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I remember the synagogue in Sliven unlike the one in Bourgas. Women usually sat upstairs together with the children, though they often chased us out, as we used to be very noisy. The yard was very large and we used to play a lot in there! A sukkah was regularly built there on Sukkot. There was a chazzan, but there was no rabbi. From time to time a thin, red-haired and poorly dressed man went about the streets. He was called shammash and his job was to invite people to go to the synagogue and to explain when the candles should be lit. The hakham was an extremely intelligent man, who had two wonderful sons and a wife, worthy of being the hakham's wife. Then another hakham came, who was quite unpleasant and his wife was uneducated. They subsisted on selling peach and apricot pits, which they soaked so that they wouldn't taste bitter. Frankly speaking they were a real disgrace for the Jewish clergy [community representatives]. The Jewish weddings were performed in the synagogue but not all of them. There were also people who performed the ritual at their homes in accordance with the Jewish traditions. I remember my uncle Israel's wedding, which was held at their home and there was something like a tent set up there.
There was a Jewish chitalishte in Sliven as well. My first memory from a visit to that community center is from 1939, when we were gathered for a talk about the destiny of Jews and the policy of Germany. It was a very nice place - we celebrated holidays there and organized performances. Once, for example, we staged how Rachel was married, that is how Eliezer went to take her as a wife for Isaac; I have already forgotten the name. Anyway, I was playing the bride. I burnt with shame then! Since I had to look like a bride I had put on a nightdress of my mother, but we hadn't taken into consideration that it was transparent. So, everybody laughed at me. We had to think of some kind of a lining ... We had various kinds of performances. We didn't have the intention of creating true art, but it was amusing indeed. Our life was nice then! There was a Maccabi [5] organization in Sliven as well. We were given lessons in singing and dancing. There was also Hashomer Hatzair [6], but I don't recall anything of it, as I was too young at that time.
We observed the kashrut at home, at least until the occupation, when it became impossible to choose what to eat because of the lack of food. I even remember that during the war [WWII], when I was forced to taste pork for the first time in my life, I became sick. It stank horribly but there was nothing else to eat. I gradually got used to it. We got supplies of kosher meat from the shops, where the chazzan used to go about and put a seal on some of the meat. We didn't have a shochet. The hakham slaughtered the hens and we brought them to him in order for him to examine the meat. If it looked good, we ate it, if it didn't we threw it away. We didn't have separate dishes for meat and dairy products. There were several families who observed the kashrut strictly. They even called Bulgarians to light the lamps at Sabbath.
Most of the Jewish holidays we celebrated at home, but sometimes we went to the synagogue. My grandpa went there. I remember him wearing a tallit, Tannakh but I don't recall him wearing a kippah. I also remember our rabbi wearing a big white hat with a pompon. As I said, my father was a worldly person; he wasn't religious. But that doesn't mean that we didn't celebrate the holidays. I don't remember us celebrating Sabbath, nor do I remember lighting candles. But I have memories of other holidays.
My favorite holiday was Purim. We made mavlach in various forms - scissors, hearts, etc. 'The tongue of Haman' was also baked on Purim. It was a sweetmeat like a fat biscuit in an oblong form, and at one of its ends there was an egg resembling the man's throat. 'Haman's hair' was also made - kadaif [a sweetmeat made of dry pastry threads, baked with butter and walnuts and soaked in syrup], as well as 'Haman's ears'. These kinds of 'Haman's ears' are not prepared everywhere. I have seen them made in the form of triangles, while in Sliven, Bourgas and probably in Yambol also, and in Stara Zagora some kinds of honeycombs were prepared that were pinched and resembled the shell of an ear. Once a competition was organized in the Jewish community center for best costume. Mine was made of stretchable paper. I was disguised as a snowdrop and I was convinced that I would win that competition. To my greatest disappointment some other girl with a Hungarian costume was awarded the prize. Actually the most original costumes belonged to Venis and Zhula, but they were the contest organizer's daughters and it wasn't proper for them to win.
We celebrated Rosh Hashanah, but also the New Year on 1st January. On Christmas came koledari [traditional Bulgarian Christmas custom, in which men called 'koledari' go about people's houses and sing songs as a good health wish] and sang songs to the maidens. We did not separate from the Bulgarians. To the right of my granny's house a Bulgarian family used to live - the family of baba [granny] Tsanka, who had a son and a daughter. We were very close to them. They had a fulling-mill. We used to exchange tidbits on every holiday with them - on Easter they brought us red-painted eggs [widespread Easter custom] and we gave them brown ones on Pesach.
For Pesach we always had matzah, which wasn't like the one that exists today but quite a bit rougher. Besides our mothers made pitas. We also made tishpishti [a Jewish sweetmeat with walnuts] and burmoelos [7]. My mother didn't have separate dishes but before every holiday they were all boiled in ashy water in order to be cleaned.
For Fruitas [8], Tu bi-Shevat, we made special satin bags and filled them with fruits. There were carobs, peanuts, and almonds... All of us prepared them.
I don't recall a special custom for Chanukkah. On Yom Kippur we tried to do taanit [fast], but it almost never worked out, as it was also forbidden to drink water. The Bulgarian school always excused us when we celebrated the Jewish holidays, at which we were even allowed to stay at home. We didn't have any limitations. Sometimes, at the beginning of the lesson, I used to say a prayer, which none of the other children knew, only I knew it. This was in the Bulgarian school where we studied French. We knew Christian prayers in French, which I also said sometimes as I had learned them. I didn't have the feeling of betraying my own religion because we weren't religious at all.
My granny used to prepare a sweetmeat made of almonds with a very little quantity of flour and eggs. Those were cone-shaped pieces, with yolk spread on them, and an almond on top of each one. I ate such sweets when I was in Israel. We made kezadas - of borekas' pastry, round, we put fresh cheese and eggs in it, and then we browned it. It looked very beautiful. My mother and my granny used to prepare all kinds of delicacies. They took care of the household and looked after my sister and me. I didn't go to a kindergarten. There was one for the workers' children, as they didn't have the opportunity to stay at home the whole day. It was a common practice to have a maid at home. I have most wonderful memories of ours; we loved each other very much. I remember Radka, then Kina... At home they learned how to cook, to keep a household and clean. We took care of them; we bought them clothes and shoes. They were from villages near Sliven. We never treated them haughtily. Our relations were completely natural.
There was a Jewish chitalishte in Sliven as well. My first memory from a visit to that community center is from 1939, when we were gathered for a talk about the destiny of Jews and the policy of Germany. It was a very nice place - we celebrated holidays there and organized performances. Once, for example, we staged how Rachel was married, that is how Eliezer went to take her as a wife for Isaac; I have already forgotten the name. Anyway, I was playing the bride. I burnt with shame then! Since I had to look like a bride I had put on a nightdress of my mother, but we hadn't taken into consideration that it was transparent. So, everybody laughed at me. We had to think of some kind of a lining ... We had various kinds of performances. We didn't have the intention of creating true art, but it was amusing indeed. Our life was nice then! There was a Maccabi [5] organization in Sliven as well. We were given lessons in singing and dancing. There was also Hashomer Hatzair [6], but I don't recall anything of it, as I was too young at that time.
We observed the kashrut at home, at least until the occupation, when it became impossible to choose what to eat because of the lack of food. I even remember that during the war [WWII], when I was forced to taste pork for the first time in my life, I became sick. It stank horribly but there was nothing else to eat. I gradually got used to it. We got supplies of kosher meat from the shops, where the chazzan used to go about and put a seal on some of the meat. We didn't have a shochet. The hakham slaughtered the hens and we brought them to him in order for him to examine the meat. If it looked good, we ate it, if it didn't we threw it away. We didn't have separate dishes for meat and dairy products. There were several families who observed the kashrut strictly. They even called Bulgarians to light the lamps at Sabbath.
Most of the Jewish holidays we celebrated at home, but sometimes we went to the synagogue. My grandpa went there. I remember him wearing a tallit, Tannakh but I don't recall him wearing a kippah. I also remember our rabbi wearing a big white hat with a pompon. As I said, my father was a worldly person; he wasn't religious. But that doesn't mean that we didn't celebrate the holidays. I don't remember us celebrating Sabbath, nor do I remember lighting candles. But I have memories of other holidays.
My favorite holiday was Purim. We made mavlach in various forms - scissors, hearts, etc. 'The tongue of Haman' was also baked on Purim. It was a sweetmeat like a fat biscuit in an oblong form, and at one of its ends there was an egg resembling the man's throat. 'Haman's hair' was also made - kadaif [a sweetmeat made of dry pastry threads, baked with butter and walnuts and soaked in syrup], as well as 'Haman's ears'. These kinds of 'Haman's ears' are not prepared everywhere. I have seen them made in the form of triangles, while in Sliven, Bourgas and probably in Yambol also, and in Stara Zagora some kinds of honeycombs were prepared that were pinched and resembled the shell of an ear. Once a competition was organized in the Jewish community center for best costume. Mine was made of stretchable paper. I was disguised as a snowdrop and I was convinced that I would win that competition. To my greatest disappointment some other girl with a Hungarian costume was awarded the prize. Actually the most original costumes belonged to Venis and Zhula, but they were the contest organizer's daughters and it wasn't proper for them to win.
We celebrated Rosh Hashanah, but also the New Year on 1st January. On Christmas came koledari [traditional Bulgarian Christmas custom, in which men called 'koledari' go about people's houses and sing songs as a good health wish] and sang songs to the maidens. We did not separate from the Bulgarians. To the right of my granny's house a Bulgarian family used to live - the family of baba [granny] Tsanka, who had a son and a daughter. We were very close to them. They had a fulling-mill. We used to exchange tidbits on every holiday with them - on Easter they brought us red-painted eggs [widespread Easter custom] and we gave them brown ones on Pesach.
For Pesach we always had matzah, which wasn't like the one that exists today but quite a bit rougher. Besides our mothers made pitas. We also made tishpishti [a Jewish sweetmeat with walnuts] and burmoelos [7]. My mother didn't have separate dishes but before every holiday they were all boiled in ashy water in order to be cleaned.
For Fruitas [8], Tu bi-Shevat, we made special satin bags and filled them with fruits. There were carobs, peanuts, and almonds... All of us prepared them.
I don't recall a special custom for Chanukkah. On Yom Kippur we tried to do taanit [fast], but it almost never worked out, as it was also forbidden to drink water. The Bulgarian school always excused us when we celebrated the Jewish holidays, at which we were even allowed to stay at home. We didn't have any limitations. Sometimes, at the beginning of the lesson, I used to say a prayer, which none of the other children knew, only I knew it. This was in the Bulgarian school where we studied French. We knew Christian prayers in French, which I also said sometimes as I had learned them. I didn't have the feeling of betraying my own religion because we weren't religious at all.
My granny used to prepare a sweetmeat made of almonds with a very little quantity of flour and eggs. Those were cone-shaped pieces, with yolk spread on them, and an almond on top of each one. I ate such sweets when I was in Israel. We made kezadas - of borekas' pastry, round, we put fresh cheese and eggs in it, and then we browned it. It looked very beautiful. My mother and my granny used to prepare all kinds of delicacies. They took care of the household and looked after my sister and me. I didn't go to a kindergarten. There was one for the workers' children, as they didn't have the opportunity to stay at home the whole day. It was a common practice to have a maid at home. I have most wonderful memories of ours; we loved each other very much. I remember Radka, then Kina... At home they learned how to cook, to keep a household and clean. We took care of them; we bought them clothes and shoes. They were from villages near Sliven. We never treated them haughtily. Our relations were completely natural.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Rosa Kolevska
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