An old man

I don't know what to do with this flashback, how to place and classify it - but I'll post it anyway, since it was very intense and I may find a connection in the future.

Maksim is still rather young, in his early teens. The flashback must be set in the time when he used to stay with Lyoshka after school, to do his homework and repeat what he had learned at school. But that's all the background I know.

That day, after Maksim has done all his homework, Lyoshka tells him to put on his coat, as he wants to visist someone and asks Maksim to come along.
They go somewhere, I can't say where (could be a tiny, gloomy flat in a house even older than Lyoshka's) and visit a rather frail old man with a long grey beard. I don't know if the old man was a relative of Lyoshka's or an old family friend, but I'm sure that the two spoke in a language Maksim didn't understand, and then switched to Russian because they thought it impolite. But what was that language they spoke - Yiddish, perhaps? I think Russian wasn't the old man's native language, he spoke it with a slight, melodic accent.

The old man then addressed Maksim, asked him how old he was, what school he went to, what he loved to do in his free time and so on. Maksim was a bit shy, awed by the old man's presence and not really knowing how to deal with him, so he replied in an unusually quiet voice and was unusually taciturn. It wasn't that he disliked the old man, he just didn't know how to behave properly in his presence, and he was at an awkward age anyway...

Lyoshka then helped the old man with something, gently and carefully as always, and when Maksim remembered his manners and asked if he could help as well, he said it was alright, they would get along.

The klimat of this scene was one of warmth, understanding and helpfulness - but who was this old man?

I would really like to know more about this - time will tell, if I'm meant to find out!