Tag #117523 - Interview #100491 (Frida Zimanene)

We didn’t observe the kashrut either. I don’t remember anybody going to a shochet to have the poultry slaughtered. The meat was bought at the market. I don’t think there were separate dishes for meat and dairy products. However, we didn’t eat pork. Mother at least made it look like we observed the kashrut. On Sabbath my mother went to the synagogue not because she was religious, but because of the custom. We were surrounded by Jews who stuck to traditions. They would have found it strange, if not worse, if our family had openly neglected traditions. My mother asked my father persistently to go to the synagogue. He put a kippah on and went there. It was a real ordeal for him as he didn’t feel like going there. My parents went to the synagogue not far from our house. It was the synagogue of the tailors. Sometimes, on Sabbath my father rushed home from the synagogue. He would wink at me, open the cupboard, gulp down a shot of vodka and go back to the synagogue happily patting his belly. Father said that it was hard for him to stay in the synagogue without vodka and listen to long monotonous prayers.