The Birnbaum's and Religion

Etty,

According to my mother Avrum and Tobe were very observant people. The family comes from a long line of Rabbis from way back when. However Avrum was a bit of shall we say a "black sheep" or renegade, as he never got his smichas (did not become a Rabbi) even after studying at the Yeshiva.

As well, instead of allowing for a match maker to arrange a sidich with someone he didn't know, Avrum had picked out Tobe on his own and insisted that she was the one. The match maker then just took care of the appropriate arrangements.

As to how he brought up his children. Yes they got to go to the public high school (the gynasium). The story that I know from my mother who was told it by her father is that the boys had to promise not to take the train or write on Shabbas when they went to school. Since the gynasium was in the nearby town of Nizko (a few km away), the boys would start walking and not go to the Rozwadow train station. However, they would frequently hop on the train as it slowly pulled out of town. If Avrum new about it, he simply looked the other way as he knew the times were change perhaps not for him, but at least for his children.