick traveled by train or a horse-drawn carriage to Königsberg, a German town in East Prussia about 190 kilometers away, known for its outstanding physicians. The custom of seeking a Jewish physician in Germany resulted from the fact that beginning in 1871, thousands of German Jews had graduated from the country ‘s medical schools, then under the German Chancellor Bismarck. (By 1900, sixteen percent of all physicians in Germany were Jewish although Jews comprised only one percent of the population. Some German Jewish doctors attained fame for their research during this period.) There was only one medical doctor and a feldsher [folk doctor] to care for the Jews who were sick. There were no nurses, and if there had been, few residents could have afforded to pay for their services. Some boys and girls in their teens, working in pairs, organized themselves in linyes hatsedek [lines of charity] and performed night-nursing duties. They went to the homes of the sick and watched over them, relieving worn-out family members and helping with household chores. The folk doctor utilized spells, amulets, herbs, and other supposed remedies to ward off sickness, as well as cupping, the application of a suction cup to flesh to remove body toxins. For severe swelling, heated bankes [cupping glasses] were applied to the body of an ailing person to draw blood to the body surface. When a finger was cut, a spider web was applied to stop bleeding. Smoke emanating from a burning piece of gauze was used to disinfect a wound. When one felt struck by an eynore [evil eye], it was recommended to see someone who possessed the power to talk the evil away. When a person was dangerously ill, family and friends gathered around the patient‘s bed and performed opshrayen a teytn [screaming and yelling] at the patient—the louder the better. For severe sneezing, the feldsher pulled the left ear and spat three times. For sand in the eye, the lid was pulled down to stimulate tearing. To ward off an illness, the Hebrew word adoshem [word for G-d] was written around the neck of a sick person. It also was advisable to visit a gutn yid [a good Jew] for a magical cure from a suffering illness.

Two generations later, when I had a wart on my finger, my - father told me to put urine on the wart to make it disappear people prescribed bobes refues [grandmother‘s remedies], such as old wives‘ tales. One such remedy to prevent colds was placing a piece of garlic in a bag and hanging it around the neck. Worm kraut was a candy medicine given to youngsters at the beginning of each month as protection against intestinal worms and rock candy was given for coughs or colds. To drive away an evil eye from a child who suddenly became sick, it was advised to talk against the evil eye. When looking at a beautiful infant, it was advisable to spit and say ―What an ugly baby. The culture interpreted and analyzed beyze khaloymes [bad dreams]. When a person had a disturbing dream, he gathered three friends and repeated these Hebrew words: ―Kholem toyve hazise.‖ [―May your dreams be good.‖] His listeners answered, ―Kholem toyve hazise.” [“Your dreams are good.] This was repeated three times to relieve the mind. People bought medicine at a chemical store with its highly polished floors and rows of shining porcelain medicine jars. The medicine was packed in a box or a bottle with attached slips that stated the contents of the prescription with the doctor‘s and patient‘s names. There was a shelter for wanderers and visiting scholars.