RMM Sand #3- Chabad yeshiva Montreal 1941, Cured from Polio w Raayatz's brocha- Rabbi Chaim Dalfin

We're here with Rabimedo Sand, the third part of an interview, meaningful interviews. Please tell us now your early memories of the labatures that came to Montreal in 1942 and started the lab. 1941. 41. Thank you for the correction. And started the lab. Right. Rabbi Hendel. Rabbi Garitzki. Rabbi Kramer. Rabbi Kramer. Rabbi Greenlass. Rabbi Greenlass. Rabbi. There was a whole a whole bunch. I think nine of them. I think nine of them. Yeah. They were all from Shanghai. From They came to Shanghai. They came from Shanghai. Yes. They landed Arab Shabas in Montreal Friday. There was a building waiting for them. My uncle Izzy was on the was part of the group that had prepared the building for them. The committee and they dvened already with the minion that Chabas that Chabas. Wow. In Montreal. Rabbi Lee Kramer was the refugee. When did Rabbi Did you know Rabbi Hbrstrong? Oh, of course. Of course. Rabbi Hersbrung was my Muhammad. when I came to Canada to to Montreal in 46. So my father in lab rolled him in the lab. Yeah. I So that's where I went to school. Well, Rabbi Hersung was there. No, no, no. Rabbi Hershung was in Canada in Montreal, but Rabbi Hirshroom was a litak. He wasn't a he wasn't a kabadnik. No, that's for sure. He wasn't a kabad. Very close to the reb. Later later, later later. He's talking 1946. Daddy, tell them in 19 when you were seven or nine years old, you and Shanie what happened with your legs, right? In 19 I was 11. How old? 456. 45 46. 45. You had polio? Yeah. Polio was a terrible disease. every supper there was an outbreak in the kind in in in Canada, right? And the summer of 1945, my father took us and we went with the what was the name of that English group that was like a boy scouts. I'll think of it. Anyway, we went to Yahal Beach. We came back from the beach and we had pains in our legs. Call Dr. Thompson who was our family doctor. He came was lying on the bed, sat me up, I fell back. Sat me up, I fell back. My sister Shaunie, same story. My older sister, Dr. Thomasson says, "I never heard of such a thing." I' never heard of what that there should be two children in the same family family hat. First thing they did was they put a red sign on the door quarantined us. Right. My father's store people stopped coming. Wow. They heard that there was polio polio. They were afraid in the fray. Dr. Thompson said to clear up, "You have to send us to Montreal." So my father took my sister Shotti, I got on the train and drove to Montreal. came to Montreal and he brought us into Children's Memorial Hospital where we were placed and we were treated with the Sister Kenny treatment which was the only treatment for polio known. What was the treatment? We couldn't move our hands, our feet, our legs, our back. We couldn't sit. We couldn't anything. Do you remember this? Oh, like today. Wow. Like today, I was 11, 12 years old. Every morning they brought a cot on wheels next to my bed. They lifted me up and put me on the bed, rolled me back. There was a gigantic bathtub full of boiling water. When I say boiling water, I mean boiling water. They had blankets. I don't know if you know Hudson's Bay blankets. There were pieces of them cut out. They brought us near them. They took pieces of woolen blanket with a tongs. Yeah. Tongs. Yeah. and stuck it into the water. And they took us and they stuck us into the water. Then they took us out and they took out these blankets and put it on us and we were treated with this boiling water treatment. What did that do for the polio? Supposed to cure us. It did. It did. It did. My sister Shaunie and I both came out without a scratch from from from there. Uncle Lizzy Dolphin had a store in Montreal. He heard that we were. So he took and he sent a box of crayons and coloring to the hospital for the children. For the children and the hospital refused to accept it because it was what? Because they said you can't send to one child. So he sent it back. So, Uncle Lizzy took a few cases and he shipped them up. Israel Tanning House lived near my grandmother's. He wanted to come and visit us and we were at my grandmother's on the way coming to the hospital. He came to the house and he yelled, "Open the window." They opened the window and he threw candy into us. How long did this whole para take? Two months. Two months from when you got from when you got the polio to when you were cured was two months. We were two months in a hospital. Two months in a hospital. My mother was pregnant with my sister Bala. Crazy. I left my m my sister. My mother. She had blonde hair. When I came back, she was all white. Wow. From worrying. From worrying. Yeah. She didn't see you for two months. What? Two months. She didn't She didn't see you during at all during those two months cuz they were in isolation to talk to her on the telephone. You did talk to her and I always was singing as a kid. Had a beautiful voice and I was singing. Every time I talked to her, she'd tell me, "Sing me, Billy Boy." sing me this. I used to sing for her on the telephone. After two months, the hospital said, "We can't do any more for you." They they'll continue to get better as as the months go on. sent my father to get us in Montreal. We were cured. They said we were on crutches. We got on the train and we came to Baist and my mother came to meet us at the train. We got off the train with the crutches. She started to [Music] cry. mistaken. How am I going to marry off a girl? How I marry off a girl with with crutches? With crutches. Who's going to marry her? We got off the train. My mother had just given birth to my sister Mala who was only six pounds. She was in an incubator, a preeie. She was in an incubator. Incubator, right? My father took me to see the baby and I looked into the incubator which had a glass yes window and I said her head is only big like a potato. A little potato. This I remember from Tell them the story with the Fredbe when you were in the hospital. When we got sick, my mother was a visionary from from Romania. mania and she was used to from the reb when I when we got sick. First thing she said to my father, "Call Rabbi Kramer in Montreal and tell him to go to the Reb." Yeah. Yeah. which he did. And then the message came back. The Reb gave an eight and a he said to my mother, "Don't worry, they're going to be all right." My mother, when we got sick, she stopped eating. She was so depressed. The moment she heard from the rabbit and he said, "Don't worry, they're going to be all right." Like nothing happened. Started to eat, started to everything and her hair turned. And what was the you said? A brha and it remember what the was? I don't know what the answer was, but okay. Whatever it was, it saved her and saved the whole family because a woman is Yeah. Abias. Yeah. The main stay of the home. Yeah. What else can I tell you? Hold on.