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Our family was religious. My parents strictly observed all Jewish traditions. My father was the warden of the synagogue [gabbai] in Rakvere. Like any gabbai he was a member of the board of the Jewish community of Estonia. Father was a convinced Zionist [11]. Only Yiddish was spoken at home. It is my mother tongue and I often speak Yiddish with my wife.
Only kosher food was cooked at home. Mother had separate dishes for meat and milk. There was a shochet in Rakvere. He butchered cattle in accordance with the kashrut. There was a store where meat was brought from the abattoir with a special Jewish department, where only kosher meat was sold. Mother never laid the table with meat and milk dishes. Even now there are families where milk and meat dishes are served at the same time, but I do not mix those products. I have been used to it since childhood and I do not want to give up that tradition.
All Jewish holidays were marked in the family the way they were supposed to. On Pesach matzah was baked for the whole community. There was a family of bakers – the Sorkins. They were our distant relatives. Before Pesach all Rakvere Jews got together in their place and baked enough matzah for each Jewish family of the town. I also was given work: I made holes in the matzah with the help of some small gadget. I still remember the taste of that matzah. It was not baked the way it is now. Eggs were added and it tasted much better than matzah does nowadays.
There was a special Paschal set of dishes in every Jewish family of Rakvere. It was used only on Pesach. It was stored separately and taken out only for that holiday. On Pesach father held the seder – the first and the second. The whole family took part in that.
For every holiday Mother cooked traditional Jewish dishes as well as the dishes meant for the holiday. On Pesach there was matzah in the house and on Purim – hamantashen. For Purim Father always made rattlers for us. We were supposed to scare off the villain Haman with the help of those rattlers. On Chanukkah Father always gave us whipping tops. Of course, we always fasted on Yom Kippur.
Only kosher food was cooked at home. Mother had separate dishes for meat and milk. There was a shochet in Rakvere. He butchered cattle in accordance with the kashrut. There was a store where meat was brought from the abattoir with a special Jewish department, where only kosher meat was sold. Mother never laid the table with meat and milk dishes. Even now there are families where milk and meat dishes are served at the same time, but I do not mix those products. I have been used to it since childhood and I do not want to give up that tradition.
All Jewish holidays were marked in the family the way they were supposed to. On Pesach matzah was baked for the whole community. There was a family of bakers – the Sorkins. They were our distant relatives. Before Pesach all Rakvere Jews got together in their place and baked enough matzah for each Jewish family of the town. I also was given work: I made holes in the matzah with the help of some small gadget. I still remember the taste of that matzah. It was not baked the way it is now. Eggs were added and it tasted much better than matzah does nowadays.
There was a special Paschal set of dishes in every Jewish family of Rakvere. It was used only on Pesach. It was stored separately and taken out only for that holiday. On Pesach father held the seder – the first and the second. The whole family took part in that.
For every holiday Mother cooked traditional Jewish dishes as well as the dishes meant for the holiday. On Pesach there was matzah in the house and on Purim – hamantashen. For Purim Father always made rattlers for us. We were supposed to scare off the villain Haman with the help of those rattlers. On Chanukkah Father always gave us whipping tops. Of course, we always fasted on Yom Kippur.
Period
Location
Rakvere
Estonia
Interview
Isaac Serman
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