This 70-second film shows Abraham Seligman
lighting Chanukah candles in the dining room of
34 Renner Avenue, Newark, New Jersey
on December 11, 1955 as family and friends
look on.
Opposite page, top: A photo of the Bobruisk
band. Abraham is center right, in the
first row, holding a clarinet. Bottom: A
formal portrait of Abraham, probably taken in
Bobruisk before his departure in 1904.
braham
Seligman (1883-1963), son of
Israel, was raised by his
grandfather
Gedalia in Bobruisk. As a young man he studied
Torah and played the clarinet in a
local band. He was drafted, but deserted in
1904 and left Russia,
probably
with his brother
Nathan. He went to
Germany and England and
landed at Ellis Island on April 9, 1905 at 22 with less
than $10 in his pocket.
Abe
worked as a shoe stitcher in Brockton,
Massachusetts and moved to New Jersey in 1912. He
met
Gussie Rudbart, his wife-to-be, at night school
and married her in 1914. She bore him three
children: Edward in 1915, William in 1918 and Frieda
in 1925.
He owned several
businesses in Elizabeth and Newark – candy stores, a
smoke shop, a hardware store and a luncheonette. He
died in 1963 and is buried in Clifton, New Jersey.
braham
Seligman (1883-1963), son of
