Explanations to "A Jewish Wedding"

Mother & Uncle

My father's father died around 1898 when my father was about seven years old, and his only brother Alf was a year or two older. My grandmother, née Romain, apparently unable to care for her sons, placed them in the orphanage of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation at 2, Ashworth Road, Maida Vale, London. She later married Frederick Hawkins, and emigrated with him to Canada. Hence she was unable to attend her son's wedding. My father refers to his step-father as "uncle". After Mr. Hawkins' death she returned to London. Her tombstone in the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue burial ground in Hoop Lane makes no reference to her second marriage.

Dr. Moses Gaster

(1856-1939) Hahám of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation of London. A fine scholar, he wrote a history and anthology of popular Rumanian literature, and for a short time taught Slavic languages at Oxford University. In 1887 he became Hahám, retiring in 1918. He was an ardent Zionist, and was one of the first persons whom Chaim Weizmann approached when he came to England. Some of the early discussions over the "Balfour Declaration" took place in his house in Maida Vale. His Zionist views dismayed his congregation who were distinctly anti-Zionist, and reportedly they treated him poorly after his retirement, and were even unwilling to afford him any Synagogue honors. He had a number of children one of whom, Theodor Herzl Gaster, became a professor at Dropsie College in Philadelphia. The latter made a significant contribute to comparative religion, but he was not an orthodox Jew like his father. He had an acid wit. On one occasion, referring to his father's congregation, he said to me: "Those people in London think the only thing their clergy should do is to marry and bury them. Personally, I should find the latter activity very enjoyable." For another case of a notable who suffered for his Zionism, see the notes on Evelyn Margolis.

Ramsgate

A seaside town in Kent, formerly the home of Sir Moses Montefiore. Sir Moses and his wife are buried on the grounds, and there is a beautiful little Sephardic synagogue there. A college was established there where retired Jewish scholars might live out there years. The college is no longer in existence.

picked

This word piqued my linguistic curiosity. My dictionary defines it as "choice" or "prime", which makes it quite appropriate, but I never recall previously seeing the word used in this fashion. Incidentally, I find it remarkable that my father, who left school at the age of fourteen years and became a typewriter mechanic, was able to write such a literate letter. It says something about the current state of public education.