When Rose first met Abraham Bloch
For reasons that remain unclear, at the age of 15 or 16, Rose was set up with a boy from a nearby country town named Abraham “Abe” Bloch (1870-1941). The match was a bit surprising because Abe, who at that time was making his living as a roofer, was from a lower social class and not as well educated as Rose.
Stan Ruby believed Abe was basically adopted by Rose Ratner’s family around the age of 15. Unlike Rose’s family, his own background was quite religious and he had been a yeshiva bucher (student) as a boy. His family was said to have come to the Rostov area from Odessa, which was inside the Pale but was a rollicking seaport, with an atmosphere even more cosmopolitan than Rostov.
On Abraham Ratner’s gravestone in Albany, he is referred to as the son of Reb Chaim, but we have no further information on his parents.
In any event, Rose herself was unsure about the match before meeting him. She informed her family that when Abe approached the family house to court her, she would be watching from an upstairs window and if she didn’t like the way he looked, she would refuse to even meet him.
But Abe was a nice looking man even in his later years, and so Rose must have thought that day because she came downstairs to meet him. The two soon decided to marry.
