Malmesbury, 14 January, 1902
My dear wife, your letter of last week I did not receive – it is true, I have almost forgotten your address because I have not written for a long time. I know that I am wrong to cause you pain for nothing, but alas I can’t help it. I know that you owe a lot of money, and the office of my father is very small, and I know about your business and your foot problems.
Malmesbury, 12 February, 1902
Today, I am all by myself without a partner. I depend on God and I do whatever my intelligence tells me to do. May God grant us success, and I hope, and it seems to me, that better days are on the way. I buy poultry and eggs and dispatch them to Cape Town, and God provides a little profit, and hopefully He can give more if He wants to. It’s a brighter prospect.
Cape Town, 20 February, 1902
Dearest wife – this week I have received no letter from you, and yet I am writing to you. I can inform you that TG I am well, may God grant to hear the same news from you. I am sending you now £4 sterling. May God grant that you may use it in good health, and I know that you have already used it up and that you will pay out to the people that we owe.
Malmesbury, 4 March, 1902
My dear wife – last week I waited long for your letter because I thought that I had not received any letters for a long time. It is nearly eight weeks that I had no letter. It seems that this week there is no letter, either. I can tell you that this is an aveyle (crime) – , especially when I write regularly and you get letters from me.
Malmesbury, 11 March, 1902
My dear wife, it is a long time since I have received any letters. On your side, there should be no reason for not writing – it does not matter even if you write a short letter – and if you write it, it is sure to reach me. And if you don’t write, I consider it wrong on your part. I can inform you that I am very well TG and I hope to hear the same from you and the children.
Malmesbury, 16 March, 1902
My dear wife, I sent you £4 sterling last week, it is as much as I could manage. I want to send this in time. If you have already received it, I don’t know – it can be that you will receive it with this letter, which according to the posting, you should already have received a week earlier.
Malmesbury, 29 March, 1902
My dear wife, I have duly received your letter of the 8th of February, and I thank you for your well being. On my side, I can tell you that I am TG in good health, and may this letter also find you in the best of health. I have sent you £4 twice, that makes £8 all together.
Malmesbury, Rosh Chodesh Iyar, 7 May, 1902
Dearest wife, seeing that it is Rosh Chodesh, it is incumbent on me to send you Rosh Chodesh gelt, but alas, just after Pesach I am a bit short of money, and we must be patient even though you may not want to be patient. I hope with God’s help to be able to send money, as much as possible, and may God have mercy and grant us prosperity so that everything can go better.
Malmesbury, 14 June, 1902
Dearest wife, I have safely received your letter of 26 April and I thank God for His mercy. Usually, one comforts oneself with hope, but the present comes and it is quite different, but alas, often the hope turns out to be impossible and a man becomes weak hoping and keeping faith and then God shows his strength and power and that He can do anything and He proves that He can change everything in a twinkling of an eye, that no one could have thought or understood.
Out of context, no date, no place
‘What is happening with David?’ He costs twenty-five roubles a term, and I think it’s worth a ‘thank you’. You cannot achieve anything and you cannot know much. When you are more settled, I’d like to get some advice. Would my brother Eliayahu Zalman of Vitebsk undertake to teach him? I would be very satisfied even if it cost me ten roubles more, and to send him to Vitebsk, because apart from studying, living in a city, he can also develop into a mensch.
Cape Town, 30 July, 1902
Dearest wife, I have received your sad letter but I am not able to reply to it today. But, in one word, I can say that although the sun is beautiful we are not able to pull it down. One is only a human being. I myself, from my side, am doing all I can with might and main, but when the luck is out then nothing helps, and when the luck is in, you don’t need anything else and all comes right.
Malmesbury, 5 August, 1902
My dear wife – last week I had no letters from you, and this week I don’t know whether I should wait for your letter, because I also have not written to you and so I can’t expect an answer. The reason for it we need not ask, because nothing very important is happening, except for the weather and the cold, and so our correspondence is weak and the same is happening at your end.
Malmesbury, August, 1902
My dearest wife, I have received your letter but I have derived very little pleasure from it, because you wrote it with a bitter heart, and so the letter is also bitter and to read it is even worse. But the news of your well being has exceded the bitterness, and I find comfort in the news that you are all very well. May God always grant us good health and prosperity.
I have sent you £6 in two lots of £3 each. I am sure you have received it all. I hope shortly to send some more, as much as possible, with God’s help.