Tag #150076 - Interview #78484 (Maria Reidman)

My grandmother went to the synagogue on Saturdays. She had an old siddur, a prayer book, and she was reluctant to leave it at the synagogue. She used to ask one of her grandchildren to carry it to the synagogue, and sometimes it was I who carried it. Then I went to school and became a Young Octobrist [5]. I was told at school that there was no God and that we couldn’t go to the synagogue. So, when my grandmother asked me to carry the siddur my reply was, ‘A Young Octobrist can’t go there’. And the older children said that pioneers weren’t allowed to go to the synagogue. So, there was no one to help her. My mother was just looking at us and volunteered to help my grandmother, although she was not supposed to carry the siddur. She wrapped herself in a big shawl, hid the siddur underneath and carried it to the synagogue.