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I don’t think that my attitude towards the Jewish religion changed after the war. I went to the synagogue only during the high holidays, during Passover and weddings and celebrations. Religion never attracted me very much, simply because I never learned Hebrew. And one feels bad when the others hold books they read, even if supposedly they don’t understand what they read. I did try a couple of times to learn Hebrew by myself, but I didn’t manage. I now go to the synagogue rarely.
My mother died in 1975 and we did the annual Kaddish, but it has been years now we haven’t done it for practical reasons. The yearly Kaddish is a ceremony that can take place either at the synagogue or at home. In the past they used to do it at home, but now not enough people come. There have to be ten men and there aren’t. Now they don’t gather as many even at the synagogue.
However, we mention my mother by name during [Yom] Kippur in the synagogue. During Kippur there is a special ceremony when the rabbis mention the names of the dead. Everyone who ascends the bimah to read a passage from the Torah has with him a list and the rabbi reads it, first the men and then the women. Some fuive to ten names. I don’t go up to the bimah because I don’t know how to read, my son Tony does. And so the rabbi mentions the names of the family’s dead. Tony goes to synagogue during the holidays too, and so does Solita. Solita doesn’t know Hebrew. Tony keeps traditions in a similar way as we do.
My mother died in 1975 and we did the annual Kaddish, but it has been years now we haven’t done it for practical reasons. The yearly Kaddish is a ceremony that can take place either at the synagogue or at home. In the past they used to do it at home, but now not enough people come. There have to be ten men and there aren’t. Now they don’t gather as many even at the synagogue.
However, we mention my mother by name during [Yom] Kippur in the synagogue. During Kippur there is a special ceremony when the rabbis mention the names of the dead. Everyone who ascends the bimah to read a passage from the Torah has with him a list and the rabbi reads it, first the men and then the women. Some fuive to ten names. I don’t go up to the bimah because I don’t know how to read, my son Tony does. And so the rabbi mentions the names of the family’s dead. Tony goes to synagogue during the holidays too, and so does Solita. Solita doesn’t know Hebrew. Tony keeps traditions in a similar way as we do.
Period
Interview
Nico Saltiel