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My parents were religious like all Jews in Borovka. My father went to the synagogue on Sabbath and on Jewish holidays. He had a beard and wore a yarmulka or a hat. My mother went to the synagogue on Jewish holidays, like all Jewish women in Borovka. We always celebrated Sabbath and Jewish holidays.
On Friday morning my mother went to the market and when she returned, she made dough to bake bread and challot. She also cooked dinner. Meanwhile the dough rose and she made brown bread for the week to come and two wheat flour challot. When she took the bread out of the stove, she placed there a pot with chulent with meat, potatoes and beans for the next day. The chulent was still hot, when she took it out of the stove before lunch on Saturday.
In the evening my mother lit candles. She prayed over them and then we sat down to dinner. Nobody worked on Saturday. My father’s store was closed. No Jews worked on Saturday. My father went to the synagogue in the morning. When he returned, he told us stories from the Torah. We didn’t know Hebrew. We spoke Yiddish at home, and my father translated for us into Yiddish.
After the revolution the cheder in Borovka was closed. Wealthier Jews hired the melamed to teach their children Hebrew and prayers at home. My parents couldn’t afford it.
Pesach was the main holiday in our family. We started preparations a few months before the holiday. We ordered matzah at the synagogue. It was baked in the Jewish bakery in Chernevtsy and delivered to Borovka. Poorer families baked their own matzah, but we ordered ours. There was no bread in the house throughout all days of Pesach. The houses were newly whitewashed and window frames and shutters painted before the holiday.
On Friday morning my mother went to the market and when she returned, she made dough to bake bread and challot. She also cooked dinner. Meanwhile the dough rose and she made brown bread for the week to come and two wheat flour challot. When she took the bread out of the stove, she placed there a pot with chulent with meat, potatoes and beans for the next day. The chulent was still hot, when she took it out of the stove before lunch on Saturday.
In the evening my mother lit candles. She prayed over them and then we sat down to dinner. Nobody worked on Saturday. My father’s store was closed. No Jews worked on Saturday. My father went to the synagogue in the morning. When he returned, he told us stories from the Torah. We didn’t know Hebrew. We spoke Yiddish at home, and my father translated for us into Yiddish.
After the revolution the cheder in Borovka was closed. Wealthier Jews hired the melamed to teach their children Hebrew and prayers at home. My parents couldn’t afford it.
Pesach was the main holiday in our family. We started preparations a few months before the holiday. We ordered matzah at the synagogue. It was baked in the Jewish bakery in Chernevtsy and delivered to Borovka. Poorer families baked their own matzah, but we ordered ours. There was no bread in the house throughout all days of Pesach. The houses were newly whitewashed and window frames and shutters painted before the holiday.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Frida Shatkhina