Person:Hana Leikin (1)

In his written recollections, Hana's son, Judah "Jack" Asimov (1896-1969) writes that his mother (whom he doesn't name) was the eldest of 8, with 2 sisters and 5 brothers.

Here is what Judah Asimov wrote: "The eight children were all very smart people." "The oldest brother was NOCHUM JACOB." (clever. grew a cucumber inside a bottle, then cut off the stem. Surprised the neighbors). "Another brother was SCHMEREL." (ordained to be a rabbi, but preferred to be a businessman.) "Another brother was ELIE." (great scholar. Had a Russian high school diploma -- a tough course of study. From 1912-14, he was a salesman for a coal mining co, and a newspaper correspondent in the city of Bachmut which has a new name now. )

Jack writes that his mother was well versed in Jewish ritual and prayed all the time with other women who didn't know how as much as she did. She was also very generous, and known for giving more food to beggars than the typical slice of bread or half copek. She also gave yogurt, cheese and a piece of "shave" or herring. The family also had a couple of cows.

Jack also writes: "I traveled to CHISLAVITCHI that is the town where my mothers mother and her brother lived..."

Irina Leikin, who is descended from Moshe Leikin (a brother of Hana?), also said the Leikins were from Hislavitchi.

Hana's granddaughter, Serafima Asimov, the daughter of Hana's son Samuel, writes in a 2006 email that "Anna Leikin [wife of Isaac Leikin] who came too either from Petrovitch or from Hislavitch."

Serafima also wrote in that email: "My grandmother Hanna who, speak, was very beautiful - was never photographed."

Here is what Judah wrote about his mother:

"My Father & Mother

To talk about my father (ZL), I must start with my mother.

She came from a family in which her mother counted more than her father, who was a very simple man but also very honest and pious. My grandmother, his wife, lived to a great old age. I believe she passed the hundred mark. She had 8 children. My mother was the oldest, and she had two sisters and five brothers.

They where all very smart people. For example, when the oldest of the brothers, Nochum Jacob, was about 11 years old, he made a little box and polished it and painted it. Inside, he fit a quart bottle and took it to their garden where they grew all kinds of vegetables for their use. He took a bud from a cucumber, placed it inside the bottle, and watched it grow. When he decided it was big enough, he cut the stem off, leaving that cucumber inside the bottle. He then filled it with preserves to make it last, and startled the neighborhood. How did he put such a cucumber inside such a small hole?

This was an example of how all of them were smart people. But my mother’s brother Schmerel had (SMICHO OF HEIROO), which means he was ordained to be a rabbi but he preferred to be a businessman.

Her brother Elie, besides being a great scholar in Talmud, also had a Russian high school diploma. That was more education than at an American high school. From 1912 to 1914, he was a salesman for a coal mining company and a correspondent with a paper in the city of Bachmut, which now has a new name that I don’t know.

That is the family my mother descended from. My mother was well versed in Jewish ritual. She used to pray all kind of prayers with other women who did not know how. In her charities, she was the most outstanding woman. In my time, there were poor Jews who used to go from town to town begging. The usual donation was half a kopek or a piece of bread. But my mother did not give the usual. All the beggars knew that. They used to come to her not when they were in the neighborhood but when they felt hungry. And my mother used to feed them with what you would call here yogurt, and cheese.

To make all of her preparations, we used to have our own two cows. Of course, sometimes she would give a plate of “schave,” or a piece of herring. But she always fed everybody who came to here door. Besides, my father (ZL) used to bring an “oirech,” a guest, for Saturday for three meals.

I remember once a preacher came to our town and my father (ZL) liked his preaching, so he invited him to come for Pesach [Passover]. But usually before Pesach the snow started melting, so he told the preacher to come two weeks before. And two weeks after Pesach, it was impossible to leave. So we had him for five weeks living with us in our house.

         One more thing happened, while I am telling how my mother was charitable. A preacher came to our town, and for the first time in my 10 or 11 years, I saw a preacher, dressed in a white shirt with a tie and good clothes, who wouldn’t start preaching unless somebody guaranteed 15 rubles, an unheard of sum of money at that time. But his name meant something to my father (ZL), and he guaranteed the sum of money. But when he went collecting, the townspeople did not want to give more for this preacher than for any other one. My mother thought over the situation and told my father (zl) to pay the full sum himself because she said the people would think now that if they gave, they would be giving for [my father]. The people had no obligation, and she said we would somehow get along if we paid out that much money ourselves and we would no longer ask for anything from anybody else. There were many times when she could have spent the charity money she divided for her own needs. But to her, a kopec was never better spent than for charity."

1. ↑ Judah Asimov's written recollections (1969).
2. ↑ Serafima Asimova's 1979 correspondence to Isaac Asimov.
3. ↑ Serafima Asimova's 1979 correspondence to Isaac Asimov.
4.   Serafima Asimova's 1979 correspondence to Isaac Asimov.