Ari Lesser - Immigrant Story

Immigrant Story Lyrics by Ari Lesser Avner was born in Russia back in eighteen fifty one Nearly a hundred Rabbi’s in the family he was from Went to Vilna, for Yeshiva but it didn’t quite pan out Never got his smicha cause he always had some doubts But he knew that he loved Minda she was quite a sight to see Though dressed as modestly as a young red head could be The sleeves of her blue shirt hung low, long passed her elbows With her black skirt flowing, showing off only her toes They went under the chupah round the age of twenty-five And soon they had six kids working hard just to survive Avner was a learned man, brilliant and always eager To educate the children, but since teachers’ pay was meager He was also a mashgiach making sure the kosher meat Was clearly marked, so the Jews knew what they could eat And while Minda raised the kids, on the side she earned a bit By selling all the mittens, gloves, and socks, that she could knit She kept a kosher kitchen, with four different sets of dishes All Yiddish cooking up gefilte fishes, and knishes And though she was a working mom, she still found time to pray Davening from her siddur each and every single day She wished her sons would carry on with their Jewish tradition For she was well aware of their dangerous position In Russia, military service then was mandatory When a man turned twenty, he’d be drafted, end of story Cause if you were conscripted in the army of the Czar You’d be gone for fifteen years forced to live afar They’d choose young men at random, no one could refuse And very few ever returned to be observant Jews Avner and Minda had to find a way out of that cage For the sake of their six sons who would soon come of age Their plan was to immigrate to the United States But since they were short on cash the family had to wait So Avner left his wife and kids, and sailed across the sea Hoping he’d make enough to bring the rest of his family Wretched, tired, and poor, he came ashore in Baltimore And started working harder than he ever had before He stayed by his wife’s cousin, just so they could split the rent Spent as little as he could and saved up every cent Six days a week he hustled as a seller of umbrellas Fixing them as well, tells you he was a handy fellow It took six years to earn enough for his whole family’s fare Then Minda and the boys packed up what little they had there The seven of them took a ship, they left Russia behind And sailed off to America to see what they would find Avner was so excited when they finally reunited And when Minda saw her husband she was also quite delighted After being separated for about six years too many They made up for lost time and soon Minda gave birth to Jennie A testament to the love of her father and mother Eight years younger, than the youngest of her six big brothers The last and only child they had after those years away The first person in my family born in the USA She was my great grandma, her son was my grandpa Sam His daughter is my mother Sue, and so now here I am The fourth generation to be born in this great nation And only G-d knows where I’d be if not for immigration Over a hundred years ago my family crossed the sea Dreaming there’d be a better life in this land of the free Like so many before them, they were forced to flee To escape from violence, prejudice, and poverty Nearly every American shares the same story Almost all of us come from some immigrant family So when we see a foreigner arrive in this country The very least that we can do is show some empathy