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As far as I know, my father’s father lived bound by his religion. Haskoy was the largest center in Istanbul where most members of the large Jewish community lived. It was a very crowded area. There was Balat, Haskoy and also Kuzguncuk where the Jews resided.
They observed the Sabbath seriously. There was no smoking on those days.. because there were elders around, there was especially no smoking. The men would go to the coffeehouses in the neighborhood after they came home. Children would be fed dinner and put to bed. The man would come home to eat in peace.
As far as I can remember, meat would be bought from kosher butchers. During Passover especially, different plates, different pots would be used [called loksa - Judeo Spanish term]. Even fork and knife sets were separate. These were kept in a big trunk. The house would be cleaned thoroughly for Passover, it would even be painted.
On Saturdays and the holidays, we would go to the synagogues. The synagogues were always filled up. Not like today. At the time, 150,000 Jews lived on the map of Turkey. This is around the 1930’s, when I am about 6 years old. They lived in various parts of Turkey. My grandfathers did not live then. Even my mother had died in 1929.
They observed the Sabbath seriously. There was no smoking on those days.. because there were elders around, there was especially no smoking. The men would go to the coffeehouses in the neighborhood after they came home. Children would be fed dinner and put to bed. The man would come home to eat in peace.
As far as I can remember, meat would be bought from kosher butchers. During Passover especially, different plates, different pots would be used [called loksa - Judeo Spanish term]. Even fork and knife sets were separate. These were kept in a big trunk. The house would be cleaned thoroughly for Passover, it would even be painted.
On Saturdays and the holidays, we would go to the synagogues. The synagogues were always filled up. Not like today. At the time, 150,000 Jews lived on the map of Turkey. This is around the 1930’s, when I am about 6 years old. They lived in various parts of Turkey. My grandfathers did not live then. Even my mother had died in 1929.
Period
Location
Beyoğlu/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Nesim Levi