I always look forward to being able to meet and speak to veteran rabbonim. Therefore when I heard that Rabbi Yisrael Epstein (name changed) was going to be spending time in my community over Yom Tov visiting with his married daughter I seized the opportunity.
Rabbi Epstein served as a rav in a number of congregations before retiring to Eretz Yisrael about 15 years ago and I was thrilled to meet him and hear about his years in the rabbinate. He recalled how difficult it was to obtain reliable kosher meat and how on Pesach every household made their own mayonnaise and flavored seltzer.
“There were no disposable plates or spoons or knives. A family that wanted to keep Pesach properly had to either kasher all their utensils or buy new ones” Rabbi Epstein recalled.
I asked him about obtaining shmurah matzoh and he said that was especially difficult in the early years. In fact many times they made do with one box of machine shmurah matzoh and everyone just had the minimal shiur needed for the sedarim. Then I asked if he could recall one particular incident. He hesitated and his daughter who was also in the room suddenly spoke up.
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