A Reader’s ‘Religious’ Experience of Schwartz’s Deli
Image by Courtesy of Schwartz’s
To the Editor:
I was thrilled to read Worshipping at Montreal’s Temple of Smoked Meat, by Michael Kaminer, Wednesday, September 7, 2016.
I have visited that mecca many times and it is a religious experience in the best sense. My uncle was a cantor at one of the synagogues in Montreal. Every time I would visit Montreal I made it a point to have meals at Schwartz’s. The line outside even in the cold did not reduce my determination to enjoy that special dining moment.
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My uncle survived the Holocaust with his sister (my mother) and another uncle. The older I get the more I realize their survival was against the odds. Only 1 in 10 of the Latvian Jews survived. My uncle from Montreal died a few years ago and I asked my cousins if they would be upset if I went to Schwartz’s during the mourning period. They said it would be fine. I mourned for him with a full stomach and I think the memory of his life was enhanced by that act.
Steven A. Ludsin
New York, NY
The writer was a member of the President’s Commission and the first US Holocaust Memorial Council. He is writing a book about the creation of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
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