Great Grandfather Aaron Ha'Levi Muskal
Our Grandfather אהרון הלוי - Aaron Muskal was born on June 18 1902 (July 28 1902?) To his parents Nota Arye (Leib) and Esther Malka (Simon). They named him Aaron after his maternal grandfather, Aaron Simon.
He was born and raised in a small village called Dios Holon in Hungary (now Romania). He was the eleventh child born to Nota Arye and Esther Malka.
The Muskal's were the only Jewish family living in Dios Holon.
After giving birth to him, his mother Ester Malka became very ill , to the extant that she was unable to nurse her newborn Aaron, and they had to hire a wet nurse for him. His mother remained ill for for quite some time. At some point, Worried about his wife’s condition, Aaron’s father Nota Arye decided to travel to the Lisker Rebbe to requuest a Brocho for his wife.
When he told the Rebbe about his wife’s illness, the Rebbe answered him:
"דו וועסט האבן נאך א קדיש'ל" [meaning, you’ll have yet another son, who will say Kaddish - קדיש for you after 120 years].
Sure enough, some time later Esther Malka gave birth to her twelfth child, Hershel – Harry Muskal.
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| Aaron Muskal sitting on right, most likely with classmates. This is the earliest known photo of Aaron we have. |
Aaron’s father Nota Arye left Hungary for America in May 1914, with plans to bring the rest of his family there too in the near future. But Hashem had other plans. Three months later WWI broke out and it was impossible to bring the rest of his family to America, nor could he travel back to them.
Aaron Muskal sitting on right, most probably with classmates. This is the earliest picture we have of Aaron.
With his older brothers drafted into the army to fight the war, and his father Nota Arye out of the country, Aaron and his younger brother Harry where the only men left who could work to support the family.
As part of war, bombs were falling and windows were being shattered. Thus, there was a great need for window repair-men. With this opportunity for employment, Aaron soon went to work as an apprentice for a glazier, and was able help support his mother and siblings. He started working at a very young age. We know that by the time he became בר מצוה 13 years old, he was already working. Years later Aaron told his children how on the day of his בר מצוה, he went to shul, put on his tefilin and davend, and then went straight to work.
Aaron continued working as a glazier during the war and after to support the family. In 1922, the Muskal family was finally able to come to the USA. The story of the families time from birth, during the war and their travels to the America have been written by our cousin Nora Banner in the booklet called "One Branch of The Muszkal Family".
