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My sons do not go to the synagogue often but not because they have left Judaism or anything. They both observe all our holydays but they did not grow up like I did. I grew up doing my tefila [tefillin] every morning, doing what my father was doing, until I was 18. Then when I left these practices when I went abroad, my sons did not see me doing them, so they didn’t either. So the fault is mine really.
Both my sons had their bar mitzvahs of course. I still have the speech my older brother read at his barmitzvah. It is in [Judeo-] Spanish of course, and written in the old alphabet [rashi]. It starts with the words: “Sinyoras i sinyores, ya es savido ke la persona es de dos fuersas. La fuersa de la entelijensia i la fuersa korporale...” [Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a known fact that a human being is made up of two forces. The force of the intelligence and the physical force...] Both the barmitzvas of our sons were celebrated at home. For Sami my eldest son, we had two kinds of ceremonies. First, on a Thursday morning, I don’t remember the exact date but it was in 1964 of course, we went to the Sisli synagogue for the tefilin ceremony. That morning, my son wore the tefilin for the first time and there were prayers. Then the following Saturday morning we had another ceremony at the Sisli synagogue, this time with guests. My son read a traditional barmitzva speech and some prayers. Then we came home and in the afternoon there was a party. Friends and relatives came. We hired waiters and food from a baker’s shop, cakes, chocolates, biscuits etc... That was all. We had a good time because the house was full of guests. For Yusuf, my second son, it was a bit different as he hates all kinds of ceremonies. We did the Thursday morning tefilin ceremony and then as Yusuf refused to memorize and read a speech infront of an audience we did not have the Saturday morning ceremony. On the Saturday however, we did have the home party, which was the same as the party we gave for my older son.
Both my sons had their bar mitzvahs of course. I still have the speech my older brother read at his barmitzvah. It is in [Judeo-] Spanish of course, and written in the old alphabet [rashi]. It starts with the words: “Sinyoras i sinyores, ya es savido ke la persona es de dos fuersas. La fuersa de la entelijensia i la fuersa korporale...” [Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a known fact that a human being is made up of two forces. The force of the intelligence and the physical force...] Both the barmitzvas of our sons were celebrated at home. For Sami my eldest son, we had two kinds of ceremonies. First, on a Thursday morning, I don’t remember the exact date but it was in 1964 of course, we went to the Sisli synagogue for the tefilin ceremony. That morning, my son wore the tefilin for the first time and there were prayers. Then the following Saturday morning we had another ceremony at the Sisli synagogue, this time with guests. My son read a traditional barmitzva speech and some prayers. Then we came home and in the afternoon there was a party. Friends and relatives came. We hired waiters and food from a baker’s shop, cakes, chocolates, biscuits etc... That was all. We had a good time because the house was full of guests. For Yusuf, my second son, it was a bit different as he hates all kinds of ceremonies. We did the Thursday morning tefilin ceremony and then as Yusuf refused to memorize and read a speech infront of an audience we did not have the Saturday morning ceremony. On the Saturday however, we did have the home party, which was the same as the party we gave for my older son.
Period
Location
/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Izak Sarhon