We don’t have to wonder what life was like in the shtetl or rely on stories we heard as children. While Orthodox Jews did not traditionally write memoirs, Pinkhes Dov Goldenshteyn (1848-1930), a talmid chacham and a shochet, tells us in raw detail about his life as a poor orphan in Ukraine without nostalgia or white-washing. Goldenshteyn wrote his Yiddish memoirs to strengthen the belief in Hashem and hashgacha pratis of his children. With the translation of those memoirs into English, a new generation can also feel that wave of complete faith while also seeing the difficulty of life in nineteenth century Ukraine. Despite all the challenges including severe poverty and antisemitism, the hard life was full of faith, love, plentiful moments of shared joy and the profound feeling of Hashem’s presence throughout life.

A Story of Inspiration

In this first of two volumes, which traces the years from his orphanhood through his maturation into a Torah scholar and shochet, Goldenshteyn endures tremendous hunger, suffering and humiliation. Despite these hard truths of life, Goldenshteyn’s story uplifts readers. His bitachon carries him through his difficult times. His struggles bring him into personal contact with the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch. His search for parnasa brings him to where the town rabbi, the Malbim, receives him with honor. He is charged with bringing a cherished esrog to the Lyever Rebbe. His faith and his personal integrity ensure that his life is filled with blessings even if he chronically lacked food and money.

Volume two begins in 1873, when Goldenshteyn obtains his first position as a shochet in Slobodze, and it follows him to the Crimea, where he endures 34 years of vicissitudes. In 1913, he fulfills a dream of immigrating to the Land of Israel, hoping to find tranquility in his old age. Instead, he is met with the turbulence of the First World War, as battles rage between the retreating Ottoman Turks and the advancing British forces.

A Riveting Page-Turner

The story of Pinkhes Dov Goldenshteyn’s life is enhanced by his literary skill. He writes like a professional storyteller, leading readers in suspense until we turn every page hoping to learn the next twist in his eventful life. Ultimately, the reader sees how the different pieces of his life fit together like a puzzle, as if a plan was always there waiting for Goldenshteyn to walk into it. Hashem is the true protagonist of this story of life in the nineteenth century shtetl. As we read about Goldenshteyn’s tumultuous life, we learn about one person’s unvarnished experiences in the legendary shtetl of a world that no longer exists.