The Segals of Rishon

Anyone who did not know Shlomo and Elisheva Segal missed out on a friendship superior to many others. There are hundreds of Segal families in Israel and tens of thousands throughout the Jewish world. It is an ancient name going back to the distinguished kohanim, the priests of Biblical times. A name recorded in early Jewish history.  But very few Segals could ever compare with Shlomo and Elisheva.

Shlomo and Elisheva Segal were famous in Rishon LeZion. Everyone knew them, loved them, and respected them.

Shlomo was a Rumanian butcher who carried his skills to Israel before the European war. He fell in love with and married the very beautiful Elisheva Yitzchaki, daughter of a renowned religious family whom I knew well and loved.

Shlomo put his brilliant skills to work in Israel. The back-yard on Mohiliver street in Rishon was his work place and there he cut huge chunks of beef and there he barbecued them with the delicious smoke filling the nostrils of every neighbor on Mohiliver street.

While Shlomo was a butcher par excellence his beloved Elisheva was a cook and baker to the delight of the Segal and Yitzchaki families. All the members of both sides could never stop praising her for her brilliant culinary skills and for her generous relations not only with family but with neighbors as well.

Their beloved son Gidon who still lives in Rishon, follows the kindness and generosity shown to him by his parents. Their Segal name was loved throughout Rishon.

During the tzena period of rationing when beef was scarce, Shlomo managed to share with his neighbors beautiful slices of fresh beef. He always shared with his neighbors because that was set deep in his warm heart.

I never had the pleasure of tasting Gidon’s barbecued meat.  But I can applaud his baked Turkey which he brought to me in my home in Rishon.

There are, at least in my area of Rishon, few people as loving and as generous as the Segal family.

When I walk by Mohiliver street and look at the famous back-yard I drool with the delightful memories of earlier years. These memories may not seem important to others but they are very important to me. Years come and years go, people come and people go, but the joyful memories of Rishon’s famous Segal family will continue to live in my heart.

There are many Segal families living in Israel today but none of them can compare with the Segals of earlier Rishon,

It is up to their beloved son Gidon to treasure the memories and to pass them on to his two sons.  Segal, an ancient biblical name, lives on. May it ever remind us who knew the Rishon Segals how much a great love can go on living.

May the Segal family of Rishon LeZion continue to honor their famous family name. It is a treasure to be cherished and protected.