Tag #125069 - Interview #97653 (Rebeka Evgin)

My father Yasef Babakardash was a radiant faced, saintly person.  Medicine had not evolved much then. There were no doctors either.  There was the problem of malaria in Adana [a city on the southern coast of Turkey, overlooking the Mediterranean].  Neighbors would come and look for cures for their sons who were feverish.  My father would write their names with a pencil or an inkpen somewhere, tie knots on ropes and pray something.  And he would put those ropes on the arms of those children like bracelets. The kids would get better and the neighbors would be happy.  He had a long thick moustache, he wore fez’s at first, then felt hats.  A black suit and tie were never missing.  He dealt in dry goods and notions, he was the owner of a large fabric store.  My father was very religious.  He would not go out to the street in the mornings without donning his tefillin.  My father was a very pleasant and honest person.  He was a good spouse.